Custom 24 metallic ringing around 4k

[Tag]

The noise is the trem. I was getting the exact same things with my Strat yesterday strumming open chords through my twin. I never really noticed it before, but now that I hear it, I focus in on it. Thanks!

 

[Guitpicky]

Trem

No idea really, I just want to see if I guessed right

 

[Guitpicky]

Actually it's based on SOME idea. The only thing you did that seemed to have any affect at all was sponging the trem. I'm thinking a dry sponge might not have been enough to damp it out. Could try an old T shirt or something else that's softer than a dry sponge

 

[waaromhoorikniks]

Hi everyone!

This is long overdue, but I finally got my PRS back from the luthier today. It took him a while to get to the root of it. To start with a somewhat unsatisfactory point: even though the problem is fixed, he couldn't be 100% sure what the exact issue was in the end. He tightened everything that can be tightened (tuners, bridge, etc.), replaced the springs that hold the pickups, and he put rubber tubing over the springs. Since the bridge and tuners appeared to be ok on inspection, it is most likely that the pickup springs were the culprit.

The most important part however, is that the problem is now indeed resolved. I get a proper recorded clean sound out of my PRS + Kemper now, without the annoying anti-harmonic metal jingle that has been bugging me for years. Yay!

Cheers, and sorry for the long wait.

 

[pauloqs]

The important thing was the problem was solved. Thank you for taking your time to report back. I had a weird buz once that usually occurred when playing the A string and sometimes the D. It was on my McCarty, which has a stoptail, so no trem to worry about. It was clearly not fret buzzing. So I would check the nut, tuners, saddle. Almost by accident, I found it was the pickup rings of all things. I tightened the pickup ring screws and problem solved. Sometimes all the guitar needs is a bit of tightening of its parts.

 

[ieso]

Some years ago I discovered that the strings I had been buying for 20 years were suddenly crap and making a lot of weird overtones. Affordable strings these days are made with junk wire and don't sound pleasing to me. On guitars with microphonic pickups the effect is exacerbated (as well as maple necks + maple fretboards). I spent over $400 on a string 'shootout' and found the good stuff and these problems were eliminated. A proper setup and new high quality strings might solve the problem easily.

 

[John Beef]

Some years ago I discovered that the strings I had been buying for 20 years were suddenly crap and making a lot of weird overtones. Affordable strings these days are made with junk wire and don't sound pleasing to me. On guitars with microphonic pickups the effect is exacerbated (as well as maple necks + maple fretboards). I spent over $400 on a string 'shootout' and found the good stuff and these problems were eliminated. A proper setup and new high quality strings might solve the problem easily.

So, uh, what'd you end up using?

 

[ieso]

So, uh, what'd you end up using?

Sorry

Pyramid Max Performance Pure Nickel (hex core)
Pyramid Nickel Classics (round core, I don't use these on guitars with locking tuners)
Mangan Pure Nickel (hex core)
Mapes -- you can get the stuff direct for a killer price (back in 'the day' a lot of US guitar strings were just rebranded Mapes strings or they wound Mapes wire)
Elixir Optiweb (I never cared for Elixir but these are really nice)
EB Cobalts (for my EBMM JP guitars)

 

[grausch]

Sorry

Pyramid Max Performance Pure Nickel (hex core)
Pyramid Nickel Classics (round core, I don't use these on guitars with locking tuners)
Mangan Pure Nickel (hex core)
Mapes -- you can get the stuff direct for a killer price (back in 'the day' a lot of US guitar strings were just rebranded Mapes strings or they wound Mapes wire)
Elixir Optiweb (I never cared for Elixir but these are really nice)
EB Cobalts (for my EBMM JP guitars)

Just to note - I use Pyramid strings and they are some of the cheapest strings Thomann offers in the EU. So cheap does not necessarily equate to bad.

 

[ieso]

Just to note - I use Pyramid strings and they are some of the cheapest strings Thomann offers in the EU. So cheap does not necessarily equate to bad.

True. Knowing the difference between price and actual value I wonder if they get some form of subsidy or price support unlike US firms where it's just unmitigated market exposure. The strings from Mapes are very affordable because they cut out the middleman but the rest of the stuff I tried (and I tried a lot of them) was terrible. The last big string purchase I made was all Mangan.

 

[ieso]

Also, I recently saw some complaints on TGP about Pyramid strings and I thought, "Oh, no, here we go again with the lowering of quality in order to keep prices down." Have you noticed any change in their strings?

 

[grausch]

Also, I recently saw some complaints on TGP about Pyramid strings and I thought, "Oh, no, here we go again with the lowering of quality in order to keep prices down." Have you noticed any change in their strings?

No, I did not notice any changes, but my strings last quite a long time. Had one set where one of the wound strings wouldn’t intonate after a couple of months of use, but that is normal with round core strings.

 

[ieso]

No, I did not notice any changes, but my strings last quite a long time. Had one set where one of the wound strings wouldn’t intonate after a couple of months of use, but that is normal with round core strings.

Yeah, that sounds pretty good.

 

[bodia]

Sorry

Pyramid Max Performance Pure Nickel (hex core)
Pyramid Nickel Classics (round core, I don't use these on guitars with locking tuners)
Mangan Pure Nickel (hex core)
Mapes -- you can get the stuff direct for a killer price (back in 'the day' a lot of US guitar strings were just rebranded Mapes strings or they wound Mapes wire)
Elixir Optiweb (I never cared for Elixir but these are really nice)
EB Cobalts (for my EBMM JP guitars)

Big fan of the Optiwebs. They are all I use.

 

[bodia]

Hi everyone!

This is long overdue, but I finally got my PRS back from the luthier today. It took him a while to get to the root of it. To start with a somewhat unsatisfactory point: even though the problem is fixed, he couldn't be 100% sure what the exact issue was in the end. He tightened everything that can be tightened (tuners, bridge, etc.), replaced the springs that hold the pickups, and he put rubber tubing over the springs. Since the bridge and tuners appeared to be ok on inspection, it is most likely that the pickup springs were the culprit.

The most important part however, is that the problem is now indeed resolved. I get a proper recorded clean sound out of my PRS + Kemper now, without the annoying anti-harmonic metal jingle that has been bugging me for years. Yay!

Cheers, and sorry for the long wait.

Might have been the pickup springs. I seem to remember a couple of people having a similar issue, and it being fixed by putting some foam in the pick up cavities.

 

[shallbe]

Might have been the pickup springs. I seem to remember a couple of people having a similar issue, and it being fixed by putting some foam in the pick up cavities.

Exactly. I have posted it about it before. Easy and quick fix. Remove the pickups by the mounting rings so it all comes out at one time.

Cut some foam that fills the pickup cavity. Push the pickup into the hole with foam and screw down. Now your pickup and springs will always have adequate pressure, resistance and dampening. Plus, they sit nice and even and firmly in the mounts now.

I literally do this with every humbucker guitar now. Takes 5 minutes.

 

[Joe Stevens]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to this forum, and I hope some of you skilled PRS aficionados out there can help me out with a long-standing problem with my PRS.

Sometime around 2002 I bought a PRS Custom 24. I love playing it and I love looking at it, but it has also proved to be a terribly difficult guitar to record and mix. It has a very harsh, pronounced rattle between 3k and 4k that requires a lot of very specific notch filtering to get rid of. I play pretty clean, jangly stuff (think Johnny Marr, Nile Rodgers, etc.) and precisely with that type of sound the problem is most pronounced. Playing high-gain leads tends to be ok.

By comparison, my wife has a cheap Squier that I end up using mostly for recording clean chords, because it simply sounds a lot less harsh. I believe the PRS should be able to do better than a cheap Fender knockoff, so there must be something wrong.

Here's what I've tried and found out so far:

- I do most of my home recording through a Kemper. I have also used a Focusrite Scarlett interface to capture the sound without any amplification or modeling in between. The problem is definitely in the clean sound, not in the amping. In fact, I can hear it directly when I play in the room, without any electronics in between.

- The metallic ringing sound is not harmonically related to whatever notes I am playing. It sounds harsh and out of tune.

- I have installed a sponge in my tremolo spring cavity to dampen the springs. That appears to reduce the problem somewhat, but it does not eliminate it.

- The problem is most pronounced on the higher, unwound strings. My pickups are the stock HFS and Vintage Bass pair. At one point, I lowered them so far on the treble side I was at the end of the screw. It didn't help.

- I have heard this exact sound in other Custom 24's, but not in all of them. Since I'm new to the forum I can't post links yet, but there's a French guy on Youtube with the account name 'Voron Guitars' who has a video titled "PRS 57/08 vs Modern Eagle vs HFS/Vintage Bass pickups comparaison". He plays some chords through a clean amp using various pickups, starting at 1 minute into the video. Right there, there is a very prominent, harsh mid sound around 3-4khz. There is another video by Rob Chapman called "PRS Custom 24 Demo (Clean)" where the rattling harshness is not present at all. I wish I could get that tone, but I just can't.

I'm pretty much out of stuff to try. Does anyone have any new suggestions on how to find the source of this problem? Again, I cannot post links yet (I need three posts I believe), but once I do I can post a clip where I band-pass filter the problematic region, so you can hear it properly. Thanks in advance for any helpful comments!

 

[Joe Stevens]

I realize this post is three years old but maybe someone has figured this thing out by now. I have a PRS S2 Standard 24, Love it, Plays like a dream but it has a ringing in it that really annoys the heck out of you. And as someone on here said before. Once you hear it you can't not hear it. Its noticeable anytime you play but you can play like a "G" then palm mute it and hear the ringing. Its a sustain but not what you want. I changed the pickups twice. Installed a set of Pearly Gates. Didn't like the sound plus still had the ring. Mixed and matched a couple of Seymour Duncans I had laying around. Didn't like that . Went back to the original 85/15s. Installed shrink tubing on the pickup springs, spiral wrap on the vibrato springs. Stuffed the remaining cavity with cotton balls. No help. No buzz from frets, Pickups a little low if anything now. Still ringing. May be caused by harmonics in the truss rod. If it is , then thats where the story ends. Its a shame because its a great playing guitar.

 

[AP515]

IIRC the truss rods have a plastic sheath as well. The standard source for a high frequency ringing is the string vibrating in the nut. Can you touch each string when it is ringing and hear it stop? If so it just needs the nut recut or at worst a new one.