pick noise coming through amp

P

p.babs

New member
Hey,

When recording, how do you reduse or eliminate pick noise that is being picked up (no pun intended) by the pickup and sent through the amp and out the cab?

do you eq it out?

I tried simply moving where I'm playing the notes on the guitar (away from the pickup that is activated) and that doesn't seem to help.

any advise or tips would be apprecaited.
 
I'd like to add that I did do a search on this and nothing really came up that was worth while (but when I googled it-a forum from this page came up-weird.
 
Isn't that a natural part of an electric guitars sound? Pick attack? I've never once even considered trying to EQ out pick sounds.

If you're going for a certain attackless effect, maybe try to kill the attack with compression.
 
What sort of stuff are you playing? You could try picks of different composition / thickness to minimise it perhaps or adjust your technique to minimise it, but I'm not thinking there's a quick fix in the mix that's going to help much..
 
These types of problems are forest for the trees issues. I've never ever been to or run a guitar session in 12 years where pick noise has been an issue. Like Greg_L said, isn't it part of the sound?

Quite frankly put, good playing through a good amp and a good mic should be good enough. If there is too much attack, use a compressor.

Cheers :)
 
60's guy said:
Use a thicker pick or a pick with rounder edges.
Click to expand...
Yes wise words. Also playing technique is crucial for pick noise. If you hit the string too hard with the pick in the wrong way you are going to get lots of pick noise. So try and play gentler with the pick but still hitting those notes loud. Tricky I know.

G
 
I have experimented with "picks" made of materials other than hard, plastic we usually associate with picks. Examples include:

Autoharp picks, made with a felt-like covering.
Pencil erasers. I am not kidding- I once got a handful of pick-shaped "alien head" erasers- and I thought, "guitar picks!"
Train engine-flattened penny. WAY cheaper than ths silly things made from reject cymbals. Also more fun to "make." Resulting pick is slightly curved, due to the curvature of the track rail, so you have two different "attacks," one with curve facing up, other (softer) with it facing down.
Milk bottle plastic. Very soft plastic pick.
Soft drink bottle plastic (have not actually tried this one, yet.)
Playing card, folded over 2-3 times...

You get the idea. IMO, it's far better to shape your sound BEFORE it "goes to tape" than to try to afterwards. Always.
 
Mo Facta said:
These types of problems are forest for the trees issues. I've never ever been to or run a guitar session in 12 years where pick noise has been an issue. Like Greg_L said, isn't it part of the sound?
Click to expand...

I agree.

It might have something to do with the picking technique. If you let the pick really POP versus holding it closer/tighter.
You can angle it for more on-edge picking VS holding it flat where it will POP more.

I often use a hold where my forefinger and pick are almost both hitting the string at the same time, and I can vary between more pick or more finger, and it changes the attack...or you can use just finger tip for a very muted attack.
I would rather "work the pick & strings" instead of slapping on a comp to take out the attack, but yeah, with a comp you can take out most all of it, and it will sound like a violin. :)
 
Last edited:
Try turning the treble down a tad maybe.I found the more harsher the highs the more pronounced the pick noise.You'll always get some though no matter what.I have a bad habit of slightly holding my picks on an angle so when i record i try to make a concious effort to hold it a little less crooked to minimize the scrape.

I've only really been bothered by it when recording guitar at home.I think we sometimes get so consumed trying to get the perfect take that we pick out every little noise we hear.That's one of things with home recording.We can do as many takes as necessary,without worrying about our budget or studio time running amuck.

On bass though i have to use a pick.Felt picks work wonders on a bass.If i could only get rid of the finger sliding noise i'd be real happy but i'm a sloppy bass player so it's gonna be there regardless.

Any time i've ever recorded at a studio i never really picked up on bad pick noise.When time is money we learn to live with some minor flaws here and there.Most times you don't really hear it in the final mix.The funny thing is now that i've gotten into home recording i tend to listen to everything with a more scrutinizing ear.I hear a good bit of pick scraping on the major releases too so don't beat yourself up over it too much.It's unavoidable.
 
thanks for the ideas guys.

I don't mind a little pick attack-I have just found that in some cases it is just a little to strong for my likeing.
 
mcmetal said:
Most times you don't really hear it in the final mix.The funny thing is now that i've gotten into home recording i tend to listen to everything with a more scrutinizing ear.I hear a good bit of pick scraping on the major releases too so don't beat yourself up over it too much.It's unavoidable.
Click to expand...
So true. One of the first things I picked up from this forum was that the bar of perfection was set much higher than out there in the world of pros. RAMI did a great thread on it a couple of years back.
I have a friend who, when she's recorded singing, seems to have audible intakes of breath before certain words at those breathless points. We remonstrated about this for a long time. I made her rerecord otherwise good performances so many times ! Then one day, I noticed that more and more great singers have done this on records.
As I read somewhere the other day, "finished is better than perfect".
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top