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I have an Epiphone Emperor Regent Guitar fitted with the Kent Armstrong Jazzy Joe pickup.
The top B and E strings sound fine when gently plucked ,but with stronger picking,they sound abrasive/screechy/distorted (hard to describe sound in type
) . Sounds a bit like fret buzz ,but the action is good .
The E and B screws on the pickup are screwed down flush with the pickup body .
Tone settings on the amp ...Volume on 3 , bass on 7 ,treble on 4 . on Guitar , volume is full , tone control is 3 (bass to treble) ..
Any ideas ? Trouble with the pots maybe ?
Thanks friends ....
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02-13-2026 08:36 PM
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Just watching the bloke on Cunamurras' (yesterday) post playing the '39 Gibson L5 .. a couple of times during the Video ,he hit's the E string stronger and is getting the same 'harshness' that I'm getting on my Epi .. so maybe that's what E strings do ?
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One thing to try is to turn down the treble. To see if there's a point where the problem goes away.
My impression is that most guitars will display this problem if the treble is turned up really high. That is, it's a sound that's there but you can avoid amplifying it.
Of course, I can't say whether this is the problem you're addressing.
Another thing that can happen is that hearing aids can overamplify highs and give a similar unwanted sound. I have no way of knowing if that applies in your case, but it applies in mine.
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Check pickup height... maybe lower the E and B side. Harshness and artifact noises from picking and fingering are the first to go away as you reduce guitar volume from full up. Try setting your guitar volume and tones full up and test with gradual reduction in guitar volume first to see if you can find the place where harshness and playing noise start to disappear. Then you may balance the trade off of some guitar volume for higher guitar tone setting and a little higher amp volume setting to see if that helps makes it sound right.
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Perhaps pick nearer the end or over the fingerboard. The 'wrong' side of the neck pickup is vastly different.
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Interestingly, there are no pickups on that guitar but it sounds like preamp distortion - and the guitar sounds like it is close-mic'ed but no mic is visible in the video. So I'm thinking the mic is just outside the frame but running a lot of gain, so that when the sound gets above a certain level, some distortion occurs. If you listen carefully, this isn't confined to his E and B strings - check 0:43 - 0:52. You can hear some distortion in the louder chords and I would guess that it is not coming from the guitar.
Originally Posted by scout
So, how does this relate to you? You could be overdriving the preamp in your amp, just like the mic in the video is getting overdriven. (That video sound could also be other things but .... never mind about that...) Others' advice to fiddle with your tone controls and pickup pole pieces is a good place to start.
Actually, an even better place to start is unplugged in a REALLY quiet room. Turn off the TV, the coffeepot, the heater, etc. and play the guitar acoustically to see whether you hear the distortion at all. Maybe try doing this in the closet with the door closed. All the clothing in there will absorb reflected sound, allowing you to hear what only the guitar sounds like. You might hear rattling from pickup covers, the pickguard, or saddles on the bridge.
If the guitar passes the "quiet room" test, you might try taking it to the local music store to test drive some other amps - that would be an easy test to see whether the problem is in your guitar or in your amp.
If you have a tube amp, you could swap out one or more preamp tubes for ones that break up less easily.
Lastly, (maybe this should have been first!) if you post a clip for us to hear, that would help. The problem might be none of these things...
Good luck!
SJ
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Do you‘ve checked the bridge for any irregularities?
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After some adjustments to the tone controls on the amp and guitar , the sound of the B and E strings is not as harsh .. although still there a bit ,I suppose I'll just live with it ...
It's a whole lot better though ... amp is now on 5 Volume .. bass on 6 .. treble on 4 .. Guitar Volume is on 4 ,tone on 2 for bass .
And yes.. playing up near the pickup has mellowed things a lot .. and a more delicate strum has helped too ..
As usual ,thanks heaps for your help and tips ..
..
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Hearing loss before the need for hearing aids can affect perception of various frequencies. I've got some measured high end loss (I'm 66) and paradoxically find some high frequency sounds to be harsh and unmusical, whereas others may say they are clear and bright. Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar
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Thanks Cunamara ,
I think you may have a point there .. I have high end hearing loss as well (I'm 74) . I find 'trebly' noises... angle grinders,lawn mowers,alarms,... even filing some metal on the work bench is fairly agravating .. so maybe that could account for the 'screechy' B and E strings .
I wish we had been more careful in the days of our youth to protect our hearing .. stuck with it now though ..
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My Epi ER does not have the issue but three other archtops have required some work. Guitars are strange critters in that minor vibration of a component, even just a loose screw, may manifest itself in the way OP has described. ES-175 1959 VOS reissue: vibrating PUs made it sound like an acoustic flattop. Benedetto Bravo: a pickguard holding screw had lost its grip - enough to produce sitar-like zings from top two strings. Tal Farlow: multiple sources, including pickguard and flat surface under strings on metal TOM bridge bits. With that guitar, I keep volume down to 8 to play it safe.
Quality builders apply glue sparingly and clean all excess away. A partly loose brace under the top may respond to a particular range of frequencies. For instance, the Bravo has ladder-type bracing, where the transverse braces sit snugly between the longitudinal ones. In northern climates, pronounced seasonal variation in humidity may cause a glue seam to crack open and promote vibration during the dry winter, while expanding wood closes the gap again once the central heating season is over. This is of course the nastiest problem to identify and fix.
One way to figure out the source of the problem is lay the guitar on a flat surface, pick an open E or B string continuously and press the top, pickguard, PU, tailpiece etc. with a finger or a rubber-tipped pencil to spot any changes in the sound. Even the Emperor Regent's floating PU may benefit from some cushioning underneath.
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Check pickup height, check action. After that, good luck.
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This is a common problem for those with hearing impairment. I too find that treble sounds can be harsh. Originally Posted by scout
Thanks Cunamara ,
I think you may have a point there .. I have high end hearing loss as well (I'm 74) . I find 'trebly' noises... angle grinders,lawn mowers,alarms,... even filing some metal on the work bench is fairly agravating .. so maybe that could account for the 'screechy' B and E strings .
I wish we had been more careful in the days of our youth to protect our hearing .. stuck with it now though ..
The problem can be made worse if you have hearing aids, which have a bump in the sibilant range (ie so consonants are easier to hear) that is unpleasant for music. I had my audiologist create a music program that is flat and uncompresses, and it helped a lot. But I still sometimes struggle with it.
On top of that, it sometimes seems like every time I play the amp sounds different. So all kinds of hassle with hearing issues!
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Interesting observation about the programming of hearing aids! I knew that hearing aids can be programmed with EQ for the specific patient's hearing loss. I didn't know it was possible to create a program specifically for listening to music. I'm not to the point of needing them, but when I do I'm going to keep this in mind. Thanks for mentioning it! Originally Posted by bluejaybill
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I usually wear hearing aids and I have them set to help with conversation. That means they amplify a lot of treble frequencies. If I forget about them and play guitar, the highest notes will sound fizzy.
I have come to understand, possibly correctly, that the high strings naturally produce some fizz and that you may have to EQ it out.
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