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I am having trouble with a fellow who plays a Showbud pedal steel guitar. He is not happy with the sound he is getting from the guitar ( a high 2.5 - 4K raspy sound ).
I have tried to remove some of the frequencies with the EQ and removing the high end off the amp,,, any suggestions, other than telling him to buy a new steel?
Any help would be appreciated.
I'm using a Sure 57 ( offset ) just off the speaker, and an AKG 3000 about 2 feet off the front of the amp.

Comments

Davedog Wed, 12/15/2010 - 09:56

Is this apparent live in the room? Mics dont lie. If its there its there, if its not then maybe you have a bad cable or theres something in the chain thats being affected by the sound in the room. Try it direct. Have a pad on hand as a pedal has a lot of gain. Showbuds are some of the best. I cant imagine it has anything to do with the guitar, although you might want to clean the jack on it just to be sure.

dvdhawk Wed, 12/15/2010 - 10:57

If the raspiness is audible in both mics when their channels are soloed, it points the finger at the amp (speaker damage, physical vibration, microphonic tube), cable, or the Showbud (contacts etc.)

If the same noise is not present in both channels, it kinda points that finger back at your gear or technique. If it only happens when the two mics are combined, then you've got a phase problem.

moonbaby Wed, 12/15/2010 - 10:58

What amp is it being played through? Peavey amps are popular with these players, and Peaveys all seem to display a certain harshness in the upper ranges when they get pushed hard by strong pick-ups, which has been pointed out, that the Sho-Buds certainly have....try the DI route IF you have a good DI that doesn't get overdriven easily. Also, now that I think of it, make sure that that "raspiness" isn't a speaker cone going bad, too...

zeke957 Wed, 12/15/2010 - 15:27

I've tried 4 different ams...including a tube amp, and still getting the raspeyness...I've have tried going direct, both straight to board and through DI box...I'm starting to wonder if it's not the players technique..it seems to be prominate when he plays in the higher register if his guitar...but I will go through all of your ideas to weed out anything I haven't thought of yet....thanks all for the help....any other ideas are very welcome.

dvdhawk Wed, 12/15/2010 - 16:16

Time to have a really close look at the ShoBud. I had a weird noise in a grand piano once, something (a paperclip I think) touching a string was causing a very weird kazoo-like quality to certain notes. If there's nothing touching against a string - I'd be curious to see if it makes the noise with someone, or something, muting the higher strings between the nut and the tuning pegs - and likewise at the bridge end.

BobRogers Wed, 12/15/2010 - 18:32

Do you know another pedal steel player? You need someone to take a listen and help you both trace down the source of this. It could easily be technique. Stuff that we all ignore live gets brought into focus when we record. Problems with the guitar are something most people with experience with solid body electrics can find - but stick you damned head next to all those pulleys and rods and see if you can hears something.