ARRRGHH!!! I'm pullin' my freakin' hair out here!!

[uncle looie]

I've got a 1x12 combo amp that gets a nasty, buzzy metallic sound up around the 12th to 15th frets on the high E and B strings. I thought it was cone cry in the speaker, but I've tried 3 different speakers and it does it with all three, although to a somewhat lesser degree with 2 of them. I then thought it might be the overdrive pedal I was using, but it does it with all of them I've tried.

Could this be an amp issue or could it be a guitar issue? I'm wondering if my strings are buzzing the frets enough to cause it to be amplified when I've got the gain jacked up? I don't notice it with the guitar when I play it acoustically and it doesn't happen when I play the amp clean. It's not a tube problem either, I've swapped them all with ones known to be good and it still happens. I'm at my wits end here...

[TheAmpNerd]

Originally posted by uncle looie
I've got a 1x12 combo amp that gets a nasty, buzzy metallic sound up around the 12th to 15th frets on the high E and B strings. I thought it was cone cry in the speaker, but I've tried 3 different speakers and it does it with all three, although to a somewhat lesser degree with 2 of them. I then thought it might be the overdrive pedal I was using, but it does it with all of them I've tried.

Could this be an amp issue or could it be a guitar issue? I'm wondering if my strings are buzzing the frets enough to cause it to be amplified when I've got the gain jacked up? I don't notice it with the guitar when I play it acoustically and it doesn't happen when I play the amp clean. It's not a tube problem either, I've swapped them all with ones known to be good and it still happens. I'm at my wits end here...

To rule out the guitar, go to a buds house or GC or your
local music store and plug in somewhere and you'll know
ASAP.

Though, you should be able to hear it acoustically.
Double check, play it in the bathroom, where it is
quiet.

If not the guitar, then something in the amp.
check the speaker - tightened nuts, etc,
make sure nothing is rattling on the amp like
a back plate, grill cloth holder, etc. Pull the
grill off if you can....

Those are thoughts that just popped into my
head right off the bat.

Additionally: The 12th thru 15th frets are where
oscellations like to show up too.

It is a process of elimination. After you've eliminated
all you can whatever is left is it.

Good luck.

Any one else?

[FenderAmpGas]

Could be the power tubes rattling. I had a similar issue that was bugging the heck out of me with my MB Mark IV. I kept taking it back to the amp tech and he kept swapping power tubes until we found some that didn't rattle. It took me a while to figure out it was the power tubes making the noise. Have someone else play your guitar through the amp so that you can see if you can find the problem. My 2 cents.

[A440]

I had similar issue. in my situation, culprit also turned out to be the power tubes.

[ZX-Matt]

I started noticing that on am amp of mine. Sounded like the speaker was "tearing" or something....anyway, sounded really nasty in a bad kind of way. I know the strings on this inexpensive guitar are very old, but once I plugged into the "low gain" input of the Amp, the issue isn't as noticable.

Time to replace a few strings?

-ZX

[uncle looie]

I think the guitar needs a crown and polish. The culprit seems to be a couple of high spots on the 14th and 15th frets that when I bend a string around this area, it makes contact with the fret a 1/2 step up just enough to cause a metallic "bzzzzzrrrrp" sound. It isn't that my action is too low, it's actually a little on the "too high" side.