Tricks to getting treble strings with the ES1 to sound better?

[MarcC]

It's been well talked about and I believe one of the main issues others have always had with the ES1 pickup system which is the sound difference between the bass & treble strings. The G,B & E has been described as sounding "nasally" by others, I guess that works for me too. I just know when strumming it's pretty much all good, picking with chords is OK, but when I play lead the difference from the bass to the treble strings is out right annoying, at least to my ears....This IMO is were the ES2 shines, it's not perfect, but works pretty nicely when the right EQ is used, so I've found...

So if any of you have found some "trick" or EQ secret to this issue, or any amount of improvement, please share!  Much appreciated!
Marc

[guitarsrsoawesome]

Hey Marc, are you talking about for your 2011 GS5e?  If so that's the ES1.3 (third and last version of the ES1), right?

I had a 2008 GS8e with the second version of the ES (ES1.2) and I too found it to be a bit quacky/magnetic sounding, particularly on the B string. I never really found a solution, but maybe some of the other guys will have an answer of how to eq it a little better.

I will say that when I tried someone else's ES1.3, I felt a lot of that was eliminated and that it sounded much cleaner on the treble strings as compared ES1.2.  I do agree with you that ES2 seems to have a more natural tone, but there's lots of forum members who prefer the ES1.3 over the 2.  Some of those guys may have just the trick to get your ES1 sounding the way you want.

[Edward]

I've personally found that the revoiced ES1.3 is notably better sounding than v1.2: less "nasal" yes, and therefore more naturally acoustic-guitar sounding.

But with the v1.2 (2007-2009; two body switches on the preamp's circuit board), one can still get a very good live sound, albeit with more aggressive EQing. I've found that attenuating ~500Hz and ~900Hz to yield much better tone.  Your guitar and house system my vary, of course, but perhaps this gives you a starting point.

Edward

[jalbert]

I've found that a Taylor K4 preamp helps with the ES 1.3. And while I'm still hoping that Taylor will offer a 1st-to-2nd generation upgrade at some point in the future, the sound I'm getting is usable.

[Fellrunner]

It's not pretty but I've found that using double sided tape to stick strips of steel (I've used 2 layers of biscuit tin, if you have such things in the US) between the 19th and 20th frets and 18th and 19th frets under the B and top E strings (over the neck pickup) makes a noticeable improvement in the imbalance between these 2 strings and the other (wound) ones.  I've been doing this for over a year now and have seen no damage to the fret board, but for me the amplified sound is far more important then aesthetics anyway and well worth it.

[guitarsrsoawesome]

It's not pretty but I've found that using double sided tape to stick strips of steel (I've used 2 layers of biscuit tin, if you have such things in the US) between the 19th and 20th frets and 18th and 19th frets under the B and top E strings (over the neck pickup) makes a noticeable improvement in the imbalance between these 2 strings and the other (wound) ones.  I've been doing this for over a year now and have seen no damage to the fret board, but for me the amplified sound is far more important then aesthetics anyway and well worth it.

wow, that's an interesting solution...how did you think of it?

[Fellrunner]

It wasn't my idea - I found it in an old post, in the AGF acoustic amplification section if I remember correctly.  I play through an AER alpha plus to various PA's often with very high on stage volumes, so the feedback resistance of the ES 1 (v 3) is worth its weight in gold to me (over piezo, in my experience even ES2 which I have tried).  In this situation the steel "shields" the magnetic neck pickup and to my ear reduces the unwound string volume and giving a much better balance.

[guitarsrsoawesome]

All I can say is that is so cool.  I love solutions like that and I'm glad it worked out for you

[Fellrunner]

I thought I'd post a picture of what I was talking about. Not quite as described in fact now I have a closer look (I did it a while ago and it involved quite a lot of trial and error for it to work the best), I've got a third plate above the 20th fret and a half sized one between the 18th and 19th.

[guitarsrsoawesome]

That is just genius.  I wish, when I had my ES1.2 I had known about this solution.  I would have tried it, for sure!  Would love to hear a sound clip of just your raw signal if you ever have the chance...I like how you painted the metal as well...

[MarcC]

Hey Fellrunner your suggestion is on the money man! THANK YOU! So I was thinking at work today how I could do this without going out and buying stuff so I used some regular tin foil from the kitchen and scotch tape to emulate the same idea, and it worked really well! That's on my new GS5e w/ ES1.3, it does seem that I have to be a little milder with my attack while lead picking, but that's not an issue or much of a trade off...It also sounds like the B & E strings have more sustain than before the foil, at least I'm fairly certain. Or it could be I wasn't as focused on it before the foil upgrade since I couldn't get passed how it sounded while playing lead before this trick little modification, so I didn't spend much time really checking it out... This just cracks me up! But I love it! And for all of about two cents and 15 minutes of time, do you have any idea how much I've spent over the years for mod's on guitars, amps and god knows what else! No matter, it's about the end result anyway...

Fellrunner since I don't know exactly what a biscuit tin is made of, do you think the type of metal matters? I'm thinking possibly a thin piece of copper, kind of dress it up a bit since I would like to make it look as good as possible, after all it is a new guitar...yours looks pretty darn good, I'm sure others always wonder or approach you about what you got there...Uh? I am thinking this even could get better after I replace the foil.

I haven't had time to do the formal NGD thing with pictures on the new GS but I will this weekend....I'll add a pic with the foil mod too...
I appreciate all you guys chiming in as well, this is very cool having this kind of resource at my finger tips!
Have a great weekend! Marc

[Fellrunner]

Marc. A biscuit is a British cookie (or in the case of my tin, Scottish!).  I have attached a couple of photos of the offending tin - you can see the hole left where I have cut out the strips of metal.  The inside of the tin is a gold finish and this is what is visible on my guitar (not paint) - it blends with the colours of the wood surprisingly well I think.  It actually looks gold in real life (not red as it appears in the photo = guess thats a reflection or the flash or something).  In terms of what kind of metal will work, I'm not an expert.  I am a medic and spend time in MRI scanners though - only ferrous metals are affected by the MRI's magnetic field.  I would therefore expect that the metal used would need to be ferrous to "shield" the magnetic field generated by the interaction of the guitar strings and the magnetic pickup.  I guess it would ultimately be a matter of trial and error.

I made a start making a recording with and without plates last night but my strings were old and it sounded bad.  I've been fell running today (27 miles!) and am playing and busy tomorrow but will try to redo the recording with the new strings I've now put on asap (if I can work out how to upload them). Phil