Help with Ibanez Super 80 Flying Fingers weirdness

[That_Other_Nate]

Hi.

Member for 14 months and I been playing guitar for about that long also. I believe this is my 1st post...So, Hi, thanks for letting me in.

I recently picked up an Ibanez AR720. The Super 80 pickups exhibit a weirdness I haven't experienced in my other guitars (they gather quickly don't they) and I don't understand whats going on. The high E produces a strange sitar like "harmonic?" on either pickup. I can't quite put my finger on a good description on the sound, but when I hear it I think Indian Sitar, or a synthesizer, or oddly enough, the tail of a note played on some kind of higher pitched brass instrument, but I don't know what kind of brass instrument. The sound/notes seem to modulate/oscillate more than the other strings. Maybe if my ears weren't 55, I'd call it "icepicky", i don't know. Sometimes at some places on the fretboard while playing a cord, it blends in with the other strings in an almost magical way and in other places it creates an annoying discordant sharpness. The Dude will not abide.

The strings are fairly new, not the strings it was shipped with. And while writing this post, I checked the intonation on the high E, and for what it's worth the fretted 12th was 662.3Hz and the harmonic was 658.6Hz. Other than change the strings I haven't done a thing to the guitar.

What can I do to correct this? Thanks.

 

[ICTGoober]

Re: Help with Ibanez Super 80 Flying Fingers weirdness

First off, I wouldn't blame your pickup. Something on the guitar is causing your string to do this, and the pickup is hearing it. Starting at the nut, is the nut slot breaking over to create an angle as the string heads to the tuner post? Is the string slot too low, and is the string vibrating on the fret? Is there any breakover angle at the bridge saddle? Check the saddle and nut slot for burrs. Have you changed strings? The cheapest thing that can go wrong on a guitar is the dime's worth of steel that you beat on to make music.

 

[That_Other_Nate]

Re: Help with Ibanez Super 80 Flying Fingers weirdness

Humm, sounds like I have work to do. Slot isn't low enough to cause string contact with the 1st fret. I'll check those other items tonight now that I know what else to look for. Thanks.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Help with Ibanez Super 80 Flying Fingers weirdness

I had a strat and a tele do that. It was the strings between the nut and tuners that was sympathetically ringing. (I didn't have any string trees on those two particular guitars)

Sitar-like sound is often some kind of fret buzz, or perhaps the pickups are too close and the string is hitting the pickup.

If you hit a hard power chord and mute the strings but still hear the sound, it's happening on either side of the nut or bridge, bridge parts, pickguard or other hardware. If you hit a power chord then mute the strings and the sound goes away, it's happening between the strings and the fretboard or pickups.

 

[That_Other_Nate]

Re: Help with Ibanez Super 80 Flying Fingers weirdness

Thanks ICTGoober (and beaubrummels)

I "improved" the break on the nut and lubed it with some graphite from my 0.5mm mechanical pencil...problem solved. The graphite in the pic goes well past where I stopped "improving". The bridge saddle looked and felt fine.

I was suspecting something between the electronics and the pickups. I guess I was suspicious because the the top vol & tone knobs control the neck pup, as usual, but the top tri-switch controls not the neck but the bridge pup, and of course the bottom knobs control the bridge but bottom tri-switch controls the neck. Seems wired wrong to me and if so, may have also been causing the symptoms I described.

But now I know, so again, Thanks!

 

[ICTGoober]

Re: Help with Ibanez Super 80 Flying Fingers weirdness

Kewlish, man. Glad you got it squared away.