Something wrong with my guitar ?

[Maddnesss]

Hello, i'm having trouble finding a good sound no matter what the preset i choose, even tried ownhammer IR's still sounds so bad, idk how to describe it, thin, muddy, no sustain, weak, warbling, really horrible imo.

I've watched plenty of videos & i'm sure the problem isn't the helix.

I'm running guitar straight into rme babyface pro & helix native listening through seinnheiser hd598.

 

At this point i'm wondering if it's not the guitar itself that has a ground wiring or pickup problem, i don't have a real amp nor a 2nd guitar & cables to compare unfortunately.

The input jack on my guitar is a bit loose & i had that pop sound + background noise when moving it around but it seems to be gone somehow now, still sounds horrible.

Pickups are EMG-HZ H4 & EMG-HZ S3

 

Here's some quick examples where i'm switching pickups & playing with pot :

 

in od exemple on bridge pickup i'm completely losing the distorsion, getting a weak clean signal still.

On clean example you can hear the pot at the end making scratchy noises if it means anything ?

& the brit plexi one is just how bad it sounds on pretty much all presets.

 

https://soundcloud.com/user-120627922/sets/helix-native/s-Rm24O

 

Thanks for the help.

[phil_m]

Sounds like what you’d typically hear with a dying battery in your guitar.

[Maddnesss]

Thanks for the reply, do you mean pickups battery ? I thought about that but those emgs are passives version

[soundog]

If that clean sound is straight through your babyface into a DAW track, yeah you got something wrong. Isolate the guitar signal first. Check the wiring. Check your cable. I'd try to isolate guitar and cable first (plug into an amp) before you start adding other pieces to the puzzle (like your interface, computer, DAW, plug-ins). If the guitar sounds bad through an amp, fix it or seek a good tech.

[fflbrgst]

Take your guitar (and cable) to a music store and ask to plug into one of their amps, since you don't have one of your own.

[colek98]

Exactly what kind of guitar do you have? If you don't have a high quality guitar, you will always struggle. Believe me I know. My first guitar cost $89 at JC Pennys. A Global Les Paul copy. Then I got a strat knockoff - brand can't even remember. Upped my game to mid level guitars. I could get some good sound - but I had to have sparkling new strings tuned to perfection and I had to beat the MF snots out of em to get em to speak. Recently got a Les Paul Traditional. Big difference. Still gotta work it - but yeah, my Lessy's got a big MF mouth and she is completely fluent in the language of rock n roll.

 

You can get a pretty good guitar for prolly around 6-800. Do some research. Google best electric guitars. If you can't spring for a new guitar, do this:

 

1. Good NEW strings - I recommend Elixers - They got a great tone and last 5x as long as other strings. I like the coating on them too - keeps ur fingers from gettin eaten up.

2. Get a clip on tuner. You might find your strings slip outta tune - will drive u crazy. Clip on tuner with a bright clear display make things much better.

 

[Maddnesss]

Thanks for the replies, been busy but i'll go in a shop soon to make sure it's not something related to guitar components then i'll update this thread hopefully when i find the solution, i tried playing with settings, level input etc & it always sounds like trash.

 

My bro came in with his guitar which is a cheap  cort x2 or something, & new cables, it sounded trash aswell so that made it even worse for me, i was hoping it to sound ok so i would know for sure it's my pickups or whatever & just fix it and be done with this.

 

I'm actually scared it could be the babyface which i just bought used ?

 

@colek98 My guitar is an old 400€ cort evlx4 with passives emgs & elixir polyweb, i noticed on helix native that the input level was lower & lower the higher the string i picked so maybe it's related to string height, but i'm not convinced just height would drastically change the sound since even the lower string on itself sounds bad.

 

I'm gonna upgrade eventually to a charvel dk24 but i'm waiting namm show to hopefully have a new model with stainless steel frets, still i would like to know what the problem is first, if i spend 1k & it still sounds bad i'm gonna be pissed.

 

Oh & here's another recording i made before i gave up playing with settings.

 

[colek98]

On 12/8/2019 at 11:58 AM, Maddnesss said:

"I'm gonna upgrade eventually to a charvel dk24" ....

 

That's funny. I bought a charvel dk24 yesterday. :D

 

Also a Marshall DSL20.

 

And a HX Stomp - 

 

My take after two days working with it?

 

Between using:

my PC - thus the stock sound card - 

whatever audio interface

My junky stereo monitors

whatever DAW

whatever headphones

whatever ASIO

 

All these can interfere with one's ability to discern with whether your output is up to snuff or no. A lot of potential pitfalls. And honestly, too many clicks thru the DAW / PC - too many wires - too many drivers 

 

I got rid of the whole mess - bought a HX Stomp - plugged in the guitar and the headphones - and yes - you can definitely hear the Helix quality - it's there -

 

And so far I like the DK24 - superfast and great sound - not sure I'm confident about the whammy bar tho. I keep a clip on SNARK tuner on the head checking the tuning constantly - PITA - but worth it for the action and sound. I might ditch the whammy or upgrade to floyd rose idk - but the guitar plays and sounds awesome. It's a good choice.