Vox help: whistling sound with intervals, chords?

[dswo]

This past week I purchased the Vox Mini Superbeetle, which is based on the Nutube technology in the MV50 series. I like the sound of it a lot, but when I play chords and intervals I frequently hear a high-pitched sound not unlike a whistle; it decays with the chord. I've been exploring the clean end of the amp, around 20-35% gain. It sounds nice and jangly! The problem is that soft little whistle. Here's what it sounds like with a Les Paul on the neck pickup:



Is this user error? A known "feature" of Vox amps? (This is my first.) Something I should return the amp for?

My amp settings are below. The first thing someone might say is "Turn that treble down!" I did try that: the harmonic-like whistle is still there, loud and clear. Other things I've tried: different cable, different guitar (Strat). Actually most of my testing has been with a Strat on the middle pickup. I've also tried moving to another room, turning off all lights, computer. I'm not aware of this sound at all when playing single notes. The place where it's most evident: open D chord.

 

[LGOberean]

dswo, I have to say I'm not hearing it. I listened to that sound clip like a half dozen times, and still couldn't hear it.

However, my ears aren't the best for this kind of thing. I've had tinnitus 24/7 for 31 years. The sound that's constantly in my ears isn't as much a "ringing" as it is a cross between a high-pitched whistle and a hissing, static sound. So I do miss things.

But I'm replying in your thread anyway, not only because I'm personally interested in the amp, but also so that this will bump up your thread and hopefully get you some more replies.

 

[Frontier9]

I don't hear it either... I still have pretty good hearing and I'm listening on decent studio monitors.

 

[clintj]

Are you certain it's the amp? I hear a ringing, almost like a ghost note above the chord. It sounds similar to one of two guitar noises I've heard on some Fenders: one is the string ringing against a fret, the other is the string buzzing behind the nut, usually on the G string from too shallow a break angle across the nut. Treble heavy, jangly amps can pick that up.

 

[Silverface]

Other than some slight fret noise (usually caused by non-crowned "aircraft carrier" frets) I hear nothing wrong.

What do you mean by "intervals"? An interval is simply the distance (in pitch) between any two notes - are talking about "octaves", or some type of specific "double stop"?

Anyway - I listened through my audiophile system, studio monitors and Bose earbuds and heard no "whistle" or anything out of the ordinary (other than the slight amount of fret buzz mentioned earlier) . FWIW I just had extensive hearing tests because of an illness triggered by a flu shot last year and I have no high-frequency degradation (which is amazing at my age - all those years of on-stage hearing protection worked!).

Sorry -

 

[dswo]

Are you certain it's the amp? I hear a ringing, almost like a ghost note above the chord. It sounds similar to one of two guitar noises I've heard on some Fenders: one is the string ringing against a fret, the other is the string buzzing behind the nut, usually on the G string from too shallow a break angle across the nut. Treble heavy, jangly amps can pick that up.

Thank you, everyone who listened, whether you replied or not. That includes you, Larry, who bumped this thread!

Listening to the clip again, what I called a "whistle" jumps out at me again, but maybe "ringing" is a better term.

This morning, before work, I had convinced myself it was feedback, but then I recollected that I could hear the same thing through headphones, so that theory went down... I haven't tested the line out into a PA yet (not having anything bigger than 5" studio monitors), but I can report that the amp sounds quite pleasant through headphones.

In my efforts to understand the problem, I tried to reproduce the ringing on a couple of other amps, a Monoprice-badged Laney 12 (which I learned about on this forum) and the "British 60s" model on a Fender Mustang GT 40. I could get some ringing with the Monoprice/Laney, but that amp doesn't really want to jangle. I could get more with the Mustang modeler, when I set the gain and EQ to roughly the same as the actual Vox.

I didn't think of it this way until Silverface and clintj suggested fret noise, but being able to reproduce the ringing on other amps suggests an issue with the guitar. I'll have someone look at the frets. I'd rather deal with that than send the amp back, which I am enjoying otherwise.

In the meantime, any thoughts on why the Vox seems to emphasize this particular sound, and what I can do to push it into the background?

I know Vox amps are known for their "chime," and I was able to get some of that with the Mustang. In fact, I'd been playing my Mustang patch, "Vox Chime 1," almost exclusively for the previous three weeks. But that patch had a big notch in the middle -- probably because my ear was trained on a Princeton. My next patch, "Vox Chime 2," will put the mids back in, and I expect in consequence to hear more of the Vox "grind" that I had given up getting from a modeler.

 

[Silverface]

In the meantime, any thoughts on why the Vox seems to emphasize this particular sound, and what I can do to push it into the background?

Not much really - and the "reality check" is that if you play live - or even record, as evidenced by these results - it's one of those little things only you hear. 50+ years of playing have taught me two lessons - 1) I'm SERIOUSLY anal about the tone that comes from my gear and playing, and 2) 99.9% of everybody else can't hear the little details - so I've learned to live with them.

I've done the same types of surveys, and finally figured out that if other *players* can't hear them the average listened absolutely won't.

It wouldn't stop me from from doing a major fret dressing and setup - relief, leveling if necessary, crown, polish, and action checks at the saddle and nut/1st fret (the single most neglected setup item). I do more full setups than any other type of work nowadays, and most guitars - including high-end new ones - have what I consider to be very poor setups. Most players are very surprised what a professional setup does if they've never had it done before - not just in playability, but sound.

 

[Digsy94]

This past week I purchased the Vox Mini Superbeetle, which is based on the Nutube technology in the MV50 series. I like the sound of it a lot, but when I play chords and intervals I frequently hear a high-pitched sound not unlike a whistle; it decays with the chord. I've been exploring the clean end of the amp, around 20-35% gain. It sounds nice and jangly! The problem is that soft little whistle.

Is this user error? A known "feature" of Vox amps? (This is my first.) Something I should return the amp for?


View attachment 553681

I know this is an old thread, but I'm here hoping you confirmed the cause was the frets or found a solution...

I bought the Mini SuperBeetle earlier in the year. I will sometimes hear the same "whistle" or ringing through my amp. I also hear the exact same sound through your SoundCloud clip...

For a while I suspected it was the guitar as well and have had it in for a setup but the noise persists. Guitar is a Tele-style Godin.

It seems some people hear the noise and some can't, as I've asked a few others and no one can hear it, including the shop where I bought it. I started to think it was all in my head, or maybe that it's normal for electric guitar (I've only had acoustic in the past).

Anyways, please let me know if you or anyone else has figured it out.

Thanks!

 

[dswo]

I bought the Mini SuperBeetle earlier in the year. I will sometimes hear the same "whistle" or ringing through my amp. I also hear the exact same sound through your SoundCloud clip...

For a while I suspected it was the guitar as well and have had it in for a setup but the noise persists. Guitar is a Tele-style Godin.

It seems some people hear the noise and some can't, as I've asked a few others and no one can hear it, including the shop where I bought it. I started to think it was all in my head, or maybe that it's normal for electric guitar (I've only had acoustic in the past).

1. When I played the recording on my office computer speakers, I couldn't hear the noise myself. I wondered whether I had just been imagining or "overhearing" something. But when I listened to the recording again at home, on better monitors, the whistling sound was clear.

2. I returned the amp with very mixed feelings. I liked it a lot, but that whistle was just killing my buzz. Several months later I purchased a used Vox Pathfinder 15R, which I'm pretty happy with. Not as cool or good-looking as the MSB, though. I've thought about buying another MSB, but your message here gives me pause. And the Pathfinder really does give me that clean Vox chime that I wanted.

Here's how I summed up my MSB experience in the main thread:

https://www.tdpri.com/threads/vox-b...-mini-super-beetle.843996/page-9#post-8703208

 

[Digsy94]

1. When I played the recording on my office computer speakers, I couldn't hear the noise myself. I wondered whether I had just been imagining or "overhearing" something. But when I listened to the recording again at home, on better monitors, the whistling sound was clear.

2. I returned the amp with very mixed feelings. I liked it a lot, but that whistle was just killing my buzz. Several months later I purchased a used Vox Pathfinder 15R, which I'm pretty happy with.

Here's how I summed up my MSB experience in the main thread:

Thanks, I appreciate you following up!

It's funny. I was playing last night and didn't really notice the sound at all. There were a couple times I could hear it when I really tried to find it, by playing around with the pickup positions and gain. I tend to notice it most on an open G chord if I let the G and B strings ring out. That's where I found it last night.

I'm otherwise happy with the amp though. It looks great and sits nicely in my common room. I find I'm more inclined to practice and play if it's convenient and easily accessible, and that's probably more important to me at this time.

I might reach out to Vox at some point to ensure it's not a defect, but given that you found the same I'm inclined to think it's just the nature of the MSB. I also watched a few YouTube videos and convinced myself I could occasionally hear it then as well, albeit not as pronounced. Perhaps it's just our ears!

Thanks again!

 

[dswo]

I tend to notice it most on an open G chord if I let the G and B strings ring out.

That sounds familiar. I think it's emphasizing certain frequencies. Pickups can do the same.

It looks great and sits nicely in my common room. I find I'm more inclined to practice and play if it's convenient and easily accessible

That's worth a lot. The MSB is the only amp my wife has commented on, visually, and the notice was positive.

 

[Digsy94]

That sounds familiar. I think it's emphasizing certain frequencies. Pickups can do the same.

That's worth a lot. The MSB is the only amp my wife has commented on, visually, and the notice was positive.

Indeed. It seems superficial but if it looks great I can leave it out permanently, which makes a quick practice session that much easier and more likely. Removing barriers is a good thing.

Thanks again for the comments. I'll follow up here if I ever figure it out or find a solution. As it stands, I believe it's just a matter of "that's just how it sounds". It will be interesting to see if others hear it as more MSBs end up in the public.

 

[radiocaster]

Are you certain it's the amp? I hear a ringing, almost like a ghost note above the chord. It sounds similar to one of two guitar noises I've heard on some Fenders: one is the string ringing against a fret, the other is the string buzzing behind the nut, usually on the G string from too shallow a break angle across the nut. Treble heavy, jangly amps can pick that up.

Yeah, that's what I was going to say, the strings behind the nut or behind the bridge (I play semi-hollow bodies a lot).

I had to really crank it to hear it, I'm not that young. But I did hear it.

Probably cabinet resonances or something, or maybe the digital nature of the power amp. Take it with a grain of salt, I could be posting nonsense.

But my all means try it with a different cab if you have access to one.

 

[dswo]

Probably cabinet resonances or something, or maybe the digital nature of the power amp. Take it with a grain of salt, I could be posting nonsense.

But my all means try it with a different cab if you have access to one.

When I had the amp, the whistle was also audible through headphones, which suggests it's a feature of the head voicing. Like Digsy94, I concluded "that's just how it sounds."