noisy picking

[cat_eyes_gb]

guys, need your help. is it possible to eliminate all "noise" (buzzing, harmonics etc.) when sweep picking arps (or any kind of picking for that matter) without muting the strings w/the picking hand? i tried everything i could think of (hand relaxed, close to the fretboard). is it me, or my guitar, my amp (i play clean with the mid all cranked up), will i get it if i just practice? im friggn' gonna explode already...arrgh

[TheDirt]

I mute with both my left and right hands while playing. If you have harmonics and buzzing with sweep picking, then your problem is most likely in your left hand muting. Having a really hot guitar output, or if you've kicked up the overdrive heavily on your amp, then you'll have more trouble properly muting the notes, but what it amounts to is practice that you need. Go really slowly and examine exactly where the problem lies. Once you fix it, you'll be able to play the same passage fast smoothly, but as a general rule, if you can't play it well slow, then you probably won't be able to play it well fast.