I recently played a gig, and shortly after had 4 guitarists approach me - all of which wanted to check out my gear and compliment my tone.  We guitar players sure are geeks!  A quick look at my pedal board shows there isn't much to be excited about... Other than my EHX memory man delay, I don't have anything particularily high end or recognizable to your normal "The Gear Page" type guitar geek.   I play with one overdrive pedal - which, while amazing sounding, is home made and has a powerpuff girl sticker taped on it - so it doesn't really impressive (pics to come).   While some people buy into the home made thing, if you want to impress people with what you have (not with how you sound), you need gear that costs a bunch of money.  That's not a game I'm interested in - I just want things to sound as good as possible.  

So the pedals aren't that interesting... what about the amp?  Well, again, these guys were dissappointed.  I've got this little beat up looking tweed amp that used to house a blues junior (not a particularily high end amp).  I've gutted that, built something else... and now the amp only has 2 knobs, and the control panel features electrical tape to cover the extra holes, and handwritten marker to mark which knob is which.  Doesn't really look cool.  (sounds great though - as EVERY single component in the amp is top of the line and hand selected - custom transformers, speaker, vintage tone caps, sprague filter caps, etc...).  It just doesn't have that look of having spent a lot of money on something high end.

Each guitarist then went on to tell me something along the lines of,  "yeah, I used to play an amp too.  But since I've bought (insert multi fx of choice) along with (a few $200-$300 boutique pedals) and now I just plug in direct so I can really use the full range of the PA".  

To this, I would simply reply, "that's great.  I still really just enjoy my amp."   Rather quickly, the conversation would end.  

I don't totally disregard the plugging direct idea, but I've rarely heard it work well.  I tried doing it for nearly 5 years and thought it would be worth talking about what I saw as the pros & cons of amps vs. plugging in direct.

Pros of Real Amps (guitar amps - not a guitar into a keyboard or bass amp, or anything other than a guitar amp)

- A good tube amp still sounds better than any modeller I've yet to hear.
- Having your amp by you gives you more control over your sound
- Don't have to rely on the sound guy to give you guitar in your monitor
- A good tube amp compresses and reacts to your playing.  The feel is unmatched
- A well EQ'd mic'd amp almost always sounds good out front.
- Guitar amps are made for making the guitar sound good.  They take care of some of the EQ - less boomy lows, less brittle highs than a PA.
- Having stage volume lends itself to a more energetic & dynamic performance

Pros Going Direct

- you make the sound guy happier, as he is no completely in control of your sound.
- less to carry around - no more lugging amps
- A modelling device sounds much better through these than through an amp - though the amp without the modeller will still sound better.
- A modelling device offer a greater array of sounds.
- Saved presets in a modeller offer you consistency gig after gig.

Cons of Amps 
- Amps need a certain amount of volume to sound their best.  You need to get that speaker moving.  
- More to carry around
- You have to spend more $$$$ to get something that sounds really good.

Cons of Going Direct

- No control over your sound
- You rely on the monitor mix to hear yourself at all
- Often reduced dynamics (because of the lack of control over your sound).
- Clipping in a PA sounds HORRIBLE.
- You can't just plug the guitar straight in.  That sounds HORRIBLE  You need some sort of modelling device to make it sound like an electric guitar. (acoustic is a different ball game).  
- Because of that last remark , you need to spend more $$$$ to get something that sounds really good.  For the price of an AXE-FX, you can get a REALLY good amp.
- In many venues your group only gets 1 monitor mix.  For you to hear your guitar, you are going to have to battle with the singers in terms of volume of the guitar.  
- If using floor monitors - the guitar may cause more stage volume issues than an amp - simply because instead of guitar coming out of 1 speaker (from the amp), it is now coming from multiple sources (each monitor).
- Hard to change settings on the fly & hard to program sounds at home that sit right in the mix live.
- Guitarists often like to hear more lows & highs than are needed in the mix out front.  Unless you have 2 seperate boards - one for FOH and another for monitors, each being EQ'd differently, most guitarists are going to EQ their guitars in ways that make their ears happy, but are detrimental to the mix.  With an amp, the sound man simply rolls off some of the bass & highs that come from the mic.

My Personal Take

I think there is a place for both.  Modellers are awesome in the studio because of the versatility they offer.  They can be great for practicing too, as they can offer a wide array of inspiring tones.  Live, however, I feel that a good tube amp just sits better in the mix, and offers me a more dynamic playing experience.  I have yet to hear someone using a modelling device in a live setting where I felt that the player had really fantastic tone.  Sometimes good tone, more often, though, it has been really really bad.  If you want to do the modelling route live, you need to invest a lot of time & money.  With a simple tube amp, I can set up, stick a mic in front, and forget about it from there.  

As an electric guitarist, the amp is part of your instrument.  Part of being a musician is learning to master your instrument and playing with control over your sound.  If you feel you can do that with a modelling device and the million parameters available, then all the power to you.  I like to keep things simple so I can worry more about being musical.  

Of course, that may just be me...

Oh - and as a side note -the BOSS ME- whatever number follows is NOT all analogue, nor does all analogue = awesome tone.  Use your ears, and don't be sucked in by features, marketing, or the idea that if it cost more, it must be better. 


 

 There's a lot of things that factor into getting good tone from an electric guitar.  Hands, guitar, pedals (if any), and the amp, all contribute.  For the next few posts, I'm going to continue focusing mainly on the amp side of things.  Not because amps are the most important part of the equation, but they are AN important part of it.

While there are many factors that determine the overall sound of an amp, I'd suggest that speaker selection is one of the most important yet frequently overlooked parts of amp selection for most people.  Tube amp guys will swear by changing from sovteks to Electro Harmonix, or JJ tubes, or NOS mullards... but few experiment with speakers.   Probably because speakers are a little more cost prohibitive (though a good set of NOS tubes aren't cheap either).

Here's some things to consider with regards to speaker selection:

 1. Size

For guitar speakers, we typically see 10", 12" or 15" speakers.  There are a few smaller amps that have 6" and 8" speakers, but most professional amps don't.

As a generalization, the bigger the speaker, the more air it can move and the more extended frequency range it is capable of.  Read that again - extended frequency range - in both treble & bass.

Low end can be determined by a lot of other factors (such as cab dimensions, output transformers, amp design, etc...)  Remember that a lot of bass players like 2x10" cabs and 4x10" cabs.  So playing 10" speakers doesn't necessarily mean you don't have any lows.  I've got an avatar 2x10" tradition cab with celestion greenback 10's that sounds massive and full.  

However, a 15 will generally offer you more of everything - not only more low end - but more highs.  A lot of guitarists have never played through a 15 - they are really fun.  I had a traynor yba-4 with a 15 in it for a while and that amp was outstanding.  I'd still have it if it weren't for the weight.  The amp really sparkled in the high end, while having huge lows.  

Smaller speakers also feel different than larger speakers.  10's feel quite direct and have a fast response - great for lead players, and country stuff.  15's, on the other hand, are slower and can really suit jazz & blues players.  SRV liked to play a fender vibroverb with a single 15" speaker back in the day.  

I also feel that smaller speakers may mike up easier.  In studios, I've loved micing little amps with 6" or 8" speakers - they can really sound huge & punchy on tape.

Lastly, bigger speakers tend to be more efficient - so you get more volume from them.  More on this later. 

I personally think that different speakers really suit different purposes.  I find 10's really cut through a cluttered mix and bring out the essence of the guitar.  12's are an all around good speaker for a variety of applications, and 15s are great when I want to have as full a sound as possible - great for power trios.  

Some people hate 10's, some hate 12's some hate 15's.  You need to try out a bunch of configurations to find what works best for you.

2. Number of Speakers

Hand in had with that, is the number of speakers.  Having more than one speaker can really give a bit of complexity to your sound that isn't otherwise there.  Single speakers, on the other hand, sound more direct.  

Using multiple speakers also gives you the option of mixing different brands/models of speakers - which allows you to get even more complexity in your sound.  Certainly worth investigating.

While more speakers typically sound bigger, the will also sound louder.  Each time you double the number of speakers (assuming the same types of speakers and assuming the amp always sees the same ohms load), you gain about 3db in efficiency.  There are a lot of amps that seem under powered when run through a single 10" or 12" speaker, but totally rip your head off when put through a 4x12" cab.  If you need more volume - more speakers is one way of getting there.  Just make sure you are getting speakers that will match what the amp wants to see (more on this later).

If you do go the multiple speaker route, I recommend getting speakers wired in parallel.  If you want an 8ohm load, that would mean getting two 16ohm speakers.  Yes, you could wire in 2 4ohm speakers in series and get 8ohms, but if one of those speakers shorts, you are going to blow your amp.  In parallel wiring, if one speaker goes, the other simply starts taking the brunt of the work.

The downside of multiple speakers is that they weigh more, and take up more space.  While I'm know a full stack (2 4x12 cabs - 8 speakers!) sounds massive, I can't fit those cabs into my tiny hatchback.  These days, I generally play a single 12" or 2x10's, simply because it's so much easier to get around with.  Plus, I'm getting mic'd most places these days anyway.

3.  Speaker Efficiency

Something else to consider in selecting a speaker is how efficient it is.  A celestion blue is well known as a high efficiency speaker, at 100db sensitivity.  This is why a vox ac30 - at 30 watts, can keep up with a fender twin at 85watts.  If you need more volume from an amp, consider looking into the efficiency of the speakers you are using.  If you need less, do likewise.

4. Character / Brands

There are lots of speaker manufacturers out there, but I'm going to focus in on the two "classic" sounds - british and american.

British speakers tend to be more mid heavy and aggressive.  Celestion speakers are the iconic british speaker, but many brands, including Weber and Eminence, make great british sounding speakers.

American is more open, with more lows and sparkling highs.  Many of the classic amps associated with this sound used Jensen speakers.  Again Weber and Eminince make fantastic speakers in this tradition.

If your amp sounds fairly british to begin with - it will probably sound best with a british type of speaker design.  Likewise with the american ones.  I know from experience that a nice jensen can sound absolutely horrible/harsh in an 18 watt marshall.  Likewise, many celestions sounds too agressive and mid heavy inside of fender amps.  Matching a speaker to the amp is a fine art, but when you find the right match, it can really be magical.

5.  Ceramic vs. Alnico and others..

I've been told that in theory, one can design a ceramic speaker that sounds like an alnico speaker.  I'm not sure of this quite yet, but in general, ceramic and alnico are considered to have different qualitites to them.

Ceramic has a tighter sound.  The lows are often well defined, but the highs can sometimes be a little harsh depending on the design & the amp they are used in.  Most modern amps use these as ceramic speakers allow for better power handling, generally.

Alnico has a softer magnetic field, and more subtle highs.  The low end can often be somewhat muddy and less defined than the ceramic counter parts.  These are getting more and more expensive with rising nickel and cobalt prices.  Generally, alnico speakers have less power handling than ceramic speakers and are used in lower wattage amps.  They tend to sound more vintage to my ears.

6.  Tech Specs

Other considerations that shouldn't be overlooked at the impedance (ohms) and the power handling.  Tube amps are generally designed to sound optimal at a particular impedance.  Use what your amp recommends.  Some people will tell you that putting the wrong ohms into an amp stresses the OT, but that isn't correct logic... However, the amp was, most likely, designed around the idea that a particular ohm load was going to be seen - so, if nothing else, giving your amp that load will make the amp sound the way it was supposed to.  There may be subtle changes in volume by using different impedance speakers, but nothing to write home about...

In a solid state amp, however, the amp has a minimum impedance than can not be exceeded.  If the minimum impedance is 8ohm, don't go to 4 or 2.  16 will be safe, but will only give you about 50% of the output.

Remember - tubes and solid state behave differently in this regard.  Do what is right for the type of amp you have.

Also - consider how much wattage the speaker can handle.  In a tube amp, it is best to have a speaker than can handle a little more than the output wattage of the amp.  As we push a tube amp into overdrive, the wattage continues to go above it's rating.   To be safe - if I've got a 15 watt amp, I generally go with something like a 25 watt speaker.  Enough to get the speaker working, but not too close for comfort.  That said, today, most speaker manufacturers rate their speakers rather conservatively - simply because they know that people will often push them beyond their rating.  This is why an ac15 can work cranked up with a 15watt celestion without worries.  However, in general, I wouldn't advice anyone of taking that risk.

On the other hand, having a speaker that is too high a wattage rating might lack some of the character you might like from a speaker being pushed closer to its limits.  Speaker breakup is quite desirable for a lot of guitarists.  Likewise, a 100watt speaker is likely never going to get broken in and sound its best if you always play a 5 watt amp through it.  

No matter how much you like a speaker, it is worth considering these things before you buy.

Now, there's a lot more that I could likely say, but hopefully that's enough to get one started!

So I've been neglecting this blog a little too much lately.  I do intend to continue my tone articles, but I thought I'd update people on what I'm doing.

Just got a new gig playing with a band called Birds of Wales.  Well, I've atleast got 2 shows.  We'll see.  But things are good.  Really good.  Why?

1.  I'm playing in a band with lots of alt-country influences, which is something I've always wanted to do.
2.  I'm playing in a band with a major record deal and established fan base.
2.  I'm getting to play 2 sold out shows at the Horseshoe Tavern my first week in the band.
3.  I'm getting to open for an even bigger, legendary Canadian band - the Watchmen.

So it's been a good week.

So I thought I'd go through my gear a bit that I'll be using for these shows, and hopefully many more.

Amp

I've got a little amp that I built myself called the "hughes blues".  It's part marshall 18 watt, part vox ac15, part my own creation - but it's all tone. 

The amp started life off as a tweed blues junior that died after 13 years of hard labour.  I gutted the amp and originally built an 18watt lite IIb inside using nothing but the box, the chassis, and transformers.  I originally had a celestion greenback, which was a cool speaker, but a little too inefficient, and while very rock and roll, made the amp more of a 1 trick pony to me.  It was an amazing trick though!

Since then, I tossed in a custom wound output transformer courtesy of Dante at Island amps.  It has extremely low inductance, so it lets every nuance through, and has a HUGE core, so it really opened up the low end.  This transformer has a 20hz-20Khz frequency response. 

For the amp geeks out there - I increased the grid stoppers to 100K, dropped the grid leaks to 220K (like in a vox, giving more clean headroom and chime).  As this reduced the gain hitting the tubes, I the increased the coupling caps on the power tubes from 10nF to 22nF to let a little more low end through.  Likewise the 5nF cap at the front of the amp went up to 22nF.  This might make the amp too bassy for some, but it works well with such a small cab like in this combo.  So far I like all of these changes.  I also did the paul ruby fizz fix - similar to that used in 65 amps. 

I then tossed in a nicely broken in Eminance Wizard speaker.   The result is an amp with sparkling highs, big round bass that's clearly defined, and incredibly smooth breakup that never gets fizzy.   Plus it's only got 2 knobs - so it's hard to screw up your tone!

Guitar

I'm playing an 2002 gibson ES-333.  The pickups have been replaced with a seymour duncan jazz in the neck, and a 59' in the bridge.  Both have nickle covers on them (not chrome).   The guitar also has upgraded grover tuners and a 50's style pickguard added.  I've been playing this guitar so much that the "faded" finish looks quite polished now and everyone thinks it is a vintage Es-335.  I wonder if I should start claiming it is.  Would that give me more cred?

Not a super expensive guitar, but it really sounds and looks great.  I think that for this level of show, it's important to have an instrument that gives you cred and this one delivers for me. 

Pedals

I like to keep it simple so I can focus on playing and performing - not tap dancing.  I always only take the absolute minimum. I've got an EHX memory man on my board, a general guitar gadgets tubescreamer clone with the "very expensive boutique mods" done, a tuner and a dunlop volume pedal.  That's it.  At gig volumes I may not even use the overdrive.  We'll see.

Okay, enough being a geek.  Time to get back to practicing.

Oh - and here's a video of my amp as an 18watter with the original transformers and greenback.  It sounds pretty good - but it even better now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X49Gc1zRwvI

This past week I've been reminded, on numerous occasions, about one of the great challenges that faces guitarists - playing at the correct volume.  Every setting demands something different of us guitarists, and we need to be able to play at a volume that is at once complimentary to the rest of the band, doesn't rip off people's heads and yet still allows us to be heard. 

Here are a few secrets I've picked up:

1.  Amps don't NEED to be cranked:

If, like me, you use a tube amp, you know that amps sound best turned up.  However, while a lot of guitarists will tell you that you need to "crank" an amp, most amps (in my opinion) don't sound that great when they have all knobs turned to 11.  A lot of classic amps (including 5e3s, 18 watt marshalls, princetons, etc) go beyond a nice overdrive into some form of blocking distortion at the most extreme settings. 

Case in point - I've played a number of gigs with nothing more than a little 1966 fender vibrochamp, mic'd up through a P.A.  It sounded glorious, but really sounded it's best with the volume around 6.5.  At 10 it was just too buzzy.  Turning up to 10 certainly wasn't too loud.  This was a pretty loud venue, and even with it cranked, I couldn't have heard any of that amp at all if it weren't for my monitors. 

If you are going to "crank" an amp, that also doesn't mean everything else in your rig needs to be cranked.  I know buddy guy, and hendrix, and maybe clapton? are/were all known for cranking their amps up all the way, but they also held back a lot on their guitars.  Listen to hendrix at wood stock - there's a lot of clean tones there.  Same with buddy guy - he uses a lot of clean guitar sound.  Rarely do these guys ever let everything rip.  

Need some more examples?
 

• SRV used to crank his amps in his early days, but I've read articles from his amp tech saying that his tone was HORRIBLE, before his tech started to get him to turn down more.
• The Edge (U2) recently remarked that on the last 2 tours he's been running his amps a lot cooler and has been very happy with the results
• John Mayer runs his amps completely clean and uses pedals for overdrive and he's got great tone! 

2.  Do turn up

This may sound like it contradicts the last point,but it really goes hand in hand.  Some may disagree, but I personally feel you get a better sound from an amp turned up loud with the guitar turned down than the amp turned down and the guitar cranked.  Yes, you loose highs as you turn the guitar down, but you loose a lot of mids with the amp turned down.  More often than not, guitarists play with too much high end, and not enough mid range, so this helps you to deal with that.  Oh - and to regain highs, consider doing 50s wiring in your guitar, or a treble bleed circuit - oh and change those 68k input resistors in your fender/marshall amps to 10K, it'll still get rid of RF noise without hurting your highs as you turn the guitar down.

More importantly, though, volume = dynamics & feel.  With extra volume on tap, you can back off not only your guitar volume, but how hard you play.  A softer touch allows you to have a more singing tone, be more expressive, and sound more in tune (as opposed to bending strings out with a rock hard grip, or over plucking).  This requires you to LISTEN & PRACTICE though.  The end result should, more or less, give you the same volume as before you turned up - maybe even softer.

I think this technique can't be stressed enough.  Every other instrument worries about it, but guitar players end up getting bogged down thinking some piece of gear might be the answer.  If my drummer is too loud, he has to play softer.  If a trumpeter is too loud, he/she has to listen and work on blending in.  If a singer is too loud in a choir, they have to learn to hold back a bit (and maybe get positioned somewhere else in the choir).  As a guitarist, I think it is to our advantage to start thinking about how to control volume from your hands.

3.  Wattage does not = Volume

Yes, in general a 100 watt amp will be louder than a 5 watt amp, but not always.  There are a lot of variables - particularly relating to speakers & speaker effiency... 

The math isn't 100% correct here, but it gives me a ballpark figure.  Using the SPL calculator here:  http://myhometheater.homestead.com/splcalculator.html  I can learn that if I use my 18 watt amp along with a 12" eminance wizard (103db sensativity), and 2x10" cab with eminance legends (100 db each = 103db cab),  that at 4 feet away I should be able to get 116.8dB SPL before clipping. 

Meanwhile, if I run a 50 watt plexi into my 2x10" cab with celestion greenbacks (95db senesativity each), I get a mere 113.3dB SPL reading.  Meaning the 18 watt should sound noticably louder.

High wattage amps, however, generally sound noticably different from low wattage amps.  Wattage doesn't necessarily give you volume but it gives you the following:

• More low end (bass frequencies require more energy to be amplified)
• More head room
• A "bigger" amp feel

Depending on what sound you like, this may or may not be a good thing.  Additional bass frequencies aren't always something you want out of a guitar amp.  Headroom might be though.  The bigger transformers in the higher wattage amps tend to give you a cleaner sound, and tend to be a little more "open" sounding to me.

These days, I have both an 18 watt amp and a 50 watt amp.  Both can be loud enough for most situations and too loud for a good number of sitautions.  The 18 watter is a rock & roll machine, snarling, cutting mid range and lots of compression.  The 50 watts offers me more headroom and a somewhat "bigger" guitar sound that is better in trio situations and is much more refined sounding. 

When it comes to buying an amp, I suggest looking at wattage as a way of thinking about what kind of feel an amp will give you rather than how loud it will be.  Oh - and if you are playing at home/at church - realize no tube amp will give you a cranked tone at low volumes.  1 Watt can still put out as much as a trumpet - which is certainly enough to annoy a lot of people if used correctly (incorrectly?).  Personally, I'd rather have an amp with a bit too much power than an amp without enough.

4.  Real volume vs. Percieved Volume

I can't offer the scientific explaination for this part, but I once heard this on a science documentary and have seen it to be true again and again.  Basically, volume comes down to this - the ear can handle a LOT more volume if things sound balanced/full than if it sounds harsh or out of balance.   

One group that I play with frequently rarely ever recieves a complaint on their volume and we play LOUD.  We don't mic the guitar amp, but I'm able to crank up a 50watt plexi in this group in small rooms.  By itself, this amp is incredibly loud, but balanced with the bassit's 400 watt amp, and a PA with 4 15" subs, 3 way, high definition main speakers,  and a whole bunch of other good sounding equipment, and you stop noticing how loud the guitar amp is.  Rather, everything just seems balanced.  With all of that, we often have people coming and asking us to turn up a bit more.

I've sat in with other bands where a 15 watt amp set on 1.5 on the volume was far too much.  The sound system was too bright/harsh, and my ears were exhausted after the gig.  The small PA mains didn't have a lot of power, put were cranked/clipping to keep up with the band.  The bassist was playing what should be considered a practice amp which was disorting and underpowered.  The keyboard player had a knack for choosing cheesy sounds and had brought his own 400 watt PA just for his sound and was blasting away.  Patrons were complaining about the volume of the group being too loud.  In my estimation (other than the keyboardist), no one was really too loud.  Those volume complaints were more about balance.  You average person doesn't know what is too loud, they just notice that something is hurting their ears.  It seems counter intuitive to suggest that anyone turn up!

Same thing applies to home stereos & DJ's.  Since iTunes has turned everyone into a DJ, I see a lot of wedding DJ's playing out with just 2 wimpy little speakers that are underpowered for what they are doing.

I don't know what it is, but most music audio equipment has a way of sounding loud when pushed to the limits.  I think it has something to do with the fact that we've been conditioned to think that distorted guitars = loud guitars.  In the same way, a distorted PA makes the band sound too loud for its own good.   Everything starts sounding thinner, and the lack of clarity just seems to hurt our ears.  

As a guitarist, this means several things.  First off, it means that fitting into the mix has more to do with EQ than volume.  Sometimes, it is better to turn down some high end, and turn up the amp.  Finding your place in the mix isn't just about getting your sound happening, but making sure that you also have a good band sound happenning.  To decide what to do with your guitar sound, listen to the whole band.  Is there too much low end?  Turn down your bass knob.  Too much high end?  Turn down your treble.

Secondly, and I can't stress this enough - roll back how much distortion you play with.  Just as the PA disorting makes the band sound too loud, distortion is often percieved by others as being louder, even when it isn't.

Thirdly - not to disregard my second point, but make sure your distortion is louder than your clean sound.  There's something really strange sounding about quiet distortion.  Give the ear what it wants to hear.

Well, I think that's all I have time for right now.  Hopefully that's helpful to someone out there.

 

Blogging has, to the best of my knowledge, already started to fade away.  Micro blogging, through twitter and facebook, has become the norm for day to day people and youtube video blogs are a big hit.  In an effort to be somewhat reactionary, I've decided to start a good, old fashioned blog.  I think it will help me connect my passions, not only as a guitarist, but also as an educator and one who loves to share ideas. 

So what kinds of topics will we see here?

Well, mainly I hope to share my thoughts as a professional guitarist:

Technique
Theory
Gear
Tales from Gigs
and just general thoughts on the music business as I experience it.
. 
In the past, I've played cruiseships, wedding bands, blues bands, jazz bands, original rock and pop projects, as well as having spent a number of years in church music ministry (which is something I'm actually starting to think about getting back into, after a few years away).   I'm currently located in London, Ontario, Canada and while it is not exactly a hub for the music industry, being located only  2 hours from either Toronto, or Detriot, places me in close proximity to a lot of opportunities.

Anyway, that's plenty for an introduction.  See you later.



Patrick