Humbucker squeal...out of control!

[TNJ]

The other guitarist in our rock band has an early 70's LP Custom...stock.
GREAT guitar...but the pickups are a bit thin, a bit bright and put out a WHOLE LOTTA SQUEAL with any type of overdrive or higher gain. Doesnt matter if he faces the amp or not...squeal city. It's driving me nuts, and he (in his ignorance) is blaming the amp. I know it must be the pickups (or at least emanating from the guitar), and would love to recommend a set of potted, lightly potted, or unpotted humbuckers with the best tone and no squeal. Maybe even have a good tech (whom I know) have a look at the pots/caps under the hood.

What would you guys recommend as replacements? Should we get our tech on the job? I say yes!

Thanks!
S.
j

[mjarema414]

The other guitarist in our rock band has an early 70's LP Custom...stock.
GREAT guitar...but the pickups are a bit thin, a bit bright and put out a WHOLE LOTTA SQUEAL with any type of overdrive or higher gain. Doesnt matter if he faces the amp or not...squeal city. It's driving me nuts, and he (in his ignorance) is blaming the amp. I know it must be the pickups (or at least emanating from the guitar), and would love to recommend a set of potted, lightly potted, or unpotted humbuckers with the best tone and no squeal. Maybe even have a good tech (whom I know) have a look at the pots/caps under the hood.

What would you guys recommend as replacements? Should we get our tech on the job? I say yes!

Thanks!
S.
j

Are they covered? IF so, I would take off the covers and put a small blob of silicone between the 2 middle slugs (not poles) of the pup, reattach the covers using a clamp to help the cover bind to the pup and resolder at both ends. IT should only take your tech a small amount of time to do this at home. Usually the covers are causing the feedback in unpotted pups.

[testing1two]

If you find that replacing the pickups is your best option as opposed to repairing, rewinding, and/or potting them then have a look at WCR pickups. They have a few fantastic models that are universally worshipped around here.

[Dana Olsen]

Hey Steve -

If you remove the covers yourself, be VERY CAREFUL, and use a solder sucker to remove all traces of solder around the pickup cover before you pull it off, and then check the inside of the cover AGAIN to make sure there aren't any sharp beads of solder hanging off it that could catch a tiny winding wire when you replace the cover.

Lets just say I found out about this the hard way in '79 ... with a REAL PAF, that's now half a real PAF, and half rewound.

It sounds to me like it's time to see the tech. It could easily be the covers being loose ... it could also be something else, and IIRC, not all those '70's Gibson humbuckers actually sound good, so maybe a replacement is a good idea anyhow, on it's own merits.

Good Luck, I hope you're well, Dana

[Bob V]

Sounds like your friend won't be convinced to go to the tech, so maybe as a stopgap measure you might suggest adjusting the height of the pickups - if there's something wrong in the tone quality as well as the squealing they may be too far from the strings (which would be weaker and brighter) prompting him to turn up the amp. Then when that doesn't work you're more likely to convince him to take it to a pro.

[TNJ]

Thanks guys...
I think taking it to my pal Jason at GuitarSale.com is just the trick.
That guy knows his stuff...if anybody can eliminate squeal by using the methods above, he can. I do think the other guitarist likes his tone (which is WAY different than mine with my Goldie/Wolfetones...and differing tone between 2 guitars in the same band is a GOOD THING.).
I've also heard good things about the WCR pups...and that MAY be an option down the road.

Hey Dana...doin' well here in the midwest! Spring finally got here!
How ya livin'?
:cool:

S.
j