just got a barden bridge and fralin pickups installed on my stock MIM tele today. they sound GREAT!! but what the hell is going on, my tele howls and feedsback like CRAZY whenever I use any gain at all... i'm talking tube screamer level gain, nothing crazy. Tried going straight to amp... same thing.... howl and feedback. the curious thing is that almost exactly 9 on the volume knob, I don't get feedback (mostly). Tried talking to the tech who installed it... he probably thinks i'm crazy and insists its just characteristic tele feedback... i just want to make sure from a third party source. I also tried pushing the pickup down all the way to the bridge... helped a little but not much. they aren't high output pickups (i think 3 or 5% overwounds). maybe bad pots?? bad shielding? crappy wiring job?? if it is a natural side effect of the 3 saddle bridge (which i suspect plays a role), then what can I do to control it?? behringer feedback destroyer??? any noisegate?? a graphic EQ to kill some high frequencies?? school me on killing feedback.
Sounds like classic microphonics. Are you getting it on both new PUPs independently? That's both statistically unlikely but possible - and a real bummer. Send both back to Lindy for wax (re)-potting. He only charges $10 a PUP plus shipping and will undoubtedly fix his own PUP for free. I'm sending him two of my unpotted PUPs on Friday for the very same treatment!
aha! the neck pickup doesn't have any problems. That's probably exactly it then... must I ship it out to lindy, or is it something that my tech can do??
cool cool.... I get "microphonic" noises when I touch the volume and tone knobs also... so that probably seals the deal. hopefully my tech can take care of this... but i'm slightly annoyed that he didn't notice it when he installed the pickups, but stuff happens. If not, i'll probably just find another SD area person who can do it. thanks guys.
I had this problem recently when using two different types of pickups. Fender and Duncan. They were out of phase, so we flipped one wire. It fixed the out of phase, but it was so noisy. Same type of issue when I touched the volume and tone pot. I put in two Antquities and it solved the issue. I've also owned a Fralin in which the bridge was very microphonic and he had to re-pot it. Good luck!
Hey Re-animator - Take a look at what type of spring is used on the 3 bridge pickup adjusting screws. If your tech used really tight springs, or really tight tubing, that can enhance feedback. The way the pickup sits in the bridge can have a lot to do with feedback, ESPECIALLY if part of the base or windings are touching the bridge plate. BTW, your tech's wrong about Tele feedback. Some Teles feedback sometimes, but I play pretty loud on mine and it doesn't feedback hardly at all unless I want it to, which I can control to a degree by leaning into or away from my amp. Turning the guitar's vol down a crack lowers the resonance peak of the circuit just enough to stop feedback in most Teles. I use the vol and tone control to taper the top end on all my Teles, following advice from long-time Tele players that I used to think was a bunch of crap ... before I actually tried it myself. It works. Thanks, Dana O.
the pickup is microphonic. Took it to a pickup specialist today to get it checked out. Its getting re-waxed over the weekend. I'll be back with fralin fury next week
Got re-waxed... whole 9-yards... unfortunately the feedback was only slightly lessened. It still howls whenever gain is applied. any more ideas??
+1 for JS. I also had to do a better cavity job of shielding on a Tele PLUS do a few other things due to dreaded Tellyhowl. Comes with the territory, but last year I got a Zion Fifty w/ 3 DM stacked pup's: no howling with that baby.
I had the same issue with my Antiquities ..... My bridge pickup squealed uncontrollably. I got the pick up howl under control but I still get tapping sounds from touching the control plate. What I did was use a thin piece (like 1/4") of foam and put it under the bridge where it made contact with the body - just in front of the pickup. it has seemed to cure this issue.
Even on a Tele with "good" microponics, the key is they must be controllable, if they're not, don't tolerate it no matter how many people tell you to get used to it. Hate to say it but it might be time to simply replace the offender.
A stacked pickup will significantly help this problem. A dual blade pickup will help this problem even more. If the cavity the pickup is sitting in is deep then that could cause some microphonic issues. Try stuffing the cavity a little with some styrofoam type material and see if that helps.
I will try the styrofoam thing... I REALLY like the sound of this pickup... very classic, very twangy, but still with great organic feel and definition. Would shielding help out??
