feedback/howl on JB

mike2nyc

New member
Hey guys - anyone with an opinion on this, I would really appreciate the help!

I recently purchased an plain old F-Spaced JB with a gold cover (made that way out of the box) through a local luthier that uses SD pickups in his custom guitars (his brand of guitars uses pickups that have been made specially to his spec by the custom shop). Because of this I took his word on a problem with this pickup based on his experience with SD products on the following but now am doubtful.

I brought my guitar with me to a studio to
record with my friends. I plugged my guitar with the gold JB into a Marshall JCM2000 half stack. Out of 2 of the guitars totaling 4 humbucking pickups that we put through this amp my guitar was the only one that (very unmusically) fed-back and 'moaned' uncontrollably no matter which way I stood until I brought the gain back down to like 5 (in the same room as the amp) or how I held onto the strings when we cranked the gain on the amp past a certain level (the other pickup on my guitar a jazz with a gold cover added after purchased and was fine).

When I spoke to him about this he sort of dismissed it by saying that it was because the JB is high output and has alot of midrange. Now I am thinking that he said this to not deal with the problem and could possibly be a defect. I know that this is one of the most popular pickups ever for rock and have a hard time believing this because I never once read about that characteristic. I really need an unbiased opinion so I thought I would go to you guys!
Thanks,
Mike
 
Re: feedback/howl on JB

um, i have heard that high output pickups should never have a cover on them (increased feedback , sometimes unusable) so that might be ur problem. You could always exchange them for a pair without covers... They will still look great, but then everyone will also know that ur using SD :D
 
Re: feedback/howl on JB

I really think it must be the cover. I've had uncovered JBs with no feedback problems ever, but I got a guitar with a covered JB and it had awful feedback.
 
Re: feedback/howl on JB

It either needs heavier potting, which isn't too hard to do with parafin wax you can get at the grocery store. Or, it's vibrating within it's pickguard or ring, in which case you can strap some pieces of electrical tape across the bottom, and it'll kill that vibrating interaction. Sometimes, all it needs is eletrical tape or foam contacting the bottom to kill it.
 
Re: feedback/howl on JB

um, i have heard that high output pickups should never have a cover on them (increased feedback , sometimes unusable) so that might be ur problem.

That is not accurate.

Cover are fine on any pickup as long as they are potted correctly.
 
Re: feedback/howl on JB

I have a covered JB and it's great, always squeal free. It definitely sounds like a major potting issue, again, easy to fix as mentioned.
 
Re: feedback/howl on JB

the new guitar i just picked up has a gold JB and its fine, no problems whatsoever. I think gearjonser probably gave you the best answer you are going to get
 
Re: feedback/howl on JB

It's worth a couple of minutes to try the simple solutions before resigning to buy a new pickup, anyway.

Good luck...the JB is an awesome pickup. I love all of the ones I've used.
 
Re: feedback/howl on JB

I have a Dimarzio in my Epi that does the same thing, but only with certain pedals. I'll have to try out you guys' suggestions and see if they help!
 
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