gibson 57 classic problem

A

andrew96

New member
hi i have a problem with one of my guitars it is a hand made les paul copy that i made a year ago.
it has a 57 classic that apparently is wax potted an oem pickup and a master volume that is a push pull to switch between pickups.
the body is made of a soft wood known as paulownia it was dumb to use it but my teacher bought it so i did.
any ways to the point it can't handle much gain whenever the gain is to much it makes this really loud high pitch squealing noise that sounds terrible.
i tried putting aluminum foil in the cavity i also tried lowering the pickup nothing is helping.
does any one know any way to fix this without taking the guitar apart or at least why its doing this ill try to post a pic
 
Re: gibson 57 classic problem

The squealing sound is microphonic howl. Typically, for humbucking pickups, this can be traced to the air gap between the bobbins and the metal cover. The next likeliest cause is a poorly fitting height adjustment screw and spring. (Replacing the spring with compressible rubber tubing could help.)

Are your pickup surrounds fabricated in metal? How well do these fit against the top of your guitar?
 
Re: gibson 57 classic problem

they don't have a pickup cover but they do have a metal pickup ring and aluminum foil in the cavity
 
Re: gibson 57 classic problem

my guesse is they probably messed up when wax potting it just wanted others opinions
 
Re: gibson 57 classic problem

Do you use tubes in your amp set up. This squealing is typical for microphonic input tubes.
 
Re: gibson 57 classic problem

Those humbuckers are really close together. Could they be interfering with each other? Does aluminum foil work as shielding?
 
Re: gibson 57 classic problem

andrew96 said:
my guess is they probably messed up when wax potting it
Click to expand...

So, to clarify, the Gibson '57 Classic squeals under high gain amplification but the no-name OEM pickup does not. :scratchch

More photographs would help. The top of the guitar around the pickups. Inside the control cavity. Close-ups of your soldering. Images of the Gibson humbucker - the tops of both bobbins and, in particular, the baseplate fastening screws.
 
Re: gibson 57 classic problem

no the oem does but its not wax potted i just like how it sounds aluminum foil does work they put it on the back of a strat pickguard also yes i was using a 5 watt tube amp with an fab overdrive and a eq set like a treble bosster and i just found out if i turn the settings down on the od it works but may digitech rp70 when its on and on the setting 1 which sounds like slashes set up for sweet child it does it real bad which is what i was using before without any other petals and it has a noise gate built in that setting my guesse is that its not wax potted or never got finished when it was at gibson i csant solder worth **** but i understand how to make a diagram and how they work and such ill post more pics
 
Re: gibson 57 classic problem

andrew96 said:
i was using a 5 watt tube amp with an fab overdrive and a eq set like a treble booster
Click to expand...

High gain pedal overdrive AND a whole bunch of additional boosted high frequencies, huh? Small wonder that the guitar is squealing.
 
Re: gibson 57 classic problem

also just took a measurement the string pressed down on the last fret is 3 mill to 1/8" off the bobbin also could the pickups interfere with each other if so i'll take the oem out just want to make sure
 
Re: gibson 57 classic problem

i fixed it i guess the pickup was like a mm to close i had to push it farther in because the cavity is to tight thank you
 
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