Howling feedback sound from C5?

[KLINKDETROIT]

My pickup or amp is making a low frequency howl . It goes away when I touch the pickup or when the gain is turned almost halfway on my dual rectifier. I like my gain around 2 or 3 oclock and would like to remedy this. One guy said my wires may be too long on the unsheilded wires before the solder? All my guitars do it to varying degrees so I am sure the amp is partially to blame but am wondering why it goes away when the pickup is touched? Its like a loop is stopped when the pickup is stopped from moving? I play my amp around 2 or 3. Its a 100 watt 2 channel and has been heavily modded but didnt make the howl until I changed pickups. I have a C5 bridge and a 59 neck.

 

[dd12939]

Re: Howling feedback sound from C5?

I have the same pickup combo as you and haven't experienced any of that... granted I'm dealing with a lower wattage SS amp... I'm in the dark here really. Someone else on the board ought to know though.

 

[mongrollo]

Re: Howling feedback sound from C5?

Does the noise also go away when you touch the screws? If it does it seems that you haven't solder properly the ground conection of the pickup. The pickup should have 4 conductors of diferent colors and a fifth bare conductor. This bare conductor it is soldered to all the metal parts of the pickups. It have to be allways sold to the ground so all the noise picked up by this parts go to ground. When you touch the pickup are supplying this conection.

 

[KLINKDETROIT]

Re: Howling feedback sound from C5?

I will have my local tech resolder the connections etc. and see what happens then? Thanx

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Howling feedback sound from C5?

With super highgain amps, it's very necessary for the pickup to be potted. At the factory, they pot them fairly light. The howling is usually high pitched, but can be low pitched too. Try this...unscrew the pickup ring's outer 4 screws, pull the pickup out, and stuff some foam rubber or bubblewrap under the pickup, giving some tension against the bottom of the pickup. See if that howl goes away. If not, I'd remove the pickup from the ring, dunk it in liquid parafin cooking wax (potting) till the little bubbles rise out of the pickup, then throw it in the fridge. Clean it off, then reinstall it. That should get rid of your problem.

Also, don't rule out a microphonic preamp tube. With the amp on, lightly tap each tube with a pencil, and see if any make a loud noise. I actually had the problem you're describing once, and I swapped out the power tubes and the problem went away. It's either a bad tube or a pickup that needs potting.

 

[KLINKDETROIT]

Re: Howling feedback sound from C5?

Thanx alot. I tried every combination of tube swapping so I am sure it is not the tubes. I think you may be right I will try the bubble wrap under the pickup then the wax if necessary. The guy that modded the amp said that my wires are too long and unsheilded. Will this make it howl?

 

[KLINKDETROIT]

Re: Howling feedback sound from C5?

I tried the bubble wrap and it worked. I still have the problem a little but about 90% of it is gone. If I waxed the pickup would it alter the tone?

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: Howling feedback sound from C5?

Wax potting should not affect the tone of the C5 at all. It was potted at the factory, but may have just gotten to light of a dose. Just follow Gearjonsers directions for potting it and that SHOULD eliminate your remaining issues.

 

[KLINKDETROIT]

Re: Howling feedback sound from C5?

I read somewhere on this site that wax potting makes the pickup more midrange and takes away positive features? How true is this?

 

[Johnny Q]

Re: Howling feedback sound from C5?

My pickup or amp is making a low frequency howl . It goes away when I touch the pickup or when the gain is turned almost halfway on my dual rectifier. I like my gain around 2 or 3 oclock and would like to remedy this. One guy said my wires may be too long on the unsheilded wires before the solder? All my guitars do it to varying degrees so I am sure the amp is partially to blame but am wondering why it goes away when the pickup is touched? Its like a loop is stopped when the pickup is stopped from moving? I play my amp around 2 or 3. Its a 100 watt 2 channel and has been heavily modded but didnt make the howl until I changed pickups. I have a C5 bridge and a 59 neck.

My C5 did the exact same thing. It would vibrate into a low frequency howl and stop when I pressed my finger against the plastic. I removed the pickup from the guitar, placed some strips of black electrical tape on the bottom of the pickup - problem solved!