problem from magnet swap. Need help with diagnosis

[thebowl]

Inspired by a thread on this board, I recently acquired a set of A4 magnets, and installed them into a Duncan JB and a Duncan 59, in a Prestige Musician Pro that I own. I initially tried to de-solder the pickup covers, instead of just using a utility knife to cut through the solders, which is how I ultimately got the covers off. There was a small amount of wax melt from using the iron, and I tried to be careful re-soldering the covers back on. I solder a fair bit, but I did have some trouble getting the solder to flow, when putting the covers back on.

The guitar sounded great, initially. The A4s took the edge off the upper mids, and gave the guitar an open, almost acoustic sound. However, I began to get static in the low-mids, which has become increasingly pronounced, and it completely tied to the strings being played. Can I assume that I need to either remove the covers, or re-flow the solder grounding the covers?

 

[Chistopher]

Re: problem from magnet swap. Need help with diagnosis

I've never heard of this issue before but I'm interested to know if anyone else has, so just consider this a friendly bump.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: problem from magnet swap. Need help with diagnosis

That same thing happened to me with the static. I had forgot to trim the capacitor leg and it was making contact with the foil on the pickguard making a loose connection to ground. I don't think a bad solder joint on your covers could cause that but it's possible. So if they look fine it definitely could be something else grounding out or partially disconnected in your circuit.

Also, if you want to handle the solder tasks which need a lot of heat easily, I recommend a cheap $20 100 watt soldering iron. It beasts jobs like covers which would take forever for your main iron to heat up. Too hot for lugs though. Usually after I get everything soldered to the back of my pots with my 45 watt, I'll come back with the 100 watt for a moment on top of the leads, and it liquifys the solder immediately and makes an unstoppable connection.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: problem from magnet swap. Need help with diagnosis

Oh noo IT'S BACK. Looks like I'm on the hunt too. It only happens on my bridge pup split. I'm hot on the trail.

 

[YeRedHouseOverYonder]

problem from magnet swap. Need help with diagnosis

That's where I would check first. Could *be a cold solder joint or grounding issue somewhere else. Did you solder any other components?


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[thebowl]

Re: problem from magnet swap. Need help with diagnosis

Thanks for the responses. I have both low power and dual-power stations, and I used the dual power, for the reason suggested. The problem seemed to be getting both the cover and the back of the pup to temperature, given the gap between them.

I didn't touch anything else when I did this job. I fixed a short in the output jack over a year ago.

I will get around to removing the covers, and see what happens then. It may take me a couple of weeks, but I will report back.

 

[thebowl]

Re: problem from magnet swap. Need help with diagnosis

An update, sort of. I haven't taken off the covers. I am too cheap to waste a new set of strings. What is really odd is that this problem now only occurs when I play a B9 at the second fret (actually, it is a blues riff from a Ronnie Earl instructional disc. No problems on anything else, but it is like clockwork with that one chord, and right in time. It's not the cord (it's the "chord" LOL); I don't think it's the amp, although I guess I need to A/B that, also.

Does this make any sense to anyone?

By the way, the A4 magnets are really nice. Much "cooler" sound, more of an acoustic sound, which I like.

 

[AlexR]

Re: problem from magnet swap. Need help with diagnosis

Try looking to see if its a mechanical effect from a particular note

 

[Davii]

Re: problem from magnet swap. Need help with diagnosis

Could be a rattle from something not being quite down tight, especially if it's a particular string/note as AlexR has mentioned. The pickguard on my Peavey Strat is forever producing that kind of thing.

 

[thebowl]

Re: problem from magnet swap. Need help with diagnosis

Thanks. I'm gonna have to go under the hood. Lots of static playing through my Pro repro. Fairly quiet through my Marshall. Its either a grounding issue with one of the covers, or I somehow knocked something loose when I did the swap.

 

[Mincer]

Re: problem from magnet swap. Need help with diagnosis

Is it a particular note in the chord that is causing sympathetic vibration? I have to admit, I've never heard this static thing before, but sounds like a pain for people who have experienced it.

 

[thebowl]

Re: problem from magnet swap. Need help with diagnosis

Update - I took off the covers, and it more or less solved the problem. I'm pretty sure that one of them wasn't grounded properly. By the way, and to answer the question above, it happened with several bar chords, when they were played hard.

I am still getting an occasional static pop, which also seems to occur when I am strumming pretty hard. I lost some of the potting along the way, so I wonder if this has anything to do with it. By the way, the pickups sound really nice. The effect is more or less what I anticipated. The pups are still loud (in comparison with my Seths and Antiquities), but there is a slightly more "acoustic" sound, and they sound a bit scooped, to my ears.

 

[Mincer]

Re: problem from magnet swap. Need help with diagnosis

Does any of the popping go away if you lower the pickup just a bit?

 

[thebowl]

Re: problem from magnet swap. Need help with diagnosis

I will try that. To update further, it is definitely not the covers, because they are off. It is a function of spirited bar chord strumming, and the harder I strum, the more popping I get. I have isolated it and ruled out amp and cord.

 

[thebowl]

Re: problem from magnet swap. Need help with diagnosis

That was it, Mincer. Problem solved! Thanks so much.

 

[Mincer]

Re: problem from magnet swap. Need help with diagnosis

Very cool!