Squealing Antiquity P-90's

[paspallum]

Hi guys
I haven't posted since last year.
That was when I was looking at getting some P-90's. Some of the guys in this forum (especially Jeremy) helped me out a lot. I ended up getting Antiquity P-90s.

They sound great... I am happy with their tone.

The only downer is that the bridge pickup does go into un-controllable (un-musical) Squealing feedback when you apply a bit of gain.

Now... I'm not talking 'Death Metal' amounts of gain here...

The pickups sound great clean (awesome in fact) With a bit of 'crunch' they sound good... but then you push the gain a little bit more (to get the notes to 'sing' and sustain) any nice harmonic sustaining notes 'flow' into that horrible 'one-tone ear-bleeding squeal'

I'm only talking about increasing your gain from 'mild breakup' towards what Neil Young would play on his Les paul for a solo... yeah I know he has a Mini Humbucker in the Bridge of his LP... but if the tone of my P-90 didn't go into 'squeals' it'd be just right.

What I'm wondering is... if I get the pickup wax potted will it fix the 'squeal'... and (just as importantly) will it change the pickups sweet clean tone in any noticeable way?

Paspallum

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Squealing Antiquity P-90's

All you need is some parafin canning wax and a mason jar. Put the wax in a mason jar and put it in boiling water. Use a candy thermometer to get the wax to about 150 degrees. Submerge the pickup in the wax for about 8 minutes and jiggle the pickup until you don't see anymore air bubbles coming out. Take it out and let it cool. Give it two or more short dips about half a minute a peice and that should take care of it. I sometimes like to wait until the wax is semi hardened and slushy and then give the pickup a real short dip so the coils have an extra thick coating of wax around them. Then just use a wire brush and a razor blade to remove the extra wax from the face and back of the pickup. When it is finnished you can take a paper towel and a little piant thinner to clean up the wax on the face of the pickup.

I have done this dozens of times with no ill effects. I even do it with factory fresh pickups if they need it. You can also let the pickup sit in the wax and let it harden and then just carve out the pickup. I have done this with some real noisy old single coils and it worked like a charm.

Snowdog

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Squealing Antiquity P-90's

Parafin by itself is too thick. You need to mix it about 3 parts parafin with 1 part beeswax to thin it out. Thinner wax has much less effect on tone and requires less time in the pot.

I also recommend getting the glue pot they sell at Stew Mac or something similar that regulates the temperature to avoid the potential for fire.

 

[paspallum]

Re: Squealing Antiquity P-90's

Thanks guys for your advice.
I might try and do the job myself....

However I got this helpful reply from Dereck Duncan at Seymour Duncan:

Antiquity's are not potted(like the originals) which gives them that
vintage character, it can also be microphonic when using hi-gain, like
yours. Wax potting won't change the tone, it will just help settle any
vibrations that would cause the pickup to squeal. We could wax pot them
here, but the return shipping to NZ is around $80 UPS, and the post
office, although much more inexpensive, is very unreliable. One thing
to remember when wax potting antiquity's is that they use the same
plastic as the originals, and it doesn't respond very well to heat.
Thanks, derek -

- So guys? how do I pot the antiquitys without melting or warping the plastic?
Has anyone actually wax potted a seymour duncan Antiqutiy P-90?

Paspallum