Jazzfiend101
New member
Hello all, this is a simple question with some complex issues and I've found next to nothing online for how to solve this problem. These are issues I've had onstage, at home, and on and off with a few guitars that I own. I have three different Epi Les Pauls, a white Custom with a Pearly Gates bridge and APH-1 neck, a sunburst Standard with a set of 59s, and a tobacco standard with the Hot Rodded Humbucker set containing the JB and Jazz Neck.
I've been using a JCM 2000 DSL 50 on the green channel hitting it with an Ibanez Jet Driver to get a heavy 80s pissed off metal/glam rock/meets Rocks era Aerosmith/rocknfnroll/GNR/etc sound... or at least I try. The issues were apparent on that amp. I recently just got a sweet new Orange Dark Terror. Amazing amp. But, the problem actually got worse. Here's how I can best describe the issue. I get a low end feedback that sounds literally like someone using a tuba without a mouthpiece. A low, wwwwwwwwwooooooooooooo sound. It's actually pretty bad, very loud, and very obnoxious. Interestingly enough, the pickup vibrates in its cavity. It's ALIVE! I have noticed that when I touch the pickup to make it "sit still" it goes away. Perfect... now how do I play it like that? It'd be a cool innovation... Guy plays guitar without fingers...
It doesn't do this as much with the Pearly Gates, which is a shame because I really don't like that pickup. By far the thinnest sounding bridge pickup known to man. Zero meat. Glass attacks ears. When I used the Marshall I found the Deep Switch to be the only thing to cure the accursed Pearly Gates pickup. I am a hater. Anywhoo, it doesn't do this that often with that pickup, even when cranked. The Custom is a pretty heavy guitar, and the PG is a lower output pickup (with more treble than a pair of tweeters that have zero bass frequencies) so I can't quite figure out why the pickup wouldn't vibrate. Obviously it has nothing to do with the tonal characteristics of the pickup.
The JB and the 59 are both the problem childrens. Which is a shame because these are clearly the greatest pickups one could ever put into a Les Paul. Duh. The problem is very bad with the JB and the 59. I have lowered the pickup, thinking the issue to be with the magnetic pull perhaps vibrating the piece too much against the magnet's resistance to the string. I figured, I'll lower it out of harms way. Doesn't work. Actually makes it worse. I've raised it all the way up to the strings thinking, if I cut off the string pull then what could possibly jerk the pickup around? Doesn't work. Actually makes it worse. So, my guess is this is related to the amount of output + gobs of distortion x type of magnets (as we all know the JB and 59 are A5 and the PG is A2)/ the square root of using .11-.48's ernie balls + metal - country music x all three are heavy guitars that I don't believe are chambered + all uncovered pickups = messy mess of wwwwwwwwwwwwwooooooo. Or maybe me pickups are just trying to ESCAPE!! They want to be free of my abuse!
Also, the Jazz neck in my tobacco standard also suffers the same fate of the wwwwwwwwwoooooooooooooo.
Here's the solutions I've tried: placing toothpicks inside of the spaces between the pickup and the actually cavity walls to stunt movement. Doesn't really work, and it makes my guitars look ghetto. There is nothing cool about looking ghetto at all ever. Very anti-ghetto equipment, here. Here's what I haven't tried, duct taping the pickups to the sides of the pickup covers in an attempt to arrest the pickup's motion (which is ghetto), using foam covers under neath the pickup (not ghetto, as it can't be seen), burning the guitars and moving onto Strats.
Before I get any responses, the one bit of feedback (seriously? a pun?) I won't listen to is the ever famous, "Why dontcha turn your darned distortion down, you whippersnapper, and play some Cream?" AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT. This is metal we speak of. (no offence to Clapton... actually would like to try the Whole Lotta Humbucker).
I've been using a JCM 2000 DSL 50 on the green channel hitting it with an Ibanez Jet Driver to get a heavy 80s pissed off metal/glam rock/meets Rocks era Aerosmith/rocknfnroll/GNR/etc sound... or at least I try. The issues were apparent on that amp. I recently just got a sweet new Orange Dark Terror. Amazing amp. But, the problem actually got worse. Here's how I can best describe the issue. I get a low end feedback that sounds literally like someone using a tuba without a mouthpiece. A low, wwwwwwwwwooooooooooooo sound. It's actually pretty bad, very loud, and very obnoxious. Interestingly enough, the pickup vibrates in its cavity. It's ALIVE! I have noticed that when I touch the pickup to make it "sit still" it goes away. Perfect... now how do I play it like that? It'd be a cool innovation... Guy plays guitar without fingers...
It doesn't do this as much with the Pearly Gates, which is a shame because I really don't like that pickup. By far the thinnest sounding bridge pickup known to man. Zero meat. Glass attacks ears. When I used the Marshall I found the Deep Switch to be the only thing to cure the accursed Pearly Gates pickup. I am a hater. Anywhoo, it doesn't do this that often with that pickup, even when cranked. The Custom is a pretty heavy guitar, and the PG is a lower output pickup (with more treble than a pair of tweeters that have zero bass frequencies) so I can't quite figure out why the pickup wouldn't vibrate. Obviously it has nothing to do with the tonal characteristics of the pickup.
The JB and the 59 are both the problem childrens. Which is a shame because these are clearly the greatest pickups one could ever put into a Les Paul. Duh. The problem is very bad with the JB and the 59. I have lowered the pickup, thinking the issue to be with the magnetic pull perhaps vibrating the piece too much against the magnet's resistance to the string. I figured, I'll lower it out of harms way. Doesn't work. Actually makes it worse. I've raised it all the way up to the strings thinking, if I cut off the string pull then what could possibly jerk the pickup around? Doesn't work. Actually makes it worse. So, my guess is this is related to the amount of output + gobs of distortion x type of magnets (as we all know the JB and 59 are A5 and the PG is A2)/ the square root of using .11-.48's ernie balls + metal - country music x all three are heavy guitars that I don't believe are chambered + all uncovered pickups = messy mess of wwwwwwwwwwwwwooooooo. Or maybe me pickups are just trying to ESCAPE!! They want to be free of my abuse!
Also, the Jazz neck in my tobacco standard also suffers the same fate of the wwwwwwwwwoooooooooooooo.
Here's the solutions I've tried: placing toothpicks inside of the spaces between the pickup and the actually cavity walls to stunt movement. Doesn't really work, and it makes my guitars look ghetto. There is nothing cool about looking ghetto at all ever. Very anti-ghetto equipment, here. Here's what I haven't tried, duct taping the pickups to the sides of the pickup covers in an attempt to arrest the pickup's motion (which is ghetto), using foam covers under neath the pickup (not ghetto, as it can't be seen), burning the guitars and moving onto Strats.
Before I get any responses, the one bit of feedback (seriously? a pun?) I won't listen to is the ever famous, "Why dontcha turn your darned distortion down, you whippersnapper, and play some Cream?" AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT. This is metal we speak of. (no offence to Clapton... actually would like to try the Whole Lotta Humbucker).
