HORRIBLE Feedback problem

[tom18222]

I have 120 watt crate amp.

I have a fender stratocaster with a seymour duncan invader in the bridge.

With my strat, i get no feedback when the volumes down, but thats only with this guitar,

I have a les paul with a invader in the bridge too, and it gives horrible feedback even when the volumes down.


With both guitars, I cant even mute the strings with my hands. I get horrible feedback. I hate it, its like ear piercing.

I think it would be the amp, but I don't know.

Thanks,- Tom.

[tom18222]

bump this topic

[mixsit]

Originally Posted by tom18222

...I have a les paul with a invader in the bridge too...

What is that?

[Farview]

The invader is the worst pickup known to man. Nothing but 1k.
Anyway, the pickup is probably microphonic. You need to get it potted (dipped in wax). If you are good with this kind of do-it-yourself kind of thing, I can talk you through it.
Come to think of it, A duncan invader does the exact opposite of what a crate does. That might work in some sort of crazy way.

If you want a kick ass pickup for your strat, try a Duncan Hot Rails.

[ibanezrocks]

its a fairly cheap pickup. ive never played one, but have heard nothing but bad things

[Farview]

Vinnie Vincent used to use one. That should about cover it.

[heroics321]

i've seen many a pop punk band ruin a set at a club because of that pickup, usually with crate amps. those pickups do not have a happy relationship with high powered amps like that. i'll second the hot rails for your strat, and suggest you take up farview's offer on the help with potting. if that doesn't fix the problem, perhaps you would be better suited with something like a passive emg for your les paul. i've enjoyed the gibson 500t in my paul plugged into a crate vc6212. i should ask, though, what do your eq/gain/volume settings look like?

[tom18222]

my low is at like 2, mid at 2, high at about 8, gain at about 60%

its not a bad pickup, i love it. it has a great dirty tone and sound to it.

[darknailblue]

Well I have a question for you first. Did you wire the pup yourself, or have a tech do it? If you wired it yourself it might be 1 or more of several things. 1 being that you wired the pickup out of phase which means that you need to swap the ground and hot wires. 2 is that you have a poor solder connection, which i have no idea how to fix because I suck at soldering in the first place. 3 you could have wired it so that only HALF of the pickup is active. Now I have never had a problem with that using SDs but DiMarzios (which IMHO sound way better than SDs) are kinda tricky with the wiring and sometimes call for wires being soldered and insulated together to ensure that the signal travels through both coils. Open it up and have a look man.

~darknail

[tom18222]

i took it to a tech. its like that on both guitars. one guitar came with the pickup, i had it installed in the other one.

[Farview]

The pickup is microphonic, get it potted.

[tom18222]

how can both of them do that though.

[heroics321]

your high eq seems... well, high. if you're having the same problem with both guitars, theres a very good chance the problem is with the amp. i had a crate gfx1200 that i had to get rid of because of feedback issues at any more than moderate gain setting. before you go replacing anything, try starting everything at 12 o'clock (halfway) and working from there, see if it helps. grab a buddy's guitar and see if it does the same thing, and plug your guitar into his amp and see if there's a change. if the problem goes away with a different amp, go to a local music shop and start trying some out, maybe get yourself a good trade on the crate.

[Farview]

Originally Posted by tom18222

how can both of them do that though.

All pickups will go microphonic eventually. The wax they use at the factory breaks down and loose coils vibrate and cause the squealing. But heroics is right, I normally turn the highs down on a crate, but the invaders don't have a lot of highs, so I would have to hear it to determine if your gain structure and eq are jumping up and biting you in the ass.

[tom18222]

ill mes with it at practice tomorrow.

both pickups arent more than a year old.

My Marshall 30th anniversary feeds back a lot on the lead channel. Any idea how to cut that down?

[Farview]

Originally Posted by SilverSurfer

My Marshall 30th anniversary feeds back a lot on the lead channel. Any idea how to cut that down?

If you tap the head with the guitar plugged in and the volume all the way down (on the guitar), does it make a ringing sound. If yes, it is one of the 12ax7's. Or your pickups need to be potted and you just don't notice it at lower gains.

Tom: It doesn't matter how old the pickups are, some of them do it right out of the box. The more gain you play with, the more obvious it is.

[tom18222]

well how much does this cost?

[Farview]

Originally Posted by tom18222

well how much does this cost?

If you do it yourself, about $2. Go to the grocery store and get some parafin wax. It will be in the isle with the canning stuff (to seal the jars of home made preserves)
You need to set up a double boiler. What I use is an electric skillet (because it has a temperature control) and fill it about half way with water.
Take an old coffee can (clean it out) and put it in the water and set the temp to 180 degrees. Put the wax in and melt it. It has to be deep enough to submerge the pickup in.

Take the p/u out of the guitar and put it in the wax. It helps if you have a candy thermometer to check the temp with. Don't let it get much past 185 degrees.

Remove the wax from the heat and wait for a skin to form on top. slowly pull the pickup out of the wax. Wipe (scrape) off the excess. and put it back in the guitar. Melt the wax again and do the other one.

The reason for letting the wax cool before you take it out, is because hot wax will run right back out of the p/u so you have to let it cool and slowly take it out of the wax.

[tom18222]

how about if i get it done at my local guitar repair shop?

[Farview]

I have always done it myself, call them up and see what they charge for potting pickups. But do what heroics suggests first, just in case it is your settings.

[tom18222]

thanks so much, everyone.

[foo]

Farview is right on with the potting thing - don't be afraid to do it yourself.

My only comment is if the coils of teh Invader have tape around them, remove the tape (carefully) before putting the pickup in the wax.

Potting the pickup will solve your problem.