Metropoulos Forum

I recently picked up a great all-original cherry burst '76 LP Deluxe. I know some folks here hate the sound of mini-humbuckers, but for slide I really love them. I use a couple of different kinds of Firebirds, and an '80s SG with triple minis. I've been wanting a Deluxe for a while, and this one sounds and plays great. And unlike some of the Gibson stuff I have from the early '70s, the craftsmanship on this guitar is excellent.

The problem is that I'm getting very bad high-pitched feedback squeal at pretty moderate levels. Both pickups do it. Has anyone experienced this? Is it possible that the wax potting is shot?

Thanks,

- Bash

BashCoder wrote:I recently picked up a great all-original cherry burst '76 LP Deluxe. I know some folks here hate the sound of mini-humbuckers, but for slide I really love them. I use a couple of different kinds of Firebirds, and an '80s SG with triple minis. I've been wanting a Deluxe for a while, and this one sounds and plays great. And unlike some of the Gibson stuff I have from the early '70s, the craftsmanship on this guitar is excellent.

The problem is that I'm getting very bad high-pitched feedback squeal at pretty moderate levels. Both pickups do it. Has anyone experienced this? Is it possible that the wax potting is shot?

Thanks,

- Bash

Hey, Bash. This might sound silly, but check to see if the pups are squealing from vibrating in their mounting rings. I've stopped that kinda microphonic squeal on quite a few guitars by taking out the height adjustment springs, and replacing them with rubber tubing (the 7/64" automobile windshield washer tubing available in any auto parts store works perfect). I cut the tube about 1/16"-3/32" longer than it would need to be to obtain proper pup height, so when the pup is brought up to height, it compresses the tube, and is stiffly mounted in the pup mounting ring, and the squeal is gone. I actually do this as routine on all the guitars I own, except a couple of original vintage guitars. (It doesnt affect originality, cause it can be changed back easily, but I've got OCD about playing around with vintage stuff!!)
You can tell if this is the problem in the first place by just gently putting your finger on the corner of the pup when its squealing. If its micro from vibration, the squeal will stop. If it does not stop, then most likely the pup needs to be re-potted. The squeal from shot potting, and pup vibes sound almost the same. Good luck, and post what you find out!!!

My 86 LPC with it's original pickups did that.
I cured alot of it by tightening the screws on the back of the pickups. It still did it with any gain though so I ended up replacing them with some SD Seth Lovers.
You can also take a crayon to the back of your magnets too. I've heard that can help.

Mike

Bad Kitty wrote:My 86 LPC with it's original pickups did that.
I cured alot of it by tightening the screws on the back of the pickups. It still did it with any gain though so I ended up replacing them with some SD Seth Lovers.
You can also take a crayon to the back of your magnets too. I've heard that can help.

Mike

Yeah, on the crayon thing, that actually does work. I was talking to Lindy Fralin when I picked up the Alnico he rewound for my 54 LPC, and he was telling me that you can cure some of that squealing by wax potting the magnet. Melt some wax, remove the magnet from the pickup and immerse it in the wax. Let it dry, scrape off the extra with a razor blade and then reinstall it. Jim Seavall did that with one of his guitars as well.

I had exactly the same problem on my minihumbucker les paul. It was fixed by waxing my pups, and putting some copper foil around my electronics (pots etc)
Its very quiet now, although new pickups may be better, I at least dont get a squeeling sound anymore!

Hey bashcoder!

I have a '69 Deluxe with minibuckers (which I LOVE by the way) that was unplayable through a Marshall due to microphonics from the pickups when I bought it.

I don't think it's caused by the pickups having too little potting...it's caused by them not having ANY wax potting!!

What I did to fix mine was to buy a slab of wax from a local craft store, melt it in a double boiler (so it wouldn't get too hot and catch on fire) and dip the pickups several times, let them cool, and wipe off the extra wax. I think I also used a spoon to scoop the melted wax into the pickup to better fill it between the cover and bobbins.

In the process I probably destroyed all the vintage collector's value of my original Gibson minibuckers...but I was able to play my Deluxe cranked through a Marshall amp for years without excessive feedback problems so it was worth it IMO.

Your only other option is to replace those pickups with Seymour Duncans or Lollars.

Hi Guitarmole

When you potted your mini hum buckers, did you unsolder the nuts on the screws that hold the plastic mounting ring on and take it off, or did you just pot it with the mounting ring still on it?