Bad feedback from my Model 6...

[RobRR]

Ive still got the stock J50 pickup and cover in it, and no plans on changing it... I love it, except for the insane amounts of feedback Im getting. This usually happens at moderate to high volumes... if I put my finger on the actual pickup, the feedback stops.

Heres what Ive done so far...
1- Removed the Jackson emg style cover (wasnt attached anymore to begin with), put a nice dollop of special RTV on there and clamped for 24 hrs. That helped some, but not enough.

2- Next, I took some universal-EMG-box-foam, cut two pieces to fit, and stuffed them under the pickup nice and tight. Helped some more, but not enough...

So whats next? Are these pickups prone to bad feedback because of the pickup covers? Is there any real remedy for this? I do NOT want to change the pickup!

[mhalsey]

Bad ground?

[Rich#6]

I have a model 6 and haven't had that problem. Checking the grounds is the right way to go.

[technogumbo]

You could have a cold solder joint for one of the grounds, like back in the tremolo pocket (which usually gets fiddling around done when changing strings). A cold solder joint is a poor soldered bond of metal-to-metal, making when a signal is put through the connection for the bond to become discontinous. If you are handy with a soldering iron, go to Radio Shack and pick up a small spool of desoldering wick (copper braid). Using the soldering iron touching the wick which is touching the soldered connection, remove the old solder connection and resolder/flux (the heat of the soldering iron melts the solder which sucks up into the wick...like friggen magic).

The fact that you can touch a pickup and the feedback goes away very much points to a grounding problem (broken ground, broken ground wire, cold solder joint).

Guitar pickups generate such a small millivolt signal that the slightest grounding completes the path.

If soldering is out of your league, take your axe to a decent guitar tech.

I had a similar problem with a decent Strat some time ago. I opened it to find a previous owner had repaired a broken wire with a home wiring wire nut, which makes for an extremely poor bond for a low-voltage, frequency-intensive signal. The wire had broken its soldered connection due to the jam nut on the volume pot coming loose (turn the pot knob and the pot turned, eventually pulling on the wire connections). Wire nuts are great for 120VAC home wiring circuits, but nothing but crap for a guitar circuit.

[RobRR]

Never thought it to be the wiring, figured it was a physical problem.

Ill just rewire it real quick. Thanks for the advise technogombo, Im "professional" certified soldering from my last job, so its no problem at all.

[dg]

It seems odd that touching it would ground it since you say it still has the plastic cover, unless maybe you touch the height adj. screws. My guess is it may have gone microphonic & need to be re-potted, and when you touch it you're stopping the vibration that's causing it to feed back. Just a thought, in case the re-wiring doesn't fix it.

[jgcable]

Simple fix. Your pickup needs to be potted.
Your problem is the most common problem with humbuckers.
If you want it potted, you could send it to me. PM me if you are interested.
John G

[RobRR]

When I touch the pickup, I can physically feel in vibrating (VERY slightly but I can feel it). Thats why I never bothered to look into the electronics. Ill send you a PM shortly John.

[mm2002]

Yep, John potted one for me a couple of years ago, and it was like buying a brand new pickup. Amazing difference.

[Razor]

Simple fix. Your pickup needs to be potted.
Your problem is the most common problem with humbuckers.
If you want it potted, you could send it to me. PM me if you are interested.
John G

Could someone please explain what "potted" means, and why it would need done? Thanks.

[gtrplr71]

unplug its it should not do it after that!lol

[Bert]

John is very likely correct. Pickups become microphonic when the coiled wires start becoming "loose" and vibrate under sound pressure -- the result is nasty feedback. "Potting" a pickup basically involves coating the wires in wax in order to fasten them. Many pickups are factory potted but can still become unwound a bit, requiring a repotting. I have a Jackson J90-C that has also become microphonic recently, so I think this is a common issue with Jackson pickups.

[RobRR]

Could someone please explain what "potted" means, and why it would need done? Thanks.

Potted means dipping the pickup in hot melted wax. It basically secures all the windings so there are no chance of vibrations in it.

[straycat]

I've never had a Jackson pickup go microphonic.It sounds like you did by how you describe the problem.

[mm2002]

I've never had a Jackson pickup go microphonic.It sounds like you did by how you describe the problem.

I've had a few of them, and the one John did for me was a J90C. It seems somewhat common. I think it would have to be common with any pickup that's not potted from the factory.