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Post by speedballjamm on Apr 7, 2008 6:03:32 GMT -5
Hi folks I've recently installed new pickups, and am have an intermittent problem — the tone seems less full and degrades if I use a strong pick attack(ie, hit the strings hard) , which on some tones and pickup positions is more evident than others. for example, I have a 5 way switch, & on position 4 hard picking results in what I can best describe as a buzz.. its as if its not handling the volume and reacting in a not so pleasant way. this buzz is still there on the other positions, just its more evident on pos 4. note this is as I said intermittent... though most of the time it does happen. I had a friend install the pickups who is quite good with these sorts of things, and I'm fairly sure everything was wired ok. The pickups are hand made bill lawrence ones, a humbucker and two single coils. at first I though the pots in my guitar were the problem, as they were small and nasty and 250k (which I figured the humbucker wouldn't like)... I got more of a warble than a buzz with the original pots, after changing them to 500k ones I got the more buzzy sound. I guess I should take a peek inside the pickup cavity, but I thought I might ask for some help here before nuking a perfectly good set of strings. Cheers! -speedballjamm
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Post by newey on Apr 7, 2008 15:07:20 GMT -5
SBJ-
Welcome aboard!
I'm not personally familiar with the problem you're describing, but I'm sure some advice is on the way. Have you tried adjusting the height on the new pickups to see if that makes a difference?
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Post by JohnH on Apr 7, 2008 15:46:27 GMT -5
welcome to GN2!
The 500k pots bring out more of the treble content of what your pickups pick up, which is normally considered a good thing with humbuckers.
Just a thought: are you sure it's the guitar, and not the amp being more overdriven by the heavier picking? Does it also happen with a lower setting on the guitar volume control?
John
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Post by speedballjamm on Apr 8, 2008 0:16:03 GMT -5
Thanks for the replies I'm going to get some new strings and take alook inside the pickup cavity today. *fingers crossed* I hope its something obvious.. Just to clarify, this has nothing to do with amps, leads or effects. I've tried other guitars through my gear with no trouble. The pickup height shouldn't matter as like I said it's an intermittent problem... the pickups have stayed the same height when its working and when it isn't. cheers
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Post by newey on Apr 8, 2008 5:33:11 GMT -5
SBJ-
It was your statement about this happening with pick attack that led me to think pup height, and also which led JohnH to suggest amp O/D. Does this also happen when you're playing more moderately?
Also, in rereading your original post, you describe the tone degrading, and then later talk about a "buzz"- are these two different things?
Hard to diagnose these kinds of problems over the web. But since the guitar works at least some of the time, opening it up and taking a look around isn't likely to show something dramatically wrong with it. Further investigation seems to be in order.
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Post by sumgai on Apr 8, 2008 11:49:33 GMT -5
jammer, Hi, and welcome to the NutzHouse! ;D Whenever I hear the word "buzz" in connection with playing, I tend to think "setup". That would include, somewhere down the list, the pickup height, but not too close to the top. If you are absolutely happy with the setup as it is, then truly, you should have a luthier look at it. If you are not totally happy, then you might want to....... have a luthier look at it. Sometimes all it takes is a different set of eyes (experienced eyes!) that might spot what you've been missing all along. You might also have a guitar teacher look at your playing, as you perform the problematic actions (strong picking). You might be surprised at what he/she tells you about your technique. And to make it definite, the value of your pots will have no effect on the resultant tone, if the problem is in the setup or your technique. A one-time changeover is inconclusive, to say the least. If you want toknow for a fact that it's the pots, and nothing else, and if you can afford the time, effort and expense, you could run an experiment whereby you go back and forth between the low-value/high-value pots, at least 4 times each, and chart the results. Have a friend listen with you, so you aren't coloring your observations with past memories. That will probably tell you that there was no difference, but sometimes one needs to be sure, real sure, and there's no harm in that. HTH sumgai
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Post by speedballjamm on Apr 8, 2008 19:14:32 GMT -5
Thanks again for the replies! @ newey: sorry i probably wasn't being so clear, when I say intermittent i meant that they sound good when I pick hard some of the time. Well, I think I might have found out the cause here. The pickup cavity was fine, though I did pull a wire loose from it's solder, so I resoldered that back on and put the pickgard back on. What I also did was replace the capacitor that was inbetween the tone & volume pots, and this I think has completely fixed the problem. I guess that would explain the intermittent thing, my limited knowledge about these things are that capacitors charge and discharge... so perhaps it worked charging or discharging & not both. Feel free to correct me if I'm on the wrong track here... all I know is my guitar is working and this makes me oh so happy! Time for Gary Moore's "End Of The World", I get a perfect tone for that song. Thanks very much for the help! -speedballjamm
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Post by speedballjamm on Apr 13, 2008 6:15:39 GMT -5
Ok, problem not solved. I've changed the capacitor a few times, trying different values... and I've been getting the same problem, for some reason it's only just decided to rear it's ugly head the past few days. So, the pots are the fine, the capacitor is fine. Please, any help would be most appreciated, I can't survive without a working guitar! Thanks in advance, -speedballjamm
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