Guitar squeals like a pig!

[Thundersteel]

One of the reasons I reluctantly sold my H575 Custom was it squealed when the volume was turned up. I think it was attributed to the solid top, as my ES-137 has a laminated top, and it doesn't squeal at all! The H575 had the Schaller pups installed.

 

My H150CM LW squeals as well (the guitar is hollow), but it has the Seth Lover pups in it. Since they aren't wax potted, do you think that may be the cause?

 

I used to have a Guild Bluesbird which was hollow, and it didn't squeal (it had S-D 59s in it). I've got a spare set of HRWs I could put in--do you think that would solve the problem?

[ingeneri]

No offense, but if archtops didn't have feedback problems nobody would have invented solid bodies.  While swapping the cheapo pickup on my old Epiphone for a Kent Armstrong helped with feedback issues, I doubt there'd be much difference in changing from an already high quality pickup like the seth lover.

 

Us jazzbos have multiple tricks to defeat feedback.  The biggest involves body placement.  Johnny Smith himself recommends standing offsides to the the right with your headstock facing towards the amp.  This is because the feedback is largely the result of soundwaves bouncing off your guitar.  Some also suggest that it also helps to have have the amp raised on a stand or chair. I don't know why this works but it does seem to be true. 

 

If these don't work you can either place tape over the inside of the sound holes, insert a pillow, balloon or other stuffing inside the guitar. If you're anxious about your guitar, you can use a styrofoam insert from dougs plugs inside the f-holes.  All of these insertions will affect the tone of your guitar.  I've always relied on body placement and never want to insert anything into my guitar.  But Kenny Burrell uses tape, so it can't be the worst thing in the world.

 

One final point, I notice all your amps are rock amps.  Beyond a certain volume there won't be anything you can do to stop feed back.  Archtops and full hollow bodies just weren't meant for ear splitting volumes.  If you're only interested in blasting hard rock, these may not be the guitar for you unless you're Ted Nugent (and why would anyone want to be).

[big bob]

I can get my 575 to howl (like that better than squeal) but it's has more to do with my relationship phyicaly to the amp. I can control it pretty well so I think it's kinda cool. I replaced the shallers with p-rails and it's harder to get it to howl in p 90 mode than in humbucker mode.

try moving around, I can dial in the howl if I face the amp and stand within 12 or so feet of the amp, any further than that and no feedback.

Hope that helps

Bob

[slider313]

Is it the neck or bridge pickup? I had a problem with my Robin Savoy on the bridge pickup or when I blended the two. I lowered the bridge pickup slightly and brought the screws up out of the bobbin. Problem solved.

[Thundersteel]

Just to clarify--

 

I no longer have the H575.  :'(

 

My ES-137 (which has a lamninated top) is as quiet as a church mouse.

 

The Guild Bluesbird I used to have was hollow, and it was quiet as well.

 

MY H150 LW (hollow) has the "howl." If I press my fingers on the pickups, it quiets down a little, but during practice it just howls too much. Would swapping the pickups solve the problem, or would I just be wasting my time?

[yoslate]

No offense, but if archtops didn't have feedback problems nobody would have invented solid bodies.  I've always relied on body placement and never want to insert anything into my guitar. 

One final point, I notice all your amps are rock amps.  Beyond a certain volume there won't be anything you can do to stop feed back.  Archtops and full hollow bodies just weren't meant for ear splitting volumes.  If you're only interested in blasting hard rock, these may not be the guitar for you unless you're Ted Nugent (and why would anyone want to be).

 

If the "squeal" you refer to is resonant, moving air feed back, T-steel, ingeneri, as usual, has the bases covered here.  I just wanted to second his observations by saying that my Super, if I give it an inch, will bay like a blue tic hound (that one's for H.F. Bird).  I can use it with a pretty muscular Deluxe re-ish, run up to five or six, in a live room with some pretty loud bandmates,and keep a lid on it.  The body placement thing is key, along with watching tone on the amp; I roll the bass back a bit.  The body on the Super is huge and responsive to "big" notes, for mine, B on the low E string, and the octave just above.  I've a friend with a gorgeous '72 L-5.  He puts a balloon in it to keep it from feeding back.  Seems to work just fine.  Another thing about mine is the p'ups, Lollar P-90's. They are so punchy, clean, resonant, and balanced, they cut straight through an awful lot, without having to be cranked!  Those p'ups are something else!

[SouthpawGuy]

If the "squeal" you refer to is resonant, moving air feed back, T-steel, ingeneri, as usual, has the bases covered here.  I just wanted to second his observations by saying that my Super, if I give it an inch, will bay like a blue tic hound (that one's for H.F. Bird).  I can use it with a pretty muscular Deluxe re-ish, run up to five or six, in a live room with some pretty loud bandmates,and keep a lid on it.  The body placement thing is key, along with watching tone on the amp; I roll the bass back a bit.  The body on the Super is huge and responsive to "big" notes, for mine, B on the low E string, and the octave just above.  I've a friend with a gorgeous '72 L-5.  He puts a balloon in it to keep it from feeding back.  Seems to work just fine.  Another thing about mine is the p'ups, Lollar P-90's. They are so punchy, clean, resonant, and balanced, they cut straight through an awful lot, without having to be cranked!  Those p'ups are something else!

 

There ya go again ...... givin' me Lollar GAS  :-X

 

;D

[slider313]

Before swapping the pickups try raising the screws out.

[JeffB]

The Seths have a tendency to squeal with a bit of gain and even just volume if you happen to be standing in the wrong place.

I can deal with it. I use a fair bit of gain, not as much as some. I ride the volume a fair bit.

[yoslate]

'paw.  I'd love to offer up a soundclip.  Ingeneri wanted me to, as well.  All I need to do is a couple of overdubs on something I've already recorded.  But finding the time and getting together with my best friend at the studio is proving the next thing to impossible.  I'm working on it....  Those p'ups are astonishing.

[tulk1]

My H150CM LW squeals as well (the guitar is hollow), but it has the Seth Lover pups in it. Since they aren't wax potted, do you think that may be the cause?

 

Pickups can get microphonic, too. Can't they? I had a MuyGrande once that just squealed and hummed like crazy. Sent it back, they fixed it (don't know what) and it worked fine. Didn't like the pickup, but it didn't squeal anymore. I'd think it is possible to have a bad pup.

 

Do both of them squeal? And this is without a distortion box or high gain? Right?

[OldCrow]

Just to clarify, the bluesbirds and their p90 counterpart the blues 90s are semi-hollow not full hollow bodies, awesome guits. I love my Blues 90.

 

Can someone please explain this "raising the screws" on the pick up for me? I have a black dog in the bridge of my 150 but it does squeal when I'm pretty close to the amp and even when I mute the strings it goes on, but the second I touch the pickup itself, in the mounting ring it stops, maybe this screw thing will help me?

[Thundersteel]

Do both of them squeal? And this is without a distortion box or high gain? Right?

 

They both howl, but the bridge pup howls more than the neck one. It even does it when the strings are muted. I use my Marshall DSL50 with some crunch. I use a distortion pedal occasionally, too. But it even does it when the amp is set to "clean." The volume is the usual "band practice" volume.

 

As Old Crow explained, this one is classified as a "semi-hollow." Why would my H150 do it, and the Bluesbird not?

[brentrocks]

AT LEAST IT DOESNT BARK LIKE A DOG ;D

[unikh550]

Did not know that humbuckers had this problem. Lollar makes a Charlie Christian pickup that is a lot like the original, minus the dreadful three screws. Nothing sounds better for jazz, in my opinion. Mine does not squeal if I plug into the house system. If I rely on an amp close by, it will feedback at times. As a joke, I put one of those armrest guards made so one doesn't sweat on an acoustic top in each f-hole. Worked great, and looked from a distance like I had fake f-holes since I dyed them the color of the top, according to a few listeners. Amazing what we put up to keep our sound.- Charles

[JimmyTheSaint]

My Sweet 16 will scream like a banshee, as you'd expect that kind of guitar to do. So I got a pair of Doug's Plugs from http://www.dougsplugs.com/ and it's now highly feedback resistant when I want it to be.

[High Flying Bird]

.........it's now highly feedback resistant when I want it to be.

 

Amen brother. 

[Thundersteel]

...but my H150 doesn't have any f-holes!

 

 

I've been doing some research, and found out the Seth's are not the best pups for high-volume applications.

So, I'll either need to swap them out, or keep the volume down somewhat.

 

Does anyone know what pups sound similar to Seth's, but are wax potted?

[JeffB]

"Compared to the SH-55 Seth Lover the 59' has  slightly more scooped mids and is wax potted for squel free performance"

Quoted from Seymour Duncan's Pickup source book.

 

The SH-2 Jazz is slightly brighter and has slightly less output.

 

A friend of mine removed the cover plate off his seths and found that once he wound down the individual screws they squealed a lot less, and to his and my ears they actually sounded better. Under the cover they are cream(his at least) I will probably do this to my own. It is completely reversible.

He uses a lot more gain than I would and his main amp is the mesa Roadking. Gain and volume are inescapable on that amp.

Worth a try.

[skydog]

Re: Guitar squeals like a pig!

Ahh, the Ned Beatty model.

[High Flying Bird]

Ahh, the Ned Beatty model.

 

That's wrong man!  :-X

[High Flying Bird]

One of the reasons I reluctantly sold my H575 Custom was it squealed when the volume was turned up. I think it was attributed to the solid top, as my ES-137 has a laminated top, and it doesn't squeal at all! The H575 had the Schaller pups installed.

 

My H150CM LW squeals as well (the guitar is hollow), but it has the Seth Lover pups in it. Since they aren't wax potted, do you think that may be the cause?

 

I used to have a Guild Bluesbird which was hollow, and it didn't squeal (it had S-D 59s in it). I've got a spare set of HRWs I could put in--do you think that would solve the problem?

 

T, there are tone controls on those guitars for a reason.  (We need a smart ass smiley.)  ;D 

 

On all of the Gibson or Heritage guitars I have owned I have always liked to, from time to time, turn the tone down all the way.  It gives a "'59ish" tone on my Schallers and the Seth's.  I rarely play with my tone set wide open.  I was playing in a basement room that was maybe 25 x 12 with a low ceiling.  As loud as Joe had that Bassman cranked up I should have been getting a lot of squeal just trying to keep up.  If that doesn't work UPS the guitar to me for an inspection. 

[Thundersteel]

I think I found the fix. I bought a distortion pedal (Boss Metal Distortion--yeah, baby!), so now I don't need to turn up the gain on my Marshall as much as I used to. So far, so good!

[wingnut1]

One of the reasons they pot pickups is to eliminate this type of behavior.  Some people say that potting kills the harmonics and takes some of the sparkle off the high end, but it really helps keep the feedback under control.

[Mikenov]

Alnico Pro IIs are nice pickups - BrentRocks Favorites If I remember correctly - and they are potted. This might be a way to get close to that Seth sound you like in a potted pickup.