Excessive microphonics in a guitar & PUs

JohnnyCreepy

JohnnyCreepy

Well-known member
Better to start a thread about this as ”use less gain” isn’t a solution.

Long story short replaced crazy microphonic og pups in my main guitar with a wax potted ones. They were fine at first, but after problem came back. Whole guitar is piezo and no matter where I tap it’s heard through different amps. Bridge PU has partial cover and nec PU is uncovered. Selecting either one or both results on same piezolike behaviour. It’s playable, but I’d enjoy playing more without excessive piezo thing going on…

What are the main suspects you point out apart what I’ve already tried out?

So far I’ve tried:
  • Took of control cavity shield plate - no help
  • Redid gnd wiring - no help
  • Replaced jack - no help
  • Mounting screws and spring are insulated with shrink tube
  • No continunity problems with DMM resistance measurement
  • Installed new switches
Haven’t ruled out:
  • Cleaning and replacing wiring completely with new PU wires
  • Opened up PU selector switch to tighten contact leaves
  • Making sure bridge PU isn’t too snuggly fitted into mountng ring (Doubt the effectiviness as same behaviour on neck PU too)
  • Haven’t tightened flatmount through bridge (new one coming in on mail tomorrow
  • Haven’t replaced vol or tone pots
Any guidance where to look and what to do next?
 
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BuddytheReow said:
Would a noise gate be an appropriate band-aid?
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Yes,,,If it has clean blend. Where do these noise gaters dwell?🤡

jimilee said:
I’m not sure what piezo sounds like. Are they out of phase?
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Good! At first I thought you’re not helping, but on the other hand you really might have a point there. HB on neck and p90 (hb sized) on bridge, both originally bridge PUs. Selector switch leaves coil start hanging there on air. If I remember right, whole guitar didn’t act as condensator microphone before flipping the neck PU so I’ll try flipping it first.
 
jimilee said:
I’m not sure what piezo sounds like. Are they out of phase?
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FWIW "a piezo" is basically a contact mic. Acoustic (well, electro-acoustic I guess?) guitars often use them, and you can get bridges with built-in piezo mics so you can add it to a normal guitar. Might need a separate output or extra circuitry otherwise, though.

With a bunch of extra processing you can sort of get an acoustic-like sound, but obviously it won't sound exactly like an acoustic when it's miced.

In this case, however, it sounds like the whole guitar works as a contact mic, which obviously is not a good thing in most cases.
 
Sounds like a few things could be happening. Some potted pickups aren't fully waxed as they probably should be in some scenarios. Lots of folks and makers let the hot wax leak out a bit too much. There still could be a base plate that has a gap or a cover that has too much space. I've had those giant pickguard mounted controls like on a tele custom really amplify handling noise. Dampening will help. The old style tele bridge mounting is know to amplify resonance for there isn't foam or dampening underneath. Hollow chambers in guitars or semi hollow guitars can vibrate oddly too. I doubt the phase of the pickups would cause microphonic feedback. It will sound thin in the middle position.

Id try
1. Dampening everything you can think of first to see if there is resonance somewhere. Foam or cloth under a pickguard, under pickups, under any hole you can find. Just to rule that out.

2. Try a pickup you don't have issues with and see if it's still there.

3. Have the pickups repotted.
 
Fama said:
FWIW "a piezo" is basically a contact mic. Acoustic (well, electro-acoustic I guess?) guitars often use them, and you can get bridges with built-in piezo mics so you can add it to a normal guitar. Might need a separate output or extra circuitry otherwise, though.

With a bunch of extra processing you can sort of get an acoustic-like sound, but obviously it won't sound exactly like an acoustic when it's miced.

In this case, however, it sounds like the whole guitar works as a contact mic, which obviously is not a good thing in most cases.
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Ohhh, so they’re microphonic, still.
 
Took guitar apart for bridge change and noticed PUs fit too tightly in their cavities. Maybe that is the source of unwanted body resonance pickup?
 
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