AARGH! My new pickups sound like shit! HELP! (1 Viewer)

[Tony Ramone]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this group, but I was hoping someone here
could help me out with this problem. I've got an Epiphone SG gothic,
and though I like the sound of it, I thought the stock pickups sounded
a bit muddy, so I wanted to find something a bit brighter. I went
looking on ebay (probably a mistake, but heres the link: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200168097328&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:GB:1123) and found a couple of chrome
covered humbuckers. The seller assured me that since they were made
with ceramic magnets they'd sound much better
than alnico. So I bought them and installed them (wiring them in the
same way as the ones I removed). Last night I tried them out on a
crappy little 15W practice amp that I've had for years, and with only
the slightest bit of distortion, I'm getting insane amounts of
feedback, even with the volume down low. Years ago I'd heard that
covered pickups usually have less feedback than open ones (can't remember where, I was in college so most likely drunk), but this
amount is totally unacceptable. My question, I guess, is: is the
problem with the pickups, or is there a chance maybe the way I've
installed them is wrong or something? The neck pickup isn't sitting
straight in the mounting (I wanted to keep the black mountings rather
than the ivory ones that came with the new pickups), one end of it is
tilted slightly more towards the strings, and a friend of mine
suggested this might have something to do with it.
Any suggestions at all would be welcome.
Cheers,

Tony

 

[the departed]

16 sterling? dude you gotta be spending like 50 to 100 quid per pickup to get a nice sound. and get a nice amp!

 

[Tony Ramone]

I know they're cheap, serves me right I guess for trying to find a good deal. And I alreaday have a nice amp (I think so anyway - Peavey Valveking, see I'm a real cheapo), but it's down at our practice space - the 15W was all I had to test it on.

 

[Goodbye]

Start a The Jesus and Mary Chain covers band*. Sorted!














*I'd love to do that. The Psychocandies

 

[sparse]

Yup, it sounds like shit pickups to me. Are you sure both of them are working? They could be higher output than the last ones so when the gain is up slightly it'll feed back more than it used to.

 

[Daniel]

And I alreaday have a nice amp (I think so anyway - Peavey Valveking, see I'm a real cheapo)

That amp is a grand yoke for the price. You are not standing right in front of the amp or something are ya? A stronger/better pickup might be more sensitive so thats why you might be getting more feed back. Try it on a clean channel and listen for hiss/noise etc.

 

[kika]

Did the pickup have 2 or 4 wires coming out of it. If it was 4 then you gotta solder two together earth one and have the other as yer signal out. If it's 2 wires then just earth and signal. Ususally on better pickups they have 4 to give you the option of coil tapping and the like where a humbucker can be made to act like a single coil. Unfortunately if you wire the 4 wire option wrong you can end up with coil tapping or two coils with opposing polarity. Could possibly be the problem.

Also as for the height difference, the closer the poles are to the strings the hotter they'll be. Tho' I never heard about tilted humbuckers giving feedback, I suppose it could be possible. do the mounting screws not have springs on them? If they do then more likely than not it's some wire trapped under the pickup causing the tilt... just feed as much of it into the control cavity as you can before putting the pickups in. If they're just screw mounted then it'll take a bit of fiddling (maybe even some packing) to keep em in line if the screw threads are dodge.

 

[Tony Ramone]

Well, I tried the guitar out on the Valveking on thursday - it was fine on the clean channel, but as soon as I switched to distortion, I nearly killed everyone in the room. It definitely sounds more like mic feedback than your typical guitar feedback - way more high pitched.

Did the pickup have 2 or 4 wires coming out of it. If it was 4 then you gotta solder two together earth one and have the other as yer signal out. If it's 2 wires then just earth and signal. Ususally on better pickups they have 4 to give you the option of coil tapping and the like where a humbucker can be made to act like a single coil. Unfortunately if you wire the 4 wire option wrong you can end up with coil tapping or two coils with opposing polarity. Could possibly be the problem.

They've only got 2 wires, so I just connected the braid to ground and the signal wire to the signal - just the same as the ones I removed.

Also as for the height difference, the closer the poles are to the strings the hotter they'll be. Tho' I never heard about tilted humbuckers giving feedback, I suppose it could be possible. do the mounting screws not have springs on them? If they do then more likely than not it's some wire trapped under the pickup causing the tilt... just feed as much of it into the control cavity as you can before putting the pickups in. If they're just screw mounted then it'll take a bit of fiddling (maybe even some packing) to keep em in line if the screw threads are dodge.

The mounting screws have springs on them, but the pickups are a little bigger than the old ones, so maybe that's why they've less room - I'm trying to use the original mounts cos they're shaped for the slope on the guitar whereas the new ones are made for a Les Paul I reckon. Also, the new ones are Ivory which'd just look shit alongside the matt black of everything else.
Thanks for your suggestions though - I might try pack something in under it, and maybe move them back from the strings a little.

Tony

 

[Tony Ramone]

Hey all, still messing around with ideas to improve this guitar. I've been looking around a few sites and I've read quite a few good reviews of GFS crunchy rails - I was just wondering if anyone here has ever had any experience with them? Good? Shit? I'm mostly playing punk rock, though I use the clean channel occasionally if I'm in the mood to rip off Against Me!. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers, Tony