Re: Microphonic BL Tele Bridge PU?
PMG
>
>A friend installed a Bill Lawrence 290 bridge pickup in my Mexican Tele
>for me. This was back about 2 years ago. Recently I've had problems
>with it being microphonic. I kind of doubt that the pickup itself is
>the problem, since BL makes pretty good stuff. I've heard that there
>are other things that can cause a Tele bridge PU to behave
>microphonically, such as parts loosening up over time. Can anyone help
>me put together a list of those things so I can go in and fix them, to
>see whether that solves the problem?
>
>Thanks,
>-Scott McKnight
You could try new bridge saddles, along with all the related parts.
You should be able to buy a nice brass set of Tele bridge saddles.
If the bridge plate has become bent, it might not be sitting tight
enough against the body.
Those screws holding the pickup to the bridge, and the springs, could
possibly be causing vibrations that give you feedback.
Anything that's loose could contribute to feedback problems.
I wouldn't rule out the BL pickup as the cause of the problem. Things
that're hand made can be very good, but that doesn't mean that they're
infallible. If his coil(s) have somehow become loose on the outer
wraps, you'll have feedback problems.
It might be the easiest thing to do to replace the pickup and the
bridge, all at once.
Pete
--
Next year?
Who knows when that'll be? --Bloo
SMcK
Joe Mama
"SMcK" <NPi...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1113232410....@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
A lot of the so-called "microphonic tele" problems are due to the air space
that is created by the deep channels that are routed out for the pickups.
you can try stuffing some foam rubber inside to see if that helps. Also, if
the pickups aren't potted, you might have more of a problem with that too.
I have a '83, '52 re-issue and it is one of the squealiest beasts ever. My
solution...Don't play it loud. It sounds fantastic at lower volumes anyway.
Rich Koerner
There are three factors that involve this problem. All three, involve vibration relationships.
First, there is the vibration of the winding of the pickup itself. Potting of the pickup winding is
many times the solution.
Second, is the method of mounting the pickup itself to the bridge plate. The pickup may be allowed
to vibrate, due to the method of mounting.
Third, is the vibration of the bridge plate, with respect to the pickup winding itself. The
vibrating bridge plate, can be SEEN in the SAME manner as the pickup SEES the vibrating string.
One practical solution is the following:
1. Pot the pickup.
2. Glue surgical rubber under the bridge, and trim with a razor blade.
3. Mount the pickup *tightly* to the body under the dampened bridge plate.
Regards,
Rich Koerner,
Time Electronics.
http://www.timeelect.com
Specialists in Live Sound FOH Engineering,
Music & Studio Production,
Vintage Instruments, and Tube Amplifiers
Joe Mama
while tapping on the pickguard (with a pick), you hear the sound loudly
throughthe amp....bingo.
google search trapped air space tele pickup and see what you get.
Bruce Morgen
What type of bridge is in
your MIM? If it's steel
(either the traditional
flanged "ashtray" type or
the heavier L-shaped type
with six Strat-style
saddles that's stock on
the MIM Standard), make
sure it's screwed down
tight, but not so tight as
to create a gap between
the bridge plate and the
body on the side opposite
from the four mounting
screws. Drilling two
additional holes at the
front corners of the
bridge plate and
installing small wood
screws through them is a
tried and true remedy for
a persistent gap.
The L-280/290TL interacts
with ferrous bridges in a
similar (but not quite
identical) way to a
traditional single-coil
Tele bridge pickup, so
any spurious vibration of
the bridge plate will get
get into its signal and
possibly result in
microphonic squealing at
anything near stage
volume. A non-magnetic
(e.g. brass or certain
stainless steels) bridge
like the Gotoh models
sold by Stew-Mac and
AllParts is a reliable
permanent solution.
"SMcK" <NPi...@gmail.com> wrote:
Disclaimer: I have
consulted as a technical
editor for William
Lawrence Designs (Wilde),
and "Bill Lawrence Guitars"
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Joe Mama
"Rich Koerner" <ri...@timeelect.com> wrote in message
news:425AC1E8...@timeelect.com...
>
> 1. Pot the pickup.
> 2. Glue surgical rubber under the bridge, and trim with a razor blade.
> 3. Mount the pickup *tightly* to the body under the dampened bridge plate.
Yeah, but what about the neck pickup? It's always the air space in the
cavity.
Stephen Cowell
"Joe Mama" <dmo...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:SeG6e.647$J12...@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com...
You can try surgical tubing instead of the suspension
springs... helped me.
__
Steve
.
Rich Koerner
It's not so much the air space existing. But, more about the vibration dampening of the pickup.
With either pickup, what it's mounted to can vibrate the pickup with its relationship to the
strings.
In one case it's the bridge plate, in the other, it's the pickguard.
Both, can cause the same problem of feedback in a high gain, high SPL environment situation.
Having three stacks, which I do, in full tilt boogie mode, this can most likely happen. When it
does, mounting the pickups to the body with hard dampening material is all that is left, after the
pickups had been PROPERLY potted.
It's the same thing for basses too.
Any feedback after all this has been done, comes from the small section of the strings over the
pickups.
Hand muting of the strings at the neck, is no longer enough, to stop the section of string over the
pickups from vibrating.
New strings are more prone to this than strings a few days old.
Doing all this is the tradeoff for having large amounts of gain, and high SPL together.
There is no other way around this.
<thinging>
Even the springs of the trem bridge in the back of a strat can take off too. But, you need more
than one full stack, and you have to be facing the right way.
LOL, you should hear that, when it happens.
LOL, ear plugs anyone!!!!!!!
lbrt...@aol.com
> It's not so much the air space existing. But, more about the
vibration dampening of the pickup.
>
> With either pickup, what it's mounted to can vibrate the pickup with
its relationship to the
> strings.
>
> In one case it's the bridge plate, in the other, it's the pickguard.
I couldn't find Scott's OP, but it'd be nice if we had a more specific
description of its microphonic behavior from him. We might more easily
discern whether the objectionable part of it is related to windings
(potting), the plate & its hardware, the pickguard, the switchplate, or
elsewhere. The Tele (in its orig design) is a special case apart from
basses & our usual other axes, in that it's microphonic to one degree
or another, and that for most players the particular microphonics of
the Tele are desireable, if not precious, when it doesn't produce other
offenses that are hard to manage.
For example, this is one reason us early diehard Tele freaks preferred
the pre-'54's with their unpotted p/u's. Often this would cause horrid
screeching FB at high gain that varied according to one's physical
position in relation to the amp. But it also gave highs that sailed
off into space and which are unobtainable from a potted p/u. In that
particular case, when the microphonics became a little "over the line"
to manage onstage, yet potting to eliminiate most of it was
unthinkable, it was satisfactorily cured by dripping wax over the outer
winding (under the waxed twine which covered the coil).
In any case, I think we can be fairly certain that the BL p/u itself
doesn't need repotting nor is likely the primary source of
objectionable microphonics.
Scott...?
FWIW most other crude single-coil axes are quite microphonic at high
gain, too (or, the few of those that are still remembered & in use).
My '59 Melody Maker (single-coil unpotted bar p/u originally intended
for a lap steel), which has no metal cover nor bridgeplate, switchplate
or switch, is just as microphonic as an early Tele and/or as much as a
new model with piezo wide open. This helps it deliver tones (read:
straight-up thin, clean raw blues) that other axes can't produce, and
they are very emotional. OTOH, it's inferior for anything else - just
as the original Tele that it sounds like was. I once potted the back
(bridge) p/u of a '52 Tele; from then on it sounded sort of like every
other Tele (a lamentable & irreversible error).
So I'd suggest that the Tele (of any year) is a special case, that all
are different besides, & that one carefully evaluate how, and what, one
plays & wants from it before setting out to reduce its microphonics,
versus what one is able to live with. Then, I'd suggest taking small
and incremental measures, testing after each degree of correction,
until the problem is "good enough." For example, in some cases simply
damping the switchplate gives the slight reduction needed, without
touching the p/u's or bridge.
Rich Koerner
Point Taken!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The test:
1. Remove the pickup from the guitar and bridge plate.
2. With a pair of clip leads, attach the pickup to one end
of a guitar cord, and plug back into the amp.
3. Turn up the volume to the same level as before when the pickup was in the guitar.
4. Is it more or less sensitive than before.
5. Hold it by the winding, and squeeze a bit. Does it change the sensitivity.
6. If all indicators say you are holding the squealing pig in your hands,
you most likely have one of those rare pickups.