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I'm getting feedback on my bridge pick up even at medium volumes.

I'm not very technically orientated, so any help wold be appreciated. :-[

    Where do you stand relative to the speaker? Is it different whether you have the body facing the speaker or square to it?
    Any amplified guitar will be prone to feedback when you give it back its own vibrations, e.g. facing the body straight up to a speaker and giving the system enough gain. The idea is to get as much feedback as you want by controlling the sound that gets to your guitar....
      Thanx Gearhead, I normally don't stand too colse to the amp but I am facing the amp. My other guitars don't feedback at the same range.
        What kind of les paul is this? What pickups etc?
          I'm in a rush today, so excuse the short response.

          What kind of feedback are we talking here? Parisienne Walkways-style sustaining notes or pickup squeal? If the former, be thankful, as it's a sign of a very resonant guitar, if it's the latter, the pickups may need potting (saturating the wire coils in wax to stop them moving). Potting changes the tone slightly though - they'll pick up less acoustic resonance, so some would prefer to leave them and live with it (Neil young's LP is a good example).
            Francis Viviers wrote: What kind of les paul is this? What pickups etc?
            Its an Epiphone LP Goldtop
            Alan Ratcliffe wrote: I'm in a rush today, so excuse the short response.

            What kind of feedback are we talking here? Parisienne Walkways-style sustaining notes or pickup squeal? If the former, be thankful, as it's a sign of a very resonant guitar, if it's the latter, the pickups may need potting (saturating the wire coils in wax to stop them moving). Potting changes the tone slightly though - they'll pick up less acoustic resonance, so some would prefer to leave them and live with it (Neil young's LP is a good example).
            Unfortunately, it's the latter. So , how would I go about potting potting the pick ups? Its only the bridge pick up though. Bearing in mind that I don't know much about these kind of stuff :-\
              Potting you'll have to get a luthier to do - and not all of them are willing capable to do it. It involves soaking the pickup in a bath of hot melted wax and the temperature needs to be kept within a certain narrow range to prevent the plastic bobbins from melting.
                Ouch, I never even considered non-waxpotted pups :-[ thought that was just a sixties anecdote by now.
                  Hey Blues, geez, never even heard of potting until now! Hope you get the problem sorted. What about Alan, can he do it for you?
                    bLuEs wrote: Its an Epiphone LP Goldtop
                    You know what mate, Its a dead end, those guitars are notoriously rubbish. Tell you what, I'll take it off your hands and solve your problem ?

                    Post a picture here and we'll give you some good feedback. I love those things.

                    I know I'm going to cross a line here (questioning Alan ???), but the only real way for anyone to help you would be to see the setup and judge from there.
                      Thanx for the help guys. I don't know what happened, but last night when I played it, guess what... No feedback ... I'm guessing Alan sneeked into my house yesterday while I was at work and fixed it for me... thanx Alan. ?
                        bLuEs wrote: Thanx for the help guys. I don't know what happened, but last night when I played it, guess what... No feedback ... I'm guessing Alan sneeked into my house yesterday while I was at work and fixed it for me... thanx Alan. ?
                        Blues, I would still check it out. Sometimes the problems may be intermittent, it may just come back when you least expect it, and freak you out again!
                        In my experience, generally, problems don't just go away!
                          Gearhead wrote: Ouch, I never even considered non-waxpotted pups :-[ thought that was just a sixties anecdote by now.
                          Au contraire, mon ami - Early pickups were never potted, because volume and gain weren't de rigeur. Some types of pickup are actually best unpotted (or very lightly) - Tele bridge models being a good example. Most boutique winders do a light potting to solidify the outer coils but still leave some life, but some will only pot on request. Also depends on the intended application - a high output pickup will always be potted heavily while a vintage style PAF will only be potted lightly.

                          I've noticed that even heavily potted pickups in guitars used at high volume eventually become microphonic - I think the constant vibration the guitar is subjected to eventually shakes the windings loose (ever try an old DiMarzio Super Distortion? They are almost guaranteed to be microphonic).

                          I can't pot anymore - I used to have an old Cookin' Crock and a temperature gauge, but got rid of them when I stopped fixing as I rarely play at volume myself.

                          @Donovan - You're welcome to contradict and question me - keeps me on my toes and helps me learn more. ? Having said that, pickup squeal is not affected by setup in any way, it's microphonic feedback from coils vibrating around magnets (or occasionally on cheap pickups, loose polepieces vibrating in coils).
                            Alan Ratcliffe wrote: Au contraire, mon ami
                            Well, there can only be one Poirot, n'est-ce pas?
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