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Topic: Pedal sounds coming through the pickup |
Drew Taubenfeld
From:
California, USA
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Posted 15 Apr 2012 9:06 am |
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I'm playing an emmons push pull.
When i Put a mic up to my amp to record and I push the pedals, I can hear the sound of the changer through my pickup. it's usually only noticeable on quitter sections bu it's not a pleasant sound.
I'm been careful not to mash the pedals too hard, but I can still hear the sound sometimes.
I was curious if this is something that just happens with steels or if I have an issue.
thank you!
Drew |
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Dave Grafe
From:
Hudson River Valley NY
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Posted 15 Apr 2012 9:46 am
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This does happen with many pedal guitars, and it is a sign of a microphonic pickup, i.e. a pickup that is sensitive to mechanical vibrations. In many cases this is considered a boon to tone, but with the drawback that a certain amount of mechanical noise is reproduced by the amp.
The stronger your picking technique the less of this noise you will hear, but it is another issue to learn to manage. Proper right- and left-hand damping techinque can minimize the artifacts, but if the issue is severe enough you may want to consider replacing the pickup with a new one. I recommend that you not rush into hasty action, as there are plenty of us who prefer some microphonic tendencies in our pickups and you could just get yourself locked into a bunch of work to achieve very little. |
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Chris Reesor
From:
British Columbia, Canada
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Posted 15 Apr 2012 1:02 pm microphonic pickups
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Has anyone had any success in reducing this issue by improving mechanical isolation between the guitar body and the pickup? Some sort of damping in the mount?
Just wondering.
Chris
_________________
Excel Superb U12, MIJ Squier tele, modified Deluxe Reverb RI, Cube 80XL, self built acoustics & mandolins |
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Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
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Posted 15 Apr 2012 1:37 pm Not to repeat myself but.....................
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I've mentioned this experience some time back but here it is again, for what it might be worth.........
I was getting a highly annoying mechanical sound from/thro' my amp, a Session 400 with 15 inch speaker. I was playing my 1972 Emmons thro' it.
Some weeks later I discovered electrical arching between my my pedal bar and my volume control. It was discovered that the amp had shorted out just beyone the fuse and the DC part of the wiring, thus causing the DC arching and mechanical sounding noise thro' the amp. Some time later, the amp caught on fire and burned from the center of the speaker cone outward.
Just a tho't.......... |
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Georg Sørtun
From:
Mandal, Agder, Norway
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Posted 15 Apr 2012 2:18 pm Re: microphonic pickups
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| Chris Reesor wrote: |
| Has anyone had any success in reducing this issue by improving mechanical isolation between the guitar body and the pickup? |
Yes, I have a PSG with isolating "rubber-ring hang-up" for the PU.
 
That is my modified Dekley where no screws hold the PU. It just floats on the rubber-ring that is wrapped around it, and actually falls down onto the strings when the steel is turned upside down.
I use this hang-up method not so much to dampen the PU relative to neck/body, but so I can move the PU freely towards or away from the bridge in the larger opening to vary tone. The rubber-ring hang-up in itself affect tone because the PU doesn't vibrate much with the neck/body but rather have its own vibration-behavior relative to body and strings, and to my ear the resulting "quasi bodytone" - with that PU on that PSG - is for the better compared to having the PU screwed in place.
The rubber-ring does of course reduce mechanical noise to/through the PU a lot - no problems with mechanical noise on that old Dekley, but I don't know how well such a "rubber-ring" arrangement will work on regular PSGs since I haven't tried.
Maybe someone will take the idea and turn it into a more normal-looking form for isolating/dampened PU mount - one day. |
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Sonny Priddy
From:
Elizabethtown, Kentucky, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 15 Apr 2012 3:09 pm Pickup sound
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| You mite Try Puting A Wire from The Pickup Ground wire To Soms Place On The Changer Housing |
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Carson Leighton
From:
N.B. Canada
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Posted 15 Apr 2012 5:09 pm email
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| Drew,,,I sent you an email...Carson |
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David Nugent
From:
Gum Spring, Va.
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Posted 16 Apr 2012 2:52 am
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| Drew...What you may be hearing are the pull rods vibrating/rattling when the pedals are actuated. You might try inserting blocks of soft foam between the underside of the body and the rods so that the rods rest just firmly enough into the foam blocks to hold them in place. |
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Peter den Hartogh
From:
Cape Town, South Africa
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Posted 16 Apr 2012 8:14 am
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How close is the guitar to the amp-and-the-microphone?
Maybe the microphone picks up the changer noise from the room.
Try to make a recording exactly the same way you have done previously
but with the guitar unplugged and check how much changer noise gets recorded.
_________________
1977 Sho~Bud D10 ProIII Custom; Sho~Bud SD10 The Professional ; ETS S10 5x5;
Fender 1000; 1993 Remington U12; 1978 Emmons S10 P/P; GeorgeB Weissenborn;
Fluger Cat-Can; Asher Electro Hawaiian; Gibson BR4; Fender FS52; Guyatone 8str;
Fender Resonator ; Epiphone Coronet 1937; Rickenbacher Ace; Rickenbacher NS;
Dynalap 8string; Harbor Lights 8string; Aiersi Tri-Cone; Fender Stringmaster |
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Olli Haavisto
From:
Jarvenpaa,Finland
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Posted 16 Apr 2012 9:40 am
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Change the springs that the mounting screws go through to silicone tubes. That usually helps a bit.
_________________
Olli Haavisto
Finland |
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