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hum buckers can be tilted in their housings and this can cause all manner of sounds to be produced.
its more than that, i think. different sorts of vibrations get generated with different notes (some are just about okay, others are choked off somehow, not sounding clearly because of the vibration accompanying them etc. etc.) - and the effect is that no clear consistent voice is produced by the guitar. that's more than just an annoying buzz now and then.
if you use two pickup springs instead of just one, or perhaps one very long screw, you can effectively lock up the pickup, and this prevents any tilting
as soon as i managed to prevent this tilting movement in the pickup my guitar acquired a single consistent voice across the range - all unwanted vibrations disappeared.
of course you have to be happy with the height at which the pickups lock (however important this is, i have to say i'm still more concerned about getting rid of all the funny noises). i think you can adjust this by using stronger/longer springs. to lock the pickup you have to raise the pickup in its housing as far as the screws will allow you. the longer/stronger the screw the lower the pickup will be in its housing when it becomes impossible to raise it further.
i've never understood why hum buckers pivot - but i only just found out how much sonic trouble this ability to pivot or tilt can cause.
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08-17-2015 06:47 PM
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Totally with you on the funny noises front. They range from mildly annoying to maddening. I've tried many solutions to the wobbly HB syndrome- matchbook shims, bits of cotton, foam earplug bits, tape, and so forth, usually coming to some sort of truce with the gremlins. I'm very picky about pickup/string alignment in all axes and heartily wish some enterprising person would invent and distribute a humbucker mounting-ring assembly that would convert standard 2-screw mountings to a tri-screw setup like I had on an Ibanez Artist I had long ago, allowing for precise adjustment of p/u angles and eliminating the wobble. I can dream, can't I?
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glad to know i'm not alone!
i posted primarily because i think i've found a solution to a whole tribe of horrid noises that are produced because the pickup is able to move in its housing in the distinctive way it does. (i've had two or three hand built archtops with mounted pickups and they were all totally gremlin-free. in fact - now i come to think of it - that was a big part of why i got one in the first place.)
i grew up playing a wind instrument - and the idea of a non-musical noise attaching itself to the notes you blow is just crazy. (a large part of getting good at playing these instruments is learning how to make the note sound without incidental and undesired mouth and breath noise - so you're focused on making the note 'pure' pretty much the whole time you're playing)
i will make no truce with the gremlins - never. i will defeat them or die.
and this latest thing has maybe not won me the whole gremlin-war but its put them on their knees - the final defeat cannot be far away.....(i'm not stressed)
i do think that you could effectively adjust the height at which the pickup locks up by using different sorts of pickup spring. once you get it right you'll never have to change it. right now my pickup is locked a little too high in the housing - but its not as big a problem as having the guitar sound and feel off the whole time.
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Yep...they wobble and make noise. It's a design flaw. Seth Lover was supporting a lot of mass with just two screws. It creates a see-saw effect. Stiffer springs than the typical ones supplied would likely make a difference. Add a third screw and you don't have a problem. Heritage and others have done this.
The point about wind instruments is something to lend perspective. I fooled with saxophone for a while. Geez! A sax makes noises like a sewing maching, for goodness' sake.
It's difficult to completely eliminate stray noises from a drum kit, too. Heck, I have gotten to the point where I associate a certain sound as part of the kick drum sound of vintage Ludwig sets--the "Speed King" sound. It's as much a part of the sound of the James Brown band sound as the funk guitar, or the horn stabs. If the Speed King squeak weren't there, it wouldn't be James Brown. Same thing with early Led Zeppelin. Bonham's Speed King has that squeak on the first album. If it weren't there, it wouldn't be Led Zeppelin.
Still, I try to get humbuckers to be still, if I can.
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Another thing that drives me crazy is the weird noises you get out of tube amps at times but I can never get away from that lovely tube sound so I just live with it.
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greentone - i totally get what you're saying - there's always gonna be noise produced at the same time as the music - but a big part of playing is learning how to minimize/control it.
vinnyv1k - i love that tone too, but the noises drove me too crazy to keep living with it. the henriksen has some of the softness of a good tube, and none of the noises.
so worrying about this stuff has played a huge role in determining which guitars and amps i've gone for over the years.
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Yep. This is especially true these days. The process of manufacturing vacuum tubes--alignment of components, etc.--peaked in the "golden age" of vacuum tube technology, circa 1950-1970. Alignment isn't as good as it used to be, in particular. Stuff rattles, burns out prematurely, and is microphonic with greater frequency than was true in the past.
Tube matching is more necessary than was the case 50 years ago. The variance in power tube characteristic performance is greater than it used to be. 50 years ago, you could pretty much purchase two 6L6GC tubes and pop them into an amp. If your amp came with RCA or GE tubes and you put the same ones back in there, odds were fair that you had a decent match--within acceptable limits. Now, tubes are all over the map.
AND, they aren't even necessarily what they claim to be. Has anyone seen a true GZ-34 tube of new manufacture? I have seen tubes that appear to be 5v4gt tubes re-labelled as GZ-34 tubes, but I haven't seen any true 5AR4/GZ34 tubes. You?
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I have yet to find a great rectifier tube Greentone. I do love the Genelex Gold Lion 12AX7 long plate for V1 & PI though I think it's just a Sovtek 12AX7LPS with gold pins.
Groynaid I have both the 110 & 112 henriksen which I do love very much. Great as they are their is something that only a good tube amp can give when it comes to certain types of pick attack. You just can't beat a Fender Twin period.
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I've always used 2 springs one inside the other on humbuckers never had a problem with height adjustment or the pickups wobbling.
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I have a few guitars where I took vinyl from medical gloves and totally stuffed the spaces between the pickup and the pickup ring. I also stuffed it right up against the springs. It seems to have helped.
I see people with solid body guitars also put sponge between the pickups and the guitar body.
Danielle
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Recently had this issue in my 14" archtop with mounted HB. I just adjusted pickup height until it went away.
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Yeah i had a vintage 57 L-5ces that just drove me nuts. No matter how I adjusted the HB kept rattling. My 57 es175 luckily doesnt at all.
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it will drive you nuts - surely - why wouldn't it?
increase the tension in the screw as much as possible - and this will help. longer screws - two screws per post etc. etc.
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Same problem here with a two pickup Ibby.
My solution was to cut a mouse pad into approx 10mm x 15mm rectangles
and stuff that between the screw/spring assembly and the side of the mounting plate.
No more noise and the pickup sits parallel to the strings.
Plus you still have adjustment if needed.
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Some humbuckers I've bought (bill Lawrence springs to mind) came with screws and a small length of rubber tubing instead of a spring. A possible option to eliminate rattling. Come to think of it, I think my gretsch 6120 sslvo with tv Jones had rubber tubes too.
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isn't weird extra noises a sign of that the pre-amp tubes need to be replaced?
Originally Posted by vinnyv1k
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My VB and discovering some of the others are using surgical tubing instead of springs. You can order some from StewMac and find it at some hardware stores. They cut it longer so it compresses and holds the PUP tight.
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or some mousemat material?? Originally Posted by docbop
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i tried the rubber tubing - didn't i say this above?- and it deadened the sound of the guitar SO SO SO MUCH it was just amazing. I had to get it out of there very very fast. taught me a thing or two about the top of an archtop.
no buzzing though
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Well, so much for my solution.
The noise is back.
I wonder if it could be something inside the pick-up that is rattling.
Seems like a long shot but I'm out of ideas.
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After spending years dealing with rattles etc, I can see why single neck pickup or floating pickup are favored by some. Sometimes the only way to totally silence the problem is the actually remove the bridge pickup. The bridge pickup, I think, rattles the most. It is right by the bridge; the worst spot to be mounted. Having said that, I have bridge pickups on some one of my archtops. I do use occasionally use them.
My late model ES175 has a lot of interesting topography on the top. The pickup rings are pretty distorted; I have thin strips of foam rubber between the rings and the pickups on that one.Last edited by icr; 11-26-2015 at 09:06 PM.
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