Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: comedyfinger on May 17, 2009, 11:56:17 AM

Title: Tele Piledriver ~feedback sound/setup general advice sought
Post by: comedyfinger on May 17, 2009, 11:56:17 AM

Hi
I recently swapped out the SCN pups on my AM Tele Deluxe, for a set of piledrivers. I play lead in a 'classic-modern' rock covers band and they certainly gave my tele some much needed balls, and added sustain. The only problem is an annoying side-effect when using feedback on the bridge pickup.

With my old set the feedback was much more controllable on the vol pot when holding a note (particularly when using wah), and it was much more predictable and sweeter. With the new set  the feedback now doesn't build organically but rather goes between low rumbling straight through the sweet spot and onto squeaky 'nails on blackboard'. When using wah you are in smoke alarm mode. Me, band, landlord and punters unhappy :(

When I replaced the set I put the new ones to roughly the same height as the old and they seemed to be ok at that so I left them. Now to solve this I have adjusted bridge pup height and ended with it a lot higher then I would think normal, I'd say approx 2mm below the top E and 3mm on bottom E. Doesn't interfere with my playing, output still seems to be clear and the sound is still ballsy. It just looks out of kilter.

Anyone else out there with these pups, can you let me know roughly what height you have them set at?
Am I doing anything fundamentally wrong here? Anyone else seen this problem? Would changing vol/tone pots from 250k improve matters. Any advice appreciated.

Title: Re: Tele Piledriver ~feedback sound/setup general advice sought
Post by: Tellboy on May 17, 2009, 01:13:28 PM

I have a Piledriver set in my 50th ann. Tele. Pickup height seems to be important with most BKPs. Mine are roughly the same height as yours but I would recommend you keep experimenting to find your own "sweet spot". If you do a search on "pickup height" in this forum you will get a lot of info on what other users have settled on.
With the Piledriver set Tim recommends 500k pots to get the best out of them. Again  you will find information on which pots others have used by using the search function.
If you are still unhappy give Tim a ring - I'm sure he could answer any concerns you have about the pickups,

Title: Re: Tele Piledriver ~feedback sound/setup general advice sought
Post by: comedyfinger on May 17, 2009, 03:36:07 PM

Cool. Thanks.

I did as you suggested. Lots of info. Tweaked my settings to end up at around 2mm (Bottom E) slanting slightly up to 1.6ish under the top E. My original setup must have been way off! Feedback is great here and the pinch harmonics are beautiful. Very Billy Gibbons.

Must learn to trust my ears in future and screw what it looks like.  8)

Thanks again