Foam behind pickups?

[the_bleeding]

Hey, does anybody put foam behind their pickups? Does it help at all? I dont get how it will reduce squeal... i dont get any squeal anyway.

Somebody want to fill me in on the point? hahaha

thanks guys :)

[AndyR]

Haven't heard of it reducing squeal before... maybe it does? I don't get any squeal either :lol:

But I do know that several of us use it to stop the pickup moving around or the pickup's retaining springs from buzzing.

[WezV]

when direct mounting pickups (screwing the directly to the wood) the pickup will interact with the body wood more than when they have a mounting rings and springs seperating them.  The foam can reduce this and also helps with height adjustment of a direct mounted pickup

some people like the sound difference with direct mounting, some people dont. 

if its a microphonic pickup then some foam behind can stop any excess vibration in the pickup which can sometimes help to reduce the squeal caused by the pickup sensing its own loose parts or coil wire moving around... not really an issue with BKP's

[Fikealox]

I know Paul Gilbert packs foam around some of his pickups to reduce feedback of the sort Wez described.

[Philly Q]

I've also seen pictures of Joe Satriani where it looks like he has some kind of padding (or maybe even silicone sealant?) around his pickups.

[Twinfan]

Does direct mounting make that much difference then???

[Adam.M]

Does direct mounting make that much difference then???

You're not going to start looking for a direct mounted PRS McCarty Korina Rosewood are you? :D