Members Felix959 Posted January 12, 2015 Members Share Posted January 12, 2015 Our other guitarist sometimes plays my Epiphone Casino. It's a lovely guitar, and it sounds great, but in our practice space (and, to a lesser extent, on stage), the full hollow body feeds back in an unpleasing fashion at inopportune times. I know people sometimes stuff things inside the guitar body to deaden the vibrations a bit. Anyone have any experience with this? Anyone know the least-permanent material or method to use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted January 12, 2015 Members Share Posted January 12, 2015 2 x red dot squash balls, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted January 12, 2015 Members Share Posted January 12, 2015 If its microphonic feed back, he should pot the pickups. Its not that hard to do, you just get some bees wax and paraffin, heat it in a pan on an electric burner using a thermometer to be sure it doesn't over heat and dip them in and wipe off the excess. If its resonant feed back where the whole guitar body resonates, then turning the gain boxes down and going with a cleaner sound helps. Using an EQ to cut the frequencies that cause the run away train effect helps too. Standing farther away from the amp may be wise as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted January 12, 2015 Members Share Posted January 12, 2015 I have an Epi Dot. I got a bag-o-rags from Walmart and stuffed the upper cavity. I left the lower compartment with the wiring and pots alone. Works to a significant degree. The pickups are microphonic but not chronically so and I understand vintage winds are supposed to be unpotted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted January 12, 2015 Members Share Posted January 12, 2015 Standing farther away from the amp may be wise as well. I think this is always the best choice if it's possible to do so, Potted pickups are a very good idea as well. Anything else will change the sound of the guitar so you might just as well go with a P90 equipped Les Paul IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted January 12, 2015 Members Share Posted January 12, 2015 The pickups are microphonic but not chronically so and I understand vintage winds are supposed to be unpotted. ??? Potting shouldn't drastically change the tone, just get rid of the microphonics. Its better then killing the wood tone with a bunch of rags dampening the wood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hellion_213 Posted January 12, 2015 Members Share Posted January 12, 2015 Wax potting as gardo and, I cant believe I'm agreeing with him, but Wrgkmc, have mentioned is a good idea. Lacquer was also used, but I have no practical experience with it. A Noise Gate may help tame the Beast both for practice and on stage. Humbucker swap would also do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jtr654 Posted January 12, 2015 Members Share Posted January 12, 2015 This is why we buy semi hollow guitars like 335 ect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Felix959 Posted January 13, 2015 Author Members Share Posted January 13, 2015 Thanks for all the input, everyone. I had not considered that the feedback might be microphonic, but the more I think about it, the more likely that seems. I'm gonna look into wax-potting the pickups. Of course, the way our band goes, they'll have lost interest in the guitar by the time I'm done. And yes--standing farther away from the amp would be the easiest solution, but we just don't have that kind of space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted January 13, 2015 Members Share Posted January 13, 2015 ??? Potting shouldn't drastically change the tone, just get rid of the microphonics. Its better then killing the wood tone with a bunch of rags dampening the wood. You'd think but evidently the onset of microphonics is part of the vibe. For instance, and correct me if I'm wrong, Seth Lovers are unpotted. (?) As for the rags, I play in the OD lead zones so authentic Maple tone is not a pressing concern . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted January 13, 2015 Members Share Posted January 13, 2015 You'd think but evidently the onset of microphonics is part of the vibe. For instance, and correct me if I'm wrong, Seth Lovers are unpotted. (?) As for the rags, I play in the OD lead zones so authentic Maple tone is not a pressing concern . Well the metal covers are unique on the casinos. Its more the metal covers which can act like a microphone diaphragm then the coils themselves. The P90's were designed long before the onset of high gain circuits and mainly plugged straight into a clean amp for their twangy and jazz type tones. The amp gain was much lower so microphonic feedback was much harder to get. You found plastic covers on bigger guitar bodies because they were more likely to become microphonic at low volumes and the plastic helped to prevent that. You could put plastic covers on there but you loose some magnetic shielding and hum may increase. I have a Casino copy with P90's and plastic covers and I can crank the gain way up and have no microphonics, Only body resonance and I even have a preamp built into that one which kicks the gain way up with no problems. You may be able to use some double sided foam tape between the cover and pickup bobbin to kill it instead of the wax, but I think the wax would be a better choice in keeping the cover from vibrating. The body resonance will still occur which is the cool vibe you speak of. When you place the body in front of a speaker, the body vibrates and the strings will self sustain creating that Santana type string sustain. What you will minimize is the microphonic feedback, the type you get when you point a microphone into a speaker caused by the metal covers vibrating like a mic diaphragm. Like I said, you can just sandwich wax between the cover and bobbin and see if that works. If you don't like the change it can be removed easily enough using a hair dryer to soften it. Same with the foam tape, you just peel it off. I potted my P100's in my Les Paul and didn't hear any changes at all other then being able to crank them all the way up without issues. I've also done many Mini Humbuckers with metal covers and gotten rid of the microphonics. I just did a set of these Mini Filtertrons recently for my Epi Dot. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Artec-Mini-Filtertron-Humbucker-Bridge-Pickup-Chrome-/151345178675?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item233ce02833 They had full sides rings so I thought I'd try them in one of my builds. Man did they feed back badly. They would squeal like pigs just using a low gain tube screamer. They also picked up the slightest tap or finger movement on the body itself, so I gave them the dip. I can crank them up through high gain pedals no without any problems at all. They aren't the best sounding pups but I don't have to worry about microphonics at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Ratae Corieltauvorum Posted January 13, 2015 Moderators Share Posted January 13, 2015 Everybody see this? Try it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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