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Topic: Undercarriage Noise Amplified? |
Grant Johnson
From:
Nashville TN
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Posted 22 Mar 2005 10:00 am |
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I just picked up a another used steel. It has the same amount of (acoustic)undercarriage noise as any other older steel that I have owned, just a little to my ear...
But on this steel the pick-up is really amplifying these noises. If I dime my volume pedal and press the A and B pedals I can really hear every bit of the mechanics...
Is there a way to isolate the pick up better?
I was considering cutting some thin foam rubber to shape and placing it in the pick up cavity...
Or should I work on quieting the mechanics??
Thanks...
[This message was edited by Grant Johnson on 22 March 2005 at 10:01 AM.] |
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Ricky Davis
From:
Bertram, Texas USA
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Posted 22 Mar 2005 10:29 am
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Grant I've tried the foam under the pickup thing; and plumbers tape on the screws that mount it and rubber pieces at all hitting points underneath>BUT; if the pickup is microphonic; none of these help, it will still be noisy. So you should either get the pickup re-wound by Jerry Wallace or put a good humbucking pickup in; if you want limited or no noise.
Ricky |
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Gene Jones
From:
Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)
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Posted 22 Mar 2005 10:42 am
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Grant didn't identify the brand of guitar but from personal experience I would guess that it is a Sho-Bud! 
www.genejones.com |
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Grant Johnson
From:
Nashville TN
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Posted 22 Mar 2005 11:16 am
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Actually an MSA. A Laquer model from the mid 1970's with the Supersustain Widemount pickup. It sounds great but it picks up a ton of unercarriage noise.
I have a mica model MSA with the standard single coil that has about the same unamplified noise, but when you plug it in, no noise through the amplifier...
[This message was edited by Grant Johnson on 22 March 2005 at 11:52 AM.] |
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Ricky Davis
From:
Bertram, Texas USA
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Posted 22 Mar 2005 12:04 pm
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Yes I've had several MSA supersustain pickups here that have gone microphonic> The wound wires get loose; and Jerry Wallace can fix that just fine.
Ricky |
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Rich Weiss
From:
Woodland Hills, CA, USA
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Posted 22 Mar 2005 12:16 pm
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Did you try using a piece of foam, and cut long slits into it, and then form it to fit in between the undercarriage rods?
I've had to have this on my own guitar to isolate the rods, so that they don't click against each other and make noise.
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Cor Muizer Jr
From:
The Netherlands/europe
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Posted 22 Mar 2005 12:25 pm
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is this happen on all brands Rich?
i mean the rod clicking against eachother?
cor[This message was edited by Cor Muizer Jr on 22 March 2005 at 12:25 PM.] |
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Roy Ayres
From:
Riverview, Florida, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 22 Mar 2005 1:26 pm
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Cor,
It doesn't happen on my Excel Superb, because there is never a situation where two rods are close together. Rather than having to have one rod "pass by" a bell crank, thus putting it close to an adjacent rod, several rods can be in the same line due to slots in the bell cranks that allow a rod to pass through any bell crank beyond which it has to reach. Neat little design feature. I don't know if any other brands use this design.
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Visit my Web Site at RoysFootprints.com
Browse my Photo Album and be sure to sign my Guest Book.
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Cor Muizer Jr
From:
The Netherlands/europe
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Posted 22 Mar 2005 2:04 pm
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well Roy,
when pull rods are installed as close to the crossbar at the rodpullers ( this is when you will have smooth pedal action i think)
it should very normal that pull rods are clicking to each other.
so i think we have to deal with it.
and the more pulls we have the more it could happen.
this is what i see when i take a look under the guitar.
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Cor
soundengineer/steelplayer Rains D10 8×5 RED
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Archie Nicol R.I.P.
From:
Ayrshire, Scotland
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Posted 22 Mar 2005 3:57 pm
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| Good quality leads help. |
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Grant Johnson
From:
Nashville TN
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Posted 22 Mar 2005 4:37 pm
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Thanks for all the help.
I am going to try a few things and If I have to get the Pick Up rewound, so be it.
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Dave Grafe
From:
Hudson River Valley NY
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Posted 22 Mar 2005 6:26 pm
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How far from away the strings is the pickup, Grant? If it is too low, you may be cranking the volume to get enough signal to use, but the background noise goes up as well.
If you try to isolate the pickup remember that the screws that mount it transfer mechanical noise, be sure to put some rubber or other soft material between the screws and the pickup itself.
Humbucking pickups won't help at all with mechanical noise, they only cancel spurious magnetic fields (dimmers, neon, etc.).
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db
From:
Bethlehem, PA 18015 USA
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Posted 22 Mar 2005 7:33 pm
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Yea,
Weave foam strips through the rods in various places.
The first time I saw this was on Peggy Greens G6th Pedabro when she brought it to Bill Lawrence for a new pickup.
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Dan Balde
U-12/8&5, S-7/D 3&1, S-6/E,A & G3
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ed packard
From:
Show Low AZ
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Posted 23 Mar 2005 6:32 am
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If you look at pictures of the BEAST (er Berner's post) you will see that the rods do pass thru the slotted bell cranks, and are covered with heat shrink tubing (not shrunk). Further, the slack in the rods is taken up by compression springs so even the delrin barrel nuts can't rattle against the bell crank.
The BEAST is basically the SIERRA Session series hardware with PST modifications. |
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Grant Johnson
From:
Nashville TN
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Posted 23 Mar 2005 8:04 am
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My pick Ups are the MSA Supersustain Humbuckers... The E9 side seems to be a bit more microphonic than the C6...
I did some "noise isolation tests" with them and the undercarriage mechanics last night. I've got it to a tolerable level, but I may opt for a rewind on the pick up...
Thanks for your help everyone.
Update: I just talked to Jason Lollar and he said it might be as simple as repotting my pickups....
[This message was edited by Grant Johnson on 23 March 2005 at 10:13 AM.] |
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