Pedal sounds coming through the pickup

[Drew Taubenfeld]

I'm playing an emmons push pull.
When i Put a mic up to my amp to record and I push the pedals, I can hear the sound of the changer through my pickup. it's usually only noticeable on quitter sections bu it's not a pleasant sound.
I'm been careful not to mash the pedals too hard, but I can still hear the sound sometimes.
I was curious if this is something that just happens with steels or if I have an issue.

thank you!
Drew

[Dave Grafe]

This does happen with many pedal guitars, and it is a sign of a microphonic pickup, i.e. a pickup that is sensitive to mechanical vibrations. In many cases this is considered a boon to tone, but with the drawback that a certain amount of mechanical noise is reproduced by the amp.

The stronger your picking technique the less of this noise you will hear, but it is another issue to learn to manage. Proper right- and left-hand damping techinque can minimize the artifacts, but if the issue is severe enough you may want to consider replacing the pickup with a new one. I recommend that you not rush into hasty action, as there are plenty of us who prefer some microphonic tendencies in our pickups and you could just get yourself locked into a bunch of work to achieve very little.

[Chris Reesor]

Has anyone had any success in reducing this issue by improving mechanical isolation between the guitar body and the pickup? Some sort of damping in the mount?
Just wondering.
Chris

[Ray Montee]

I've mentioned this experience some time back but here it is again, for what it might be worth.........

I was getting a highly annoying mechanical sound from/thro' my amp, a Session 400 with 15 inch speaker. I was playing my 1972 Emmons thro' it.

Some weeks later I discovered electrical arching between my my pedal bar and my volume control. It was discovered that the amp had shorted out just beyone the fuse and the DC part of the wiring, thus causing the DC arching and mechanical sounding noise thro' the amp. Some time later, the amp caught on fire and burned from the center of the speaker cone outward.

Just a tho't..........

[Sonny Priddy]

You mite Try Puting A Wire from The Pickup Ground wire To Soms Place On The Changer Housing

[Carson Leighton]

Drew,,,I sent you an email...Carson

[David Nugent]

Drew...What you may be hearing are the pull rods vibrating/rattling when the pedals are actuated. You might try inserting blocks of soft foam between the underside of the body and the rods so that the rods rest just firmly enough into the foam blocks to hold them in place.

[Peter den Hartogh]

How close is the guitar to the amp-and-the-microphone?
Maybe the microphone picks up the changer noise from the room.
Try to make a recording exactly the same way you have done previously
but with the guitar unplugged and check how much changer noise gets recorded.

[Olli Haavisto]

Change the springs that the mounting screws go through to silicone tubes. That usually helps a bit.