Pickup squeel issue

Onpar

I have a wonderful tele that is absolutley the business. Just a small issue that I am hoping thefretboard community might know how to fix. 

I gigged this for the first time last night and when adding high gain to the bridge pickup it squeeled so loudly it was unplayable. The neck pickup is absolutely fine and so I played with the neck pickup for the remaining high power guitar parts.

Has anyone experienced this before? Or knows of a quick fix? All comments very much appreciated.

Alegree

Wax potting issue, probably.

Funkfingers

1. As explained above, the pickup coil could lack wax potting. 
2. If the pickup has a metal plate on its underside, an air gap between the metal plate and the bobbin itself can induce howl. 
3. If there is a gap between the top of the body and the bridge/tailpiece, this can induce howl. 
4. If the pickup is suspended on screws and springs rather than compressible rubber tubing, that can also result in squeal.

Onpar

Thanks guys. If the pickup lacks wax potting how do you fix it? Is it a case of buying a new pickup with wax potting?

Funkfingers

Wax potting is a process that can be attempted at home - if you know what you are doing - but is probably best left to people like Alegree if you don't know. 

Obviously, this is a service for which there will be a charge + postage both ways. The viability depends on the value of your guitar and pickup.

If you had declared the make/model of your offending pickup, somebody on this forum would probably know whether that pickup would have been wax potted by its manufacturer.

If the pickup coil is already potted, the source of your squeal is one of the other three causes that I mentioned above.

west

this might help explain a bit ...

smurfitt

How old is the guitar? Just had same problem with my older jap strat and had to replace them.

ICBM

If the pickup has a metal baseplate, the first thing to try is putting a piece of soft foam rubber in the cavity under the pickup - this can damp out the vibration enough to stop it. Some people prefer to remove the baseplate but that changes the tone of the pickup, I think for the worse.

If that doesn't fix it, if the baseplate is loose, try double-sided tape between it and the bottom of the coil. If *that* doesn't fix it, the pickup will need wax potting. (Or replacing with one that's been made like that.)

Also be aware that sometimes the entire bridge can vibrate at the front - especially a problem with the vintage 'ashtray' type. Double-sided tape can cure this too.

Onpar

Thanks for all the advice guys. I took the guitar to Keith at Imperial guitars who glued on the baseplate and potted. It's now much improved.