feedback on pickups JEM777vbk - My pickups keep feebacking,

[Alinde]

Hi,
I have a problem with my guitar. I have recently bought a Jem777vbk from '90, but I haven't got to play with it because the pickups keep feedbacking :-(
Even at low volumes and with relatively low gain the pickups stil feedback. I allready put some foam under the pickups, and I replaced the mounting screws and springs. This didn't work. Is there another possibility?
Thanks,
Alex

[darren wilson]

You may just have a bad pickup or two. The wax potting may not have fully penetrated the coils, or there may be a broken wire somewhere in one of the coils.

I believe DiMarzio will take their pickups back if they're defective. They may be able to re-pot them to reduce feedback.

[Alinde]

Hey Darren, thanks for the info. I'll try to mail DiMarzio and hopefully I'll get an answer.
As soon as I hear something from them, I'll post it here.
Thanks again,
Alex

[Rich]

Is it in 1 switch position only? Just the neck, bridge, or single? I would seriously doubt more than 1 p/u would go bad, if you're experiencing this in all positions I'd start looking at the whole rig. If a p/u has gone microphonic (just needs to be repotted) it will feed with no signal going through it.

[Alinde]

Hey Rich, it is on the two humbuckers, not the single, because of the low output. But first I thought I used too much gain on my amp, but when I played at a low volume it still was feedbacking. I have a DiMarzio X2N pickup in one of my other guitars, and that's one hell of a high output humbucker, but that one doesn't feedback. Only when I lift my han of from the strings. But the Paf pro's in the Jem keep feedbacking even when I damp the strings. Weird huh... never had this on a guitar

[Rich]

If they feedback with the strings damped they're microphonic. What's wier is it's both Hums. This guy live in the desert and leve it out in the sun or something?!?1 DiMarzio charges $25 a pup for repotting, for around $60 each you can just replace them. Your call.

[Alinde]

Well, if I have to replace the pickups, I would probably replace them with others. Maybe green evolutions

But I just heard something from a friend of mine. He had a possible sollution for my problem with the picks...

Hey said I had to screw the pickups from the baseplate, and put a thin piece of wood or veneer between the baseplate and the magnet. This way the pickup should resonate less.

Anyone ever heard of doing this with a pickup? Could it actually help?

[frankfalbo]

That may affect low frequency "woofing" feedback, but the high pitched squeal is inside the coil, and rarely is affected by anything you can do from the outside. A re-pot is the only thing that gets inside there. Steve Morse blew a bunch of caulk inside his pickup cavity for a studio session and it worked, but I don't know if he was getting the low fequency mooing or the squeal.

[Alinde]

What does re-pot actually mean? What happens if they re-pot the pickup?