[EyeballGrowth]

I've tried everything and I need some advice. I'm playing a heavily but professionally modified Mexican Strat running through 5 pedals. The order from guitar to amp is: Dunlop Crybaby Volume/wah, Sovtek Big Muff Pi, Ibanez Digital Delay, Boss DS-1, and Electro Harmonix Holy Grail. All that is going to a 69 Sears/Silvertone amp which is old but it's never given me problems before and it sounds fine with just a guitar going to it.

The problem is feedback. High pitched screeching that is so loud you can barely hear the guitar over it. Without any distortion pedals turned on it's just a really loud high pitched ringing, not like normal feedback at all. With distortion it's just overpoweringly loud, can't even hear the guitar. I don't care about feedback, infact I enjoy it and use it in my music, but only when I create it intentionally by turning on my wah or turning two distortions on at once or something of that nature. I've tried everything, tried changing the position of the distortions, helped slightly but then a few days later it somehow went back to being just as bad. Tried changing the order of the pedals. It seems like my volume/wah may be creating lots of it seeing as Dunlops are super cheap, and when I took it off the board it helped to a degree but still, ugh. Any advice?

[demonrail666]

I read somewhere recently that crybaby wahs are prone to cause the kind of squeal you describe and the fact your guitar sounds fine with no pedals makes me think that could be the culprit, but you say that when you took it off the board, while it helped it didn't completely eradicate the problem. An obvious question but is there a pedal that, before you add it, everything sounds fine?

Saying that, even if there is, the problem may not be with that actual pedal, which may just be amplifying a problem further on down the chain all the way to your guitar. You mention modifying your guitar. did you change pickups for really hot humbuckers or something. I've heard that these can cause similar problems to the ones you describe. It's not necessarily a problem with the pickup, you may just need to put in some kind of capacitor.

[EyeballGrowth]

Nah, gold lace sensors

[Derek]

Make a noise record.

[Rob Instigator]

 

[SpectralJulianIsNotDead]

Is your crybaby plugged in backwards?

[EyeballGrowth]

Originally Posted by SpectralJulianIsNotDead

Is your crybaby plugged in backwards?

Of course not. I'll try some more arrangements tonight and try to narrow it down to the pedal that's responsible. Lol I couldn't make a noise record if I wanted to. It would just sound like one incredibly loud high pitched ringing tone with muffled guitar behind it

[SpectralJulianIsNotDead]

you know the seagull sound on Pink Floyd's Echoes?

Wah plugged in backwards

[EyeballGrowth]

Ok, first thing in the morning I'm going downstairs and checking these pedals out once and for all. I was too busy today

Ah come on with this " Fail " crap! Fail gets my award for the current most stupidly overused word on the internet. ( and in real life )

[mkuboot]

This problem sounds interesting indeed. Oscillation come sto mind...
While I'm sorry I can't come up with a solution from here, but maybe the following steps can help you isolate the problem:

1. Effects pedals & cables:
Try to find the effect that's causing the mess. You could start with only your 1st pedal, then add No2, No.3 etc until the squealing starts. Also keep an eye on the cables and replace cable No.1 with No.2...etc...
Some older pedals (wah, fuzz) can play funky games when used together.
That's why Geoffrey Teese uses a buffer for his RMC wahs.
If you use batteries, an almost empty block can also cause squealing...
If you use a wall-wart /daisy chain, try batteries for a change...

2. Guitar-Check Pups:
(I don't know the Sensors too well so this might not apply...)
If not properly waxed, some pups tend to squeal at higher volume - think 70ies Telecasters. Plug directly in your amp & try at the volume level you normally play.

3. Amp-Check Valves & Circuit:
(valves only if it has any...)
Sometimes a circuit reacts bitchy when getting older. Try switching the amp to 'play' and tap any valves with a pencil (softly). If you can hear this sound through the speaker, replace the valve. A doom-bound valve can cause high-pitch squeal feedback.
It could also be that you accidentally overpowered the (pre)amp with an over-the-top-boosted signal from your distortion effetcs, or some parts (grid-resistors or the like) have worn out. In this case (amplifier self-oscillation), I would take it to a tech...unless you want to fry yourself with deadly voltage - the voltage remains inside the circuit even after unplugging the amp until you drain the caps, so please be careful!! Working on the valves is OK, as long as they're not hot. Keep in mind that your amp might need re-bias if you have to change the power-amp valves.

4. You could google 'amp high pitch squeal' to find out you're not the only one with this problem...

Seriously , I would think your problem lies probably with either 1. or 3.
Maybe I could help - good luck!

[FreshChops]

Bypass the pedals one by one to eliminate those being the cause (instead of just rearranging them). My hunch would be with the CryBaby. Also, cables can be bad too. If you can't find out which pedal.... or, even if you do, make sure it's not a patch cable going or coming from that pedal. Pedal may still be good.

My first guess would be the notoriously noisy Crybaby though.

Is the old Silvertone amp solid state or tube powered? If it's tube, that opens up a whole other world of possibilities, starting with microphonic tubes.

[EyeballGrowth]

Ok, I just got done fiddling with my setup, here are some things I figured out:

I tried taking the crybaby out of the picture and just running through my other 4 pedals. I also tried turning the Treble down on the amp. It helped but now for some reason, the reverb on the EH Holy Grail is not working and the knob is acting as the master volume for my entire board only backwards (turning it all the way to the right is zero) WTF?!!!!!!

In answer to some of your question, yes the silvertone amp is tube powered. As for my cables, they were getting pretty old so a month ago I went and bought a set of brand new ones, patch cables and instrument cables. The Sovtek Big Muff is definately not the issue. That thing is as clear as a bell, zero unwanted feedback. Strangely the Boss DS-1 does seem to cause some of it. Eh I don't know, I think I'm gonna go back down and check each pedal again one by one to pinpoint it, but I'm almost positive the crybaby is causing the majority of it. Actually, I think I'm going to take it to my parents and plug it into my Marshall half stack.

Thank you all for being so eager to help. I appreciate it and I will make notes of all your suggestions

[EyeballGrowth]

Also I really want to take it to a tech but there are none in my area, or even close

[EyeballGrowth]

Someone want to reccomend me a volume/wah that's not morely or Crybaby?

[ricechex]

Originally Posted by EyeballGrowth

Someone want to reccomend me a volume/wah that's not morely or Crybaby?

Try out the Buddha offering for just wah if int...a bit pricey, but they sound fantastic.

 

[mkuboot]

Originally Posted by EyeballGrowth

Someone want to reccomend me a volume/wah that's not morely or Crybaby?

There's a world of Wah-pedals out there, it really depends on the sound you're after. I don't really know about the cheaper pedals, as I have been playing for a few decades (2.5 almost - geez, am I old?), and the wah is integral for my sounds. I found there's 2 ways to go: Test them all, or know what you want & get a good one - just think how much strain you put on the pot alone!

For vintage sounds something like Budda or RMC-Teese are great. The Fulltone Clyde is very nice as well - simply a question of taste. I like Teese, Geoffrey is a great person to deal with, and I find his wahs are simply phenomenal. I've had a problem with my Wizard-Wah lately, and Geoffrey just shipped me a totally new board, a new pot, and a new switch - for free. Now, his Wahs are expensive, but where in the world would you get a customer service like that?

I don't know if the Rocktron Bad-Cat is still in production? This pedal features true bypass, and a really sweet 'moan'-switch taht enhances the 'wah'-effect and just sounds great with distortion - it really screams. Unfortunately, mine shares the destiny of my Dunlops, broken beyond repair...

BTW there are some nice Dunlops as well: The Classic Crybaby also has TB, and I like the sound of its Fasel inductor circuit. It's also not too expensive.
The Hendrix JH2 sounds nice albeit a bit darker (lower) than the Crybaby.

If you're a fan of RHCP's Frusciante, there's only one pedal: The Grey Ibanez WH10. It's from the 80ies, it's plastic, it's out of production...and I paid a freakin amount for it (and yes, it IS worth it).
It's out as a re-issue by now (in a metal case), and while IBZ claim it's the same circuit, I really doubt it will sound the same. In case you want mine, pm me...I need a tool for our gigs, and the WH10 sits at home because it's too expensive to take on the road...shitty fan-cult vintage-shit! Alternatively, you could buy the Wilson 10-Spot which comes in a Dunlop-style metal case, but costs almost as much as a real WH...

There's countless other wahs out there: I've tried Snarling dogs with the ugly 'foot'-thing and mediocre sound, the DOD FX 17 (also out of production, but can be found cheaply sometimes), which sounds strange because it works by changing electronic current, Coloursound Re-Issues (Thurston likes 'em, I don't)...

I'm sure the others will come up with more choices!

Good luck and have fun finding your whacka!

[demonrail666]

It doesn't have a volume facility but the new Ernie Ball Wah-Pedal is getting great reviews

[EyeballGrowth]

I need a volume/wah pedal

[mkuboot]

Originally Posted by EyeballGrowth

I need a volume/wah pedal

Good morning Eyeballgrowth! *yawn*...it's 9:30 am here...

You could try the DOD FX17 if you can get one. They have a unique sound
and are really small in footprint. The most rugged pedal I've seen to date.

Do you have George Dennis in the US? I've got a GD65 parametric vol./wah by him, and it is actually quite cool:
http://www.george-dennis.cz/pages/fxpedals.htm (scroll down half page)
Germany's 'Top Strat Player' uses GD wahs: http://www.thomasblug.de/media_english.php

It works like a morley (no pot) but it sounds different. You can adjust the sweep-range of the wah, set the minimum volume, and the thing is as sturdy as your proverbial tank. I'd look for the older series with the knobs on the side, the pots on this are better, and there's no risk of accidentally kicking them off...
Only gripes: It eats batteries (does have a 9V-jack though), and it's PINK.
Now that calls for a 'hello kitty'-sticker

I'm at the office now, I'll try to post you a pic when I'm home with both of the pedals for size comparison.

[SpectralJulianIsNotDead]

I have an FX17. The Volume mode works real good, but the wah mode not so much. It sounds nice, but the foot switch to turn off the wah is in the toe-up position, and it's really easy to trigger, you don't have to be firm to accidentally turn the wah off. So I just use it for volume.

The Morley/DOD sweep design is nice though- never gets scratchy.