How many use 59/09s with high gain amps?

[Deleted member 5962]

I have a couple year old Custom 24 (in my sig pic on the left) with 59/09s. Since the day I bought it, I have had problems with it squealing if I'm using anything more than moderate gain. At first, I thought it was just because the pickups are wound hotter, but I have much hotter pickups (JP12) that don't do it. Then I figured, "well, the 59/09s have way more top end than those so that's the problem." I've all but written off playing this guitar with much gain at all.

Problem is, I have 3 Mesa amps and a Custom 50 and I can play ANY of my other guitars without this issue. NF3 and my 25th Anniversary Custom 22 Semi-Hollow Limited w/ 57/08s can be played way louder and with way more gain without doing it. The 59/09s are only supposed to be ab out a 10% hotter wind. This is not notes feeding back. I mean SQUEALING uncontrollably. I was ready to swap pickups for \M/ but some here use 59/09s with high gain amps and say they work great.

Any idea what could be the issue? There's pretty much nothing inside but a pot, switch and bleed cap. The pickups otherwise sound really good, so I'm not inclined to believe there's a bad solder joint or something inside.

This was going to be my "main every day guitar" and it sits in the case for weeks at a time because I simply can't play it with gain.

Any ideas of what I could check or look for?

 

[bodia]

I have a couple year old Custom 24 (in my sig pic on the left) with 59/09s. Since the day I bought it, I have had problems with it squealing if I'm using anything more than moderate gain. At first, I thought it was just because the pickups are wound hotter, but I have much hotter pickups (JP12) that don't do it. Then I figured, "well, the 59/09s have way more top end than those so that's the problem." I've all but written off playing this guitar with much gain at all.

Problem is, I have 3 Mesa amps and a Custom 50 and I can play ANY of my other guitars without this issue. NF3 and my 25th Anniversary Custom 22 Semi-Hollow Limited w/ 57/08s can be played way louder and with way more gain without doing it. The 59/09s are only supposed to be ab out a 10% hotter wind. This is not notes feeding back. I mean SQUEALING uncontrollably. I was ready to swap pickups for \M/ but some here use 59/09s with high gain amps and say they work great.

Any idea what could be the issue? There's pretty much nothing inside but a pot, switch and bleed cap. The pickups otherwise sound really good, so I'm not inclined to believe there's a bad solder joint or something inside.

This was going to be my "main every day guitar" and it sits in the case for weeks at a time because I simply can't play it with gain.

Any ideas of what I could check or look for?

I have nothing to offer with respect to what you can try (thanks for nothing!). But, I can add that I have more than one guitar with 59/09 that are getting played through the Archon with no issue. I'm not cranking it often, but on the occasion I do, I have not had any issue with squealing.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Not nothing to offer at all then. That's what hear from everyone I've asked directly. I'm actually sort of excited that I finally came to this realization because I was just relegating a $3K guitar to "every once in a while" player because I play a lot of hard rock and prog and it just isn't working for that. I had in fact written it off to "I just can't play this guitar with much gain" and was giving up on it and ready to swap pickups. But then I kept reading one guy after another here saying they love the 59/09s and use them with higher gain amps. I finally decided that maybe mine has an issue, and that would make me VERY happy to find out it does, and can be fixed.

 

[kes7u]

I would want to have that looked at to see if there is a problem. I have a McCarty with a 59/09 in the bridge position. I have played it in pretty high gain situations using a Diezel VH4 and Mesa Mini Rectifier, and no squealing that I've noticed.

Kevin

 

[drdoom8793]

Yeah, something definitely must be amiss. I've got 59/09s in my Custom 24 and I play a lot of hard rock in the vein of Alter Bridge, Black Stone Cherry, older Shinedown, etc. and have no issues with mine at all. If you feel comfortable, I would take a peek at all the wiring and just make sure everything looks good. If it all looks alright, you might reach out to PRS CS for assistance.

 

[AP515]

I put 59/09's in a Cu24 and play through a Mesa single rec with no issues. I think you have a bad set of pups. If they didn't get potted well they would squeal terribly. Sometimes it does happen.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

I actually will take a quick look around inside, but like I said, other than a freak cold solder joint or something, there isn't much in there. Also, I didn't come here to complain. I don't believe in that "complain in the forum, then ask PRS for help" crap. I just wanted to confirm with others who have them before "deciding" I had a real problem. I have spent most of my time here in the amp forum, really for the last year as I got an H, then Custom 50, and have read everything posted about the Archon since it will be my next amp. But lately I'd read a bunch of posts from guys using 59/09s with gainy amps and I kept looking to see if anyone else had this issue and have never seen it mentioned. So as I said, I'm actually happy to hear this. That guitar without the squeal would be my #1!

 

[Screamingdaisy]

Most pickups are wax potted to prevent microphonic feedback due to the pickup's coils being vibrated by the amplifier. Sometimes, the wax doesn't quite penetrate as well as it should and you'll get microphonic squealing when the volume/gain is high enough. It's not something you can really inspect visually, and some pickups start off fine and become microphonic after a period of time.

The solution is to re-pot or replace the pickup... which I would think would be treated as a warranty issue.

 

[The Fight]

I use 59/09s in my custom24 and I have absolutely no issues running high gain.
But in the past I found that its a little gap between the pickup and the pickup cover that can cause this problem. I've put pickup covers on a HFS/VB set and bcs the covers were cheap Chinese crap, I could never solder the cover to the pickup itself. This resulted in the cover coming off the pickup literally a 32 of an inch and in result causing a horrible squeal. Super common and always overlooked, sometimes is almost unnoticeable.

I suggest trying this...

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Appreciate all the input. They are uncovered but I'll certainly save this for future reference.

 

[The Fight]

Oh dang it, Sry...

 

[Boogie]

It's the midrange hump that I try to carefully craft when big gain is on call. With one band, while I still use the Super Dallas, it gets hit pretty hard with one of two distortion boxes. One has a pinpoint mid-band adjustment that works great with the 59/09 and provides unlimited sustain and nearly instant feedback. Practices are loud, too, with my cab right in my back. Very controllable. My 59/09 is uncovered.

Get a buddy to play thru your rig. Tweak your amp and pedal EQ and try to shelf that offending frequency. If you don't want to make those changes, use a different guitar. Sometimes there's just a mismatch between a guitar and rig.

 

[gush]

I can't say that I've ever had squealing issues with mine. I find that quite odd. As goofy as it sounds, I would check that they are 5909s. Does it squeal with both pickups or just bridge pickup?

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Oh dang it, Sry...

No, thanks for the input. I wish it would have been that as I could fix it myself.

Boogie, I have my 4 core PRS guitars, 3 strats, Ibanez JS1000, Peavey Wolfgang, EBMM JP12 BFR, Carvin Bolt T... and from Egnator Tweaker, Budda SD18, and others that I had, to the Custom 50, Mark V, Mark V25, Mini Recto, and Vox AC30hw2x that I have this is a universal thing with this guitar that doesn't happen with the others. I always move the knobs a bit when switching from the NF3 to the C24 or the C24 back to the JP12 or whatever.

This guitar just squeals too easily. Again, not complaining. I'm actually GLAD that after tiptoeing around it for 3 years I finally asked and I'm sure this is something that can be fixed.

 

[AP515]

I suspect its a poorly potted pickup. Tell the retailor and have it checked. A new set of 59/09's will have it purring/growling as expected.

 

[cmcgrath72]

Yeah, I'd say it's something else causing the problem. Like most here, I have had zero issues running the 59's through my Marshall JVM with the gain cranked.

 

[Boogie]

Have you checked to see if the capacitor is shorted or has failed? Without filtering that top end they would squeal like a banshee.

 

[andross182]

59/09 user checking in. I own two mesas (roadster and rectoverb 25) and an archon checking in! Like many others have echoed,. I'd get the entire guitar signal chain checked out as 59/09s looooves high gain amps!