Jaguar Pickup Claws microphonic?

[maximee]

Hello friends, I have modded my Bass VI with Antiquity IIs and it's all sounding good... BUT... I never noticed the pretty intense microphonic sensitivity when touching the metal claws before the mod. I'm wondering if I might have mixed up the polarities on all of them (they all have the same issue, and don't sound out of phase when combined). Before I dig in and disassemble everything: should touching the claws with bare fingers be audible through a pretty low volume amp?

I kinda like it, because now the whole guitar can be "played"... tapping, scratching etc. gets amplified. It's super sensitive. But not sure if that's what I'm after.

[timtam]

You may have connected the shared ground of the coil and claw as the hot (and the hot as ground). The pickup will work, but will have the issue you found. You can check with a multimeter touching the claw and the rim (ground) of the output jack. They're supposed to be electrically continuous (~zero ohms).

[Embenny]

Usually when the claw is connected to the hot lead, you get bad buzzing when touching the claw.

Antiquities are unpotted, right? Tapping the pickup or elsewhere would definitely make more noise compared to a potted pickup. I once tried an antiquity pickup in my original Jaguar, way back when, and yanked it pretty fast due to how microphonic it was. I've had Antiquities in a Jazzmaster and they weren't nearly as bad for microphonics as the Jaguar pickup was.

I think surrounding a microphonic pickup with a hard metal claw creates a little echo chamber or something. I totally forgot about how microphonic that pickup was until I read this post. It was a good 15 years ago, but I remember my crushing disappointment when my "upgrade" to my MIJ Jaguar was totally unusable at stage volume because of it.

[andy_tchp]

Usually when the claw is connected to the hot lead, you get bad buzzing when touching the claw.

Antiquities are unpotted, right? Tapping the pickup or elsewhere would definitely make more noise compared to a potted pickup. I once tried an antiquity pickup in my original Jaguar, way back when, and yanked it pretty fast due to how microphonic it was. I've had Antiquities in a Jazzmaster and they weren't nearly as bad for microphonics as the Jaguar pickup was.

I think surrounding a microphonic pickup with a hard metal claw creates a little echo chamber or something. I totally forgot about how microphonic that pickup was until I read this post. It was a good 15 years ago, but I remember my crushing disappointment when my "upgrade" to my MIJ Jaguar was totally unusable at stage volume because of it.

Pretty much. The claw is just another thing to vibrate in sympathy with the rest of the microphonic mess.

[repoman]

microphonics

[Embenny]

microphonics

Total tangent, but when I saw Pinback live a few years ago, I was surprised to discover that Rob Crow sang the distorted vocals on one song by kicking on a dimed DS-1 and screaming into the neck pickup of his Les Paul. One of the more creative uses I've seen of a microphonic pickup!

[maximee]

microphonics

Total tangent, but when I saw Pinback live a few years ago, I was surprised to discover that Rob Crow sang the distorted vocals on one song by kicking on a dimed DS-1 and screaming into the neck pickup of his Les Paul. One of the more creative uses I've seen of a microphonic pickup!

Thank you all for jumping in and helping!
I‘m pretty sure it’s more than just the inherent design of the jag PU with the claw adding to the magnetic field etc. I’m sure it plays a role but something is not right with my connection as I can tap on the metal of the pickup selector plate and get that amplified. It’s also not the type of grounding hum that you get when you touch your instrument cable when plugging it in.

It’s more like having a piezo in your guitar. That’s why I can totally relate to the above comment. It can be kind of cool and musical. I’m now thinking: if this is remedied by switching around some wires, it could also be made switchable with an actual switch. Has this ever been done?

[Embenny]

Thank you all for jumping in and helping!
I‘m pretty sure it’s more than just the inherent design of the jag PU with the claw adding to the magnetic field etc. I’m sure it plays a role but something is not right with my connection as I can tap on the metal of the pickup selector plate and get that amplified. It’s also not the type of grounding hum that you get when you touch your instrument cable when plugging it in.

It’s more like having a piezo in your guitar. That’s why I can totally relate to the above comment. It can be kind of cool and musical. I’m now thinking: if this is remedied by switching around some wires, it could also be made switchable with an actual switch. Has this ever been done?

If touching the claw (gently) fails to produce a large amount of extra hum, there's nothing wrong with your connection. This isn't something that can be turned on and off electrically.

What is happening is that your pickup is microphonic. Like you noted, it's amplifying physical vibrations. That's because the coil wire is vibrating when you tap the pickup or elsewhere in the body, essentially becoming a moving coil (dynamic) microphone. The solution, if you find it problematic, is to pot the pickup by either spraying it with lacquer or immersing it in melted wax.

Most modern pickups are potted. Antiquity pickups are not. Microphonic pickups vibrate in sympathy with other parts of the guitar, and some people love what that does to the sound. Others don't love it, because stage volume and/or high gain tones can lead to microphonic feedback (uncontrollable squealing).

That's why I removed my Antiquity Jaguar pickup. I was playing in a band at the time and couldn't use the guitar at stage volume with any amount of gain, and I didn't have the knowledge or desire to pot a pickup at that point in time.

[DeathJag]

I really like microphonic pickups, it makes tremolo picking so strident and distinct!