Doing Squealies pinch harmonics with MIJ Fender Mustang

[Andrew H]

I'm still struggling on how to do that squealy noise that Metal guitarists do (I'm not a metal fan), but I wanted to do that sound that Zakk Wylde and Steve Vai does. Sometimes the sound don't want to come out but when it does, it's a bit weak and faint.

My guitar is just a MIJ 69' RI Fender Mustang with 2 normal single coil pickups and my pedal (only pedal) is the Steve Vai Jemini Distortion running through a Laney tube amp set to full 10 Reverb,

and I see that the guitars that produce that noise, have humbuckers or hot rails type pickups and probably a Metal distortion pedal,

Besides that my Mustang has a bad habit of hissing a lot in almost all the switches settings, do I have to take it for cavity shielding?

and does anyone know if Mustangs, can fit with Seymour Duncan or Dimarzio hot rails pickups, and how much do they cost per pair?

 

[theunknown]

did u check ur technique bro?

if it is correct, u can even do it on an acoustic guitar, trust me, not loud though, but audible.

try a friends guitar with humbuckers and high gain dist. if i still doesnt come out, its the technique.

 

[faekildare]

The sound is called pinch harmonics.
It can be done on any guitar. It's basically changing the harmonic points on the guitar after you fret the note. And you get the string to vibrate at a higher frequency by using a part of your thumb to touch it. Practice it slow, you will get it eventually. Make sure you are hitting the correct harmonic points tho. For starters, use the space in between the neck and middle pick up.

 

[killabunny]

focus on your thumb position, it should VERY lightly touch the vibrating string (the string vibration should not stop), your picking hand thumb should turn towards the floor as you pick. also, once you've got the technique down, get familiar with the points along the string where pinch harmonics come out clearly, so you can slam 'em out whenever you want. as has alr been said, you can do it on any guitar with the right technique (acoustic will be more if this very soft, high pitched sound)

 

[bf0502tr]

u might 1st wanna try using ur bridge pickup. the hum on ur guitar is natural considering the stock pickups on a tele are usually non hum-cancelling. anyway the jem distortion is more than enough to get squealies out of a mustang. i got a squealie out of my strat neck pickup even on clean. and its really low output!! focus on the techniques. if u cant get what the ppl above me have said, here's a link to get u going: http://www.youtube.com/user/JustinSandercoe#p/search/3/5I5O8P-r5Rk

 

[Godspeed64]

It's all in the technique dude.

 

[garbagetruckdriver]

Have you tried new strings? old strings have finger dirt and oil on them and this can interfere with the string vibrating at a higher order harmonic. Even with a good technique, if your strings are full of gunk, the string wont allow that harmonic to ring out.
And yeah, the metal players are usually using a humbucker in the bridge position as this is the ideal place to catch those high order "squealing" harmonic overtones. Your guitar should be able to get some harmonics but you won't be emulating Zakk Wylde with it.

 

[Andrew H]

I changed the strings to Fender Bullet light gauges, about 2 weeks ago, still clean and no rusting yet. I heard Zakk wylde uses very heavy gauge strings almost as thick as bass's

It did work but its still a little weak, sometimes very loud and piercing and sometimes very soft and faint if I do it wrongly.

I think I got the hang of the technique, it's just the my guitar now, what kind of hot rails pickup is usually recommended for Fenders? I heard they are the best replacement pickups for Mustangs and Jaguars

I've seen some people's Mustangs even have humbuckers on their bridge position or on both with the neck, but i don't want to pay so much money for my Mustang to be drilled like theirs,

 

[bf0502tr]

i think what u want is a thicker squealie yes?? if thats the case just change ur bridge to a rail and make sure it balances out with the neck or u will get a huge jump in vol when u flick ur pickup selector. here are my recommendations based on website description alone cos i dont own a tele:
- dimarzio fast track T
- dimarzio chopper T
- SD hot rails tele
- SD quarter pound tele

 

[Andrew H]

I got a concern whether if the pickups, when they say it's for Tele, i'm totally not sure whether it can be compatible with the Mustang's wiring.

I also heard people speculate that Mustang pickups are the same as Strat pickups but I don't believe them entirely,

I don't want to accidentally spend so much money on good pickups that won't fit on my Mustang, The only ones I know 100% will fit and work are the Lindy Fralin and Seymour Duncan Antiquity II, but both of those are also single-coil type,

 

[AzNjT]

Pickups don't matter. do you have enough distiortion, is your technique right, are your strings too low that cause the notes to fret out so the pinch harmonics don't ring. just practice them on the G string first, don't start with the Low E string, also your right hand matters where you pick. different spots change the pitch of the pinch harmonic and as well as your left hand, are you getting your vibrato down right, don't matter what gauge zakk uses. he has huge hands and the stings don't really affect him because of his strength, do you see how he bends it like the strings aren't even there.

you really shouldn't be spending money on changing pickups if your asking questions about pickups to begin with. save the money,

Just Practice.

 

[3hree6ixty]

technique-wise, i found out through trial and error. be it how i picked the string to the position of my picking hand... but its fun once you get the hang of it.
I still remember the time after when I nailed it, I was dropping squealie-bombs every chance i got...

 

[bf0502tr]

to be sure that the pickups fit the mustang, just bring it down to the shop and get the person ur buying the pickup from to install it for u as well. that way u can be sure the person will tell u if it cant fit and u save ur money. and most shop owners know their stuff.

btw...aznjt, zack bends like the strings aint there got me laughing pretty hard haha

 

[AzNjT]

@bf0502tr Lol yea ;]]

 

[Andrew H]

to be sure that the pickups fit the mustang, just bring it down to the shop and get the person ur buying the pickup from to install it for u as well. that way u can be sure the person will tell u if it cant fit and u save ur money. and most shop owners know their stuff.

btw...aznjt, zack bends like the strings aint there got me laughing pretty hard haha

Thanks, I was looking at the Seymour Duncan SHR-1 pickups and saw pictures of other people's Mustangs with it, and some demo video of the pickups

I was afraid that I would be charged a fee just to see if my Mustang can fit them,

 

[bf0502tr]

Thanks, I was looking at the Seymour Duncan SHR-1 pickups and saw pictures of other people's Mustangs with it, and some demo video of the pickups

I was afraid that I would be charged a fee just to see if my Mustang can fit them,

after seeing the bad experience thread, i think u might wanna email SD 1st. the SD sellers in spore dun really have friendly staff. unless u wanna buy dimarzio. SV sells dimarzios and i'm still confident in their svc quality.