Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Has anyone had active pickup(s) begin to squeal high freqs?
I have active EMG P & J's in a Spector that are both doing this. I did isolate them from the other components on the guitar just to make sure the sound is coming from the pickups. (My ears!)

Sounds like feedback due to microphonics and/or a hollow body guitar.

Thanks for the reply beatlefreak. After talking to few folks, I found out that active EMGs have a built in preamp to quiet noise and boost signal. Failure of this internal preamp can cause this noise.
I think this guitar must have experienced some sort of power surge, plug into an incorrect jack, lightning strike, etc., as the preamp in the control cavity also failed.

I found the culprit. The battery clip in the guitar had developed a continuity of around 5 megaohms or so between the positive and negative leads. I tested pickups using the guitar's internal battery clip. Boy is my face red.
Just thought I'd pass this on to all in case someone else comes upon this problem.