Sustainer pickup squealing?

[the rossness]

I picked up a Schecter Sun Valley Super Shredder equipped with a sustainer pickup and I think it has issues. On the "Harmonic mode" it squeals like crazy. I don't even need to play a note. I roll the volume on and it squeals like crazy. Can someone tell me if the sustainer is working correctly? Is there is an issue or is it user error? I've tried the guitar on two different amps, both clean and distorted tones, and the problem won't go away. any help would be appreciated. Thanks

video demonstrates the issue-

 

[phil b]

Check the Sustainer board. There should be adjustment screws for output for each mode ( Thats what I have on my sustainiac).
Put it in Harmonic mode and adjust. There are a lot of things that can make the thing squeal but adjusting those screws should make it better.

 

[the rossness]

I changed batteries and adjusted the pickup heught, but nothing helped. When I adjusted the dipswitches in the circuit board, I had to turn the harmonic mode all the way down, which negates the mode completely. So I guess the guitar is going back. Its a shame as it plays stupidly well.

 

[Racerxrated]

Not sure how these work, but whenever I’ve had a pup that feeds back I try to re flow the wax…hair dryer for a 20-30 seconds should work.
But, not sure if they are potted….

 

[Racerxrated]

I should say to be careful too if you try this; too long applying heat can damage the pickup

 

[phil b]

I changed batteries and adjusted the pickup heught, but nothing helped. When I adjusted the dipswitches in the circuit board, I had to turn the harmonic mode all the way down, which negates the mode completely. So I guess the guitar is going back. Its a shame as it plays stupidly well.

They can very finicky if not properly setup, meaning that it sounds like there is a ground issue that is causing it to squeal. Mine will squeal if I have the trim all the way up, but with it backed down it works as it should. If the guitar plays that good you might want to either reach out to where you bought it or Schecter to see if they can help you trouble shoot further. Good luck!

 

[the rossness]

They can very finicky if not properly setup, meaning that it sounds like there is a ground issue that is causing it to squeal. Mine will squeal if I have the trim all the way up, but with it backed down it works as it should. If the guitar plays that good you might want to either reach out to where you bought it or Schecter to see if they can help you trouble shoot further. Good luck!

I got it used off reverb. Contacted the seller the day I got it to report the issue. Tried troubleshooting but it didn’t seem to work. Asked for a return/refund and the seller said to send it back.

Just got another message from the seller blaming me and my amp settings. I’m not sure if I should respond saying that while the clip I have is high gain, I also tried it in low gain- a vox profile on my kemper and got the same results.

I’m at a loss and don’t really know what to do other than to send it back and ask for a refund. I’m going to cover return shipping. It seems like the least I can do. Maybe the seller can figure it out? I guess this is one if the pitfalls of buying on ebay/reverb without having played it in person.

 

[phil b]

Umm... yea.. I can tell you 100 percent fact that its not you or the amp!!! As I have said and can tell you from working on these that they can be a real pain in the ass with noise. I had one guitar that if I didnt isolate one wire from the rest on the little harness it would squeal like a pig. I use and have worked on the Sustainiac model sustainers and dont have any experience with the Fernandez, but from what I understand they are a similiar design.
The older Sustainiac boards were a lot more susceptible to noise than the newer versions, and when installed properly they work as advertised. Is this a Fernandez unit? There is an overall output adjustment on the Sustainiac board as well as individual adjustment for each mode. You might want to bring the overall down and see if that helps? It doesnt need to be cranked to work! Keep that in mind. Just giving you another option before ya send it back... Sucks to have to send it back but if your done your done.... Good luck!