Microphonic Wire

[joemadden]

I recently took in a guitar for some repairs. During the course of these repairs, the tech discovered that this guitar was wired with microphonic wire. I have no idea what this means, but i assume it's different from the standard type of wire normally used for guitars. He offered to rewire it for me with normal wire, and, not knowing any better, i agreed. I got the guitar back today, and was dismayed to discover that the tone is different. What i liked about this guitar was how bright, punchy, and raw it sounded. Now the sound i'm getting from it is like what it used to sound like with the tone knob rolled back halfway. And the bridge pickup, which used to sound really raw and cutting and scorching, now sounds wimpier, kind of like a strat bridge pickup, with a slight out-of-phase quality to it. Could these differences be due to the different wire?

thanks for any advice,

joe

[Nitefly SA]

i think microphonic means it pretty much acts as a microphone to pickup the sound instead of an actual pickup

[crafty]

Sounds like you got hoodwinked into getting your guitar rewired by an idiot. Different wire IS NOT going to create a difference as dramatic as you described. You may have to take it to someone else to get it repaired. In either case, I'd see if you can get your money back from the idiot "tech", or simply refuse to do business with him again.

[Fanatic1]

mmm the pickups could be microphonic but the wire? some luthiers uses a free oxygen wire but i dont think so, that could happen in car audio between the amps and the ground, its weird, maybe he just solder a couple of cables, and maybe he just shield your pickups.

[Southpa]

I was reading that some types of insulation can cause wires to be microphonic, thats in combination with inadequate shielding. Most ceramic based components are prone to becoming microphonic as well. That is, extremely sensitive and unstable when jarred causing excess noise.

But this sounds like the mechanic who told the customer that his car needed new muffler bearings. I sure wish I was there.

I have a hunch the tech used a misnomer when describing the wire. I think he was just trying to tell you that there was no shielded wire, so he replaced it with wire that is equipped with braided grounds. Is there less background noise in between playing?

Edited January 18, 2006 by Southpa