When i crank up the gain on the amp while using my Am Dlx i get terrible squeal from the pups.

The same settings cause no squeal in humbuckers in a friends Les Paul copy.

I have a few questions:

1. why is there squeal from the single coils?
2. What can i do to remedy this, aside from buying a guitar with humbuckers?

Squeal? Not sure what that means. Like squeal like a pig? Seriously, check the height of your pickups first off. Check out the setup guide on this site...

http://www.fender.com/support/stratocas ... _guide.php

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-Kirk

GUITARS
'12 Sonoran Acoustic - black (dated 10/31/12)
'13 Standard Strat
AMP
Vox ac4c1-bl
PEDALS
Compressor
Big Muff
Vox Stomplab 1G
Carbon Copy Delay

squeal as in rediculous high pitched squeal, much higher than any piggies can squeal!

when i turn down the gain it goes away. ITs not constant, only happens now and again when i strum notes.

Pickups are not crazy high, if anything they are too low as i lowered them almost into the body a while back.

When you say squeal, I assume you mean more than the traditional 'guitar too close to amp feedback'?

It could be that your pickup(s) are/is microphonic. This means that the actual pickup coil itself is resonating in response to a feedback situation. A situation you could expect to encounter under high levels of gain.

If this is the case, you could ask a Tech to have the pickups wax potted. This would stabilise the coil structure.

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Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!

I agree with adey. Does it do it with all guitars? If it does, it could just be a preamp tube. Some pups squeal at high gain. Older Teles were notorious for it.

Some pups are just not meant for high gain applications.

yea, way higher than the standard feedback.

Its funny, my guitar teachers humbucker loaded les paul can handle the gain. when i plug in, the squeal is awful so we have to turn down the gain on the amp and use a distorsion pedal to attain similar levels of crunch.

Dont all pickup coils come coated in wax? I have an old cheapo epiphone les paul and even those pickups are wax coated.

I think you have hit the nail on the head here. Looks like il have to buy another guitar! Oh No!

My MIM Powerhouse Strat has single coil pups with a dummy coil under the pick guard for noise reduction. Does yours have the dummy coil?

American Deluxe Strats do not have the dummy coil. I think the Powerhoyse Strat is the only model that has the dummy coil.

Besides the dummy coil is there only to reduce 60 cycle hum, not feedback or squeeling.

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

Hey schmintan, are you standing close to the amp while you're trying to play at high gain? If so, I would suggest moving away from the amp quite a few feet and don't face the pickups towards the speaker at all. This works for me when switching between my Strat and Gibson SG. That's just the nature of things between single coils and humbuckers. Let us know if that works for you.

edit: What year is your Am Dlx? ie, what pickups are in your Am Dlx?Samarium Cobalt (SCN), Vintage Noiseless,...???

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

im actually going through a line 6 X3 floor pod and two small cab's.

Yes, i was pretty much beside the linie 6, and the cabs when playing. Il try moving further away. The les paul, at the same distance had no such problems though.

Sometimes you can get quite a "wake up" call when you go to the amp to make an adjustment and forget to dial the volume down on the guitar. I've done it a couple of times!

It depends on the pickup. I have a set of Chevalier pickups, and they're definitely not wax potted. I prefer pickups that way - they sound livelier to my ears.

Most pickups advertised as vintage re-issue or vintage sounding are unpotted, and that's fine with appropriate levels of gain.

If you're careful, you can wax-pot your own pickups and you'll find instructions on how to do it on the internet. BUT be VERY careful. Human skin and flesh don't go well with boiling wax..

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Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!

Some pickups are 'potted' with lacquer.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Pickup potting does fail over time. It's nothing more than a microphonic pickup. The easy answer is to just put a new pickup in the guitar.

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No no and no