• Ernie Ball
  • MusicMan
  • Sterling by MusicMan
Joined
Jul 27, 2022
Messages
16
Location
Italy
Hi,
I love my cutlass but I have a constant squealing from the single coils when I use it on stage with high gain. I have another guitar with area 61 stacked coils pickups from di marzio and I don't have this issue. Can I use area 61 on my cutlass STILL USING the original circuit I have on it (buffer and silent circuit)? I could use the internat trim pot to set the silent circuit to zero but I wonder if I could use the buffer too..
Thanks
 

uOpt

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 2, 2008
Messages
377
Location
Boston, MA, USA
Are you having feedback (as opposed to regular hum)?

If you have feedback you probably have a loose pickup mount or the silent circuit is loose.
 
Joined
Jul 27, 2022
Messages
16
Location
Italy
I have a squeal sound with high volume and/or high gain tones. I thought I could resolve by re-vaxing pickups (I've done multiple time in the past) but the squeal is still there. Therefore I've asked about changing pickups but I'm too mutch lazy to change all the electronics so I wonder if I can keep the original electronic of the cutlass
 

beej

Moderator
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Messages
11,963
Location
Toronto, Canada
Other option is to wire the ground of the pickups to ground, not virtual ground on the PCB. Then the Silent Circuit won't have any effect at all, and you won't need to touch the level.
 
Joined
Jul 27, 2022
Messages
16
Location
Italy
I need more help..
I have the di marzio area here... But on the cutlass I have 3 wire... Red on the p.u. Switch (I think it's the hot one), white on the circuit board (there's the text PHA on it where the wire so soldered) and bare to the circuit board (where I suppose it's the ground); on the di marzio I have 4 cable: black and white already soldered together, red (hot) and green (ground).
How I have to solder the di marzio? I suppose with the red (hot) on the connector and green to ground but... What's about the PHA point where the musicman pickup is soldered with the white wire? Should I solder there the black and white wires of the di marzio? Or I have to leave that point unsoldered? Thank you so much!
Please I need your help!
 

beej

Moderator
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Messages
11,963
Location
Toronto, Canada
The third wire on the MM pickups is a shield, wired to ground.

For the Areas, red is hot and goes to the lever switch. Black & white together. For green, I would personally wire them to ground (perhaps where the shield was wired - not where the green was wired). This should take the Silent Circuit out of the signal path.
 

DrKev

Moderator
Joined
Jul 8, 2006
Messages
7,164
Location
Somewhere between Paris, Dublin, and Buffalo
Watch out with the Area pickups, they are out of phase compared to other DiMarzio pickups. If position 2 (bridge and middle pickup) sounds weak and thin/nasal to you will need to wire them green to hot and red to ground. (I learned this when I put them in my Silhouette Special with a DiMarzio humbucker in the bridge).
 
Joined
Jul 27, 2022
Messages
16
Location
Italy
For the most curious among you... I swapped pickups. Removed the two singles from my Cutlass hss and replaced with the two Di Marzio Area 61. All it was very easy: red wire of the original pickup replaced by the red wire of the Di Marzio (on the Switch), black and white of the Area left connected together, green of the Di Marzio connected to the ground, but WARNING, it was connected NOT where the ground was connected of the Cutlass pickups, but connected where a cable (also green) comes out of the guitar circuit that goes to the ground in the input jack. The white wire and ground wire of the Music Man pickups were simply disconnected and where they were nothing replaced them. Everything works perfectly, no hum, in any position, there is no "squeal" or "whistle" even at loud volumes and exaggeratedly loud distortions.
I was about to forget... There was no need to swap any wires (green to red) for the middle pickup.
I thank you all for all the precious help!
 
Joined
Jul 27, 2022
Messages
16
Location
Italy
I love area 61, but I liked the stock cutlass singles too.
Area 61 are less sparkly and a bit warmer than the cutlass singles. Cutlass pickup are more vintage toned but the area are really dead quiet...and I need that. I need also to be able to have gain and volume without squeal or something like that...so...well I have area 61 in another guitar and the choice was easy
 

DrKev

Moderator
Joined
Jul 8, 2006
Messages
7,164
Location
Somewhere between Paris, Dublin, and Buffalo
Awesome. I have an Area 58 and 67 in my Silhouette Special. I did like the 61 too but it’s been a few years since then. But I find the Cutlass single coils have something really unique about them, a kind of mid range focus like a little bit of a tube screamer is mixed in with the basic sound. It’s very cool. I don’t think I’ll ever change it but I’m currently in a phase of constantly tweaking the silhouette special and I think I’ll be trying something new there. Hence my question. Thank you!
 
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