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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2019 9:03:59 GMT -7
I've got a Custom Shop '69 Tele Thinline that I love--super light, sounds and plays great--but it's been a bit of a problem child pretty much from day one. I bought it used, and it appears to be a custom shop one-off--I've never seen another one like it. Originally it had a Twisted Tele pickup in the bridge, and a Duncan '59 humbucker in the neck. It also fed back like crazy, and following advice from you-all I switched out the bridge, which had a crazy warped bridge plate, for a Callaham. That solved the feedback issue--then I started swapping pickups. Now we're on the third set, I think, with a Lollar Imperial in the neck and a Duncan Lil '59 in the bridge. Sounds great, nicely balanced output, love it--BUT, when running at higher gain there's an audible buzz coming from the guitar. It stops when I touch the control knobs: it does not stop when I touch the strings or the switch. It's more present when the bridge pickup is selected, and less so in the middle or neck position. It also changes frequency a bit in when I switch pickups, seems like. I figured at first it might be a cold solder or a ground issue so I had my local tech go through and basically re-solder the whole wiring harness, which helped some, but I'm still getting an audible buzz through my higher gain amps (this is not an issue with other guitars--it's unique to this Tele). So I'm wondering--could it be a capacitance issue? Maybe in switching the bridge pickup from a single coil to a humbucker we should have also changed the capacitor value? Maybe switching to a different pot for the bridge pickup? Is it something inherent in the Tele DNA (as I say, this is a very atypical Tele, so...)? Is there an easy, obvious solution my tech and I are missing? He's more of an acoustic guy--good for basic setup stuff, etc., but not necessarily an electronic wizard, so it's entirely possible he's missed something a more electric-minded tech would see immediately. Thoughts?
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Post by Maddog on Jun 19, 2019 10:38:42 GMT -7
Are the control and pickup cavities shielded, Jon?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2019 11:19:54 GMT -7
Are the control and pickup cavities shielded, Jon? Nope--but neither are they shielded on any of my other Fenders, and this is the only one with an issue. Also, it shouldn't be an issue with humbuckers if everything else is wired correctly, right? If it was the case that it hummed like crazy when I wasn't touching the strings, that would suggest a shielding issue, but I think something else is going on here.
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Post by daddyelmis (Greg) on Jun 19, 2019 11:54:51 GMT -7
Bad pot or pots? The touching the knobs comments made me consider this.
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Post by The Bad Poodle Experience on Jun 19, 2019 11:59:16 GMT -7
just for clarification... You mentioned that it happens with high gain amps. if you plug into a clean amp and turn the volume up, do you get the buzzing? You say it doesn't stop when you touch the strings? Are you running a ground to the bridge plate.
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Post by Ridgeback on Jun 19, 2019 12:27:46 GMT -7
I was thinking a grounding issue as well. Loose solder joint or a component not grounded completely. Just a guess though. I had a similar issue many years ago on a G&L I grounded everything from scratch (star grounding) and it went away. Not in a high gain situation though. Good luck.
PS: I know star grounding was going overboard but after several piecemeal attempts didn't work, I was tired of chasing grounding ghosts. Not necessarily recommending that for your application.
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Post by The Bad Poodle Experience on Jun 19, 2019 12:43:34 GMT -7
Jon, Sounds like you may have TMG(Too Many Guitars)Syndrome... Sell the tele and see if the buzzing stops.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2019 14:13:40 GMT -7
just for clarification... You mentioned that it happens with high gain amps. if you plug into a clean amp and turn the volume up, do you get the buzzing? You say it doesn't stop when you touch the strings? Are you running a ground to the bridge plate.
It's present but much less audible with a clean amp, volume cranked. Ground to bridge plate, yes. I might run it down to Dave's this week and have their guy take a look. It's kind of baffling.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2019 14:15:02 GMT -7
Bad pot or pots? The touching the knobs comments made me consider this. It could be a bad pot on the bridge pickup--or maybe even the pot's the wrong rating, after the pickup switch from single coil to higher output humbucker? Would that matter?
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Post by The Bad Poodle Experience on Jun 19, 2019 16:19:20 GMT -7
I would not think i needed to say this.... but "bad pot" doesn't create much buzz at all.
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Post by daddyelmis (Greg) on Jun 19, 2019 17:13:55 GMT -7
How did I know you were gonna chime in on that one 🤣🤣
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Post by shiner51 on Jun 20, 2019 5:27:55 GMT -7
Ground to bridge plate.
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Jun 24, 2019 16:43:20 GMT -7
Yes, it sounds like you need to ground your bridge/strings.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2019 16:58:37 GMT -7
If that was the issue, wouldn’t it stop when I touched the bridge or the strings?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2019 17:08:05 GMT -7
If that was the issue, wouldn’t it stop when I touched the bridge or the strings? I thought You said that the buzz was stopping when you touched the volume and tone knobs in one of your posts? If your guitar was properly grounded to the bridge plate the buzz should stop when you touch the strings.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2019 20:06:33 GMT -7
If that was the issue, wouldn’t it stop when I touched the bridge or the strings? I thought You said that the buzz was stopping when you touched the volume and tone knobs in one of your posts? If your guitar was properly grounded to the bridge plate the buzz should stop when you touch the strings. Helpful--thanks. Yep--it stops when I touch the vol/tone knobs, but not when I touch the strings/bridge. It's at my tech's now--I'm hoping he'll get it grounded right.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2019 13:25:37 GMT -7
If you said "ground to bridge plate," you win the Kewpie doll. This guitar came out of the Fender custom shop with no ground wire running to the bridge plate. Unreal. But I think, at least for now, my problem child is finally fully gig-ready and rarin to go. It's a little hellcat, for sure--a real fire-breather with a Marshall-y amp--and it weighs in at 5.8 lbs, so it's a great third set guitar.
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Jun 25, 2019 16:46:09 GMT -7
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Post by helmi on Jun 26, 2019 13:49:34 GMT -7
If you said "ground to bridge plate," you win the Kewpie doll. This guitar came out of the Fender custom shop with no ground wire running to the bridge plate. Unreal. Why is this not surprising. I just read a review of the Gibson 60th anniversary 1959 les paul. it said they could see the filler around the fretboard inlay. $6500 fu*kin' dollars, and you can see the filler around the inlay! wouldn't you think someone with half a brain at Gibson would of checked and sent a flawless one to be reviewed? this is why BOTH of these companies are always in trouble!
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Post by Chilly Gibbons (Todd T.) on Jun 26, 2019 16:19:49 GMT -7
Glad you got it sorted out. And at that weight, it’s a keeper for sure.
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