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Humming, Clicking and Buzzing...


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I'm going to start this thread with a disclaimer - what follows is a question about a g***ar... I'm usually a bassist and this tele is my first foray into the world of the guitar! I apologise if this is the wrong place to ask about it - mods feel free to tell me off/delete etc. if it's not appropriate.

I've just acquired a fender telecaster as part a trade. It's a 60's reissue mex one. It plays a dream, the only problem is a humming and popping whenever I plug it in and play it.

I've done some investigation and I'm fully aware that telecasters are notorious for being buzzy, however this particular buzz strikes me as strange. Basically, every time I touch the strings, the control plate, the knobs etc there is a loud click and the hum disappears... As soon as I let go of anything metal, it pops again and the hum returns.

From what I've read it appears that this is an earthing problem. Most sites speak of a wire that runs from the bridge pickup and then under the bridge to earth it. There doesn't appear to be anything even remotely like that on my g****r. The friend I got it from promises me he hasn't ever had the bridge or pick guard off so i'm guessing that it was never there in the first place. I've attached some photo's of the bridge, control plate etc to help identify the problem. I'm aware my diagnosis might be completely wrong - please correct me if that's the case!

Any help would be appreciated chaps :)

[attachment=79744:DSCF1237.JPG]
[attachment=79745:DSCF1239.JPG]
[attachment=79746:DSCF1241.JPG]

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It looks like the blue wire is the earth and where it fits under the rubber "spring" on the bridge pickup is not making a very good contact with the bridge plate. Try removing it and cleaning the areas of contact on both the plate and the terminal with fine emery or wire wool ( put the pickup in a plastic bag or it will get covered in iron filings from wire wool )
Possibly a stronger spring is called for instead of the weedy rubber ones!

Will.

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If the buzz goes when you touch the strings then your bridge is grounded.
You might want to try shielding it, going away from all electrical things like computers, fluorescent lights etc, moving away from your amp, putting in humbuckers, or using less gain. Or all of these.
Sadly this is the price one pays for lovely zingy single coil goodness.
Don't worry about it, or keep your hands on the strings at all times. :)

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I'd agree with 2x18

It looks like the blue wires are the ground (earth) wires in this setup.

One blue wire goes from the pickup to a ring connector, where it joins to another blue wire and then goes to the control pot shell. That all looks to be working fine.

One of the pickup mounting screws is threaded through this ring connector, holding it in place and pushing it down against the metal of the bridge plate. That should ground the bridge plate and therefore the strings.

However, all that's holding the ring connector against the bridge plate is the push of the rubber "spring" on the pickup mount. That might not be enough to fully ground the bridge, or the bridge/connector may have become tarnished (oxidised) which is preventing a good contact.

I would try unscrewing that one pickup screw and then cleaning up the connector and back of the bridge plate where the screw hold is with emery paper (don't use wire wool as it shreds and sticks to the magnet of the pickup). Once it's all cleaned up, smear a small amount of vaseline over the area to prevent it tarnishing again.

If you are still having problems I suggest you join this forum

[url="http://www.tdpri.com/"]TDPRI Forum[/url]

and ask the very knowlegdeable Tele people there about what to do next.

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Thanks for the swift replies, Guys!

The connector tab [i]was[/i] a little bit oxidised. I used emery paper to remove the oxide layer and put it all back together - still no joy! Might be the rubber springs, think I've got some proper springs lying about from an old p-bass, might dig them out and see if that makes a difference.

BOD2 - Thanks for the link - I have posted up on the TDPRI forums. Hopefully someone there will be able to pin it down for me!

Cheers and I'll keep you posted,

Pete

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