Squier Mustang Bass Noisy Philips Screw

[Mister RLP]

Thought I would take off the film of the pickguard and I tried to raise the Phillips screws so that it would all come off but it just raised/lowered the Mustang pickups. It was when I was tuning up the bass I noticed that the Phillips screw near the E string was very loud like it was part of the pickup.  Especially when tapped with the screwdriver. I hadn’t noticed this before. Is this a thing? Was the film stopping it making this noise? Help!  

 

[Norris]

The film will not make any difference. It's just there to protect things from scratches until it gets in the grubby hands of the customer 

 

The screw will be going through the base plate of the pickup. It certainly wouldn't be unusual for a pickup to make a noise when tapped with a screwdriver, and this could also be affected by the screw too. Don't worry, it's all perfectly normal 

 

Underneath the scratch plate will be a spring that the screw passes through the middle of, and then into the pickup base plate. Be careful if you loosen the screw too much while taking off the film, or it may unscrew completely and you'll need to take off the scratch plate to get it all back together. That's still not a problem though - people fiddle like this for fun

Edited February 26, 2023 by Norris

[Mister RLP]

12 hours ago, Norris said:

The film will not make any difference. It's just there to protect things from scratches until it gets in the grubby hands of the customer 

 

The screw will be going through the base plate of the pickup. It certainly wouldn't be unusual for a pickup to make a noise when tapped with a screwdriver, and this could also be affected by the screw too. Don't worry, it's all perfectly normal 

 

Underneath the scratch plate will be a spring that the screw passes through the middle of, and then into the pickup base plate. Be careful if you loosen the screw too much while taking off the film, or it may unscrew completely and you'll need to take off the scratch plate to get it all back together. That's still not a problem though - people fiddle like this for fun

 

Thanks for getting back. The scratch plate had two films on it - one with the Fender Play sticker on it and another one underneath. I had taken off the first one after I bought it but left the other one on as didn't really notice it was there. It was only when putting some lemon oil on the fretboard that I thought I would take off the other film. I wish I just left alone, now! I think my main concern is that the screw wasn't making this noise before (I've had the bass from new for four months) and now when I rest my thumb on the pickup it makes an unpleasant scratchy noise. I took the scratch plate off last night and couldn't see anything untoward - nothing loose, etc. The good news is that the very dry laurel board now looks much better! 

 

Edited February 26, 2023 by Mister RLP

[rmorris]

On 26/02/2023 at 10:06, Mister RLP said:

 

Thanks for getting back. The scratch plate had two films on it - one with the Fender Play sticker on it and another one underneath. I had taken off the first one after I bought it but left the other one on as didn't really notice it was there. It was only when putting some lemon oil on the fretboard that I thought I would take off the other film. I wish I just left alone, now! I think my main concern is that the screw wasn't making this noise before (I've had the bass from new for four months) and now when I rest my thumb on the pickup it makes an unpleasant scratchy noise. I took the scratch plate off last night and couldn't see anything untoward - nothing loose, etc. The good news is that the very dry laurel board now looks much better! 

 

 

The noise happens when your thumb is resting / brushing on the screw ?

Sounds like that screw is not connected to the guitar's 'Ground'. I'm not familiar with that pickup / design in particular so don't know if it meant to be 'grounded' by design.

But it's not uncommon to get scratching / brushing / rustling noises from isolated screws eg scratchplate screws. More typically more noticeable with electric guitars due to higher gain used. Similar can happen with plastic/nylon scratchplates over time where they get 'shiny' from wear and this causes static charges when touched.

If you can make some contact from the pickup screws to 'ground' then the problem should go away.

Alternatively you can try to reinstate the protection that the film was providing by coating with eg clear nail varnish or similar.

[Mister RLP]

Thank you. Very helpful. I just looked at some pics of the pickups I took at the time - before I noticed the problem and there seem to be some stray wires coming out of one of the pickups. Didn’t notice this as was late and just taking film off, etc. Will investigate more when I have time. 

[ezbass]

2 hours ago, Mister RLP said:

Thank you. Very helpful. I just looked at some pics of the pickups I took at the time - before I noticed the problem and there seem to be some stray wires coming out of one of the pickups. Didn’t notice this as was late and just taking film off, etc. Will investigate more when I have time. 

That looks like your problem, a tidy up and perhaps some judiciously placed insulating tape will hopefully sort your problem.