Hum from cheap Tele pickups?

mwilloam · Post by **mwilloam** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 6:05 pm

I have a new Mexican Tele that, for the money, I really like. I also play an American Strat. The Tele has the normal single coil noise from the pickups, like my strat.

On the Tele though there seems to be an extra hum that goes away if I place a finger on the metal plate cover over the pots. Remove my finger, hums back.

What is this hum coming from and can I get rid of it without spending any $$$ to upgrade the pickups?

Thanks

Spikey Horse · Post by **Spikey Horse** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 7:14 pm

Do you use a CRT display?

If yes then that's the probable cause - try switching the monitor off and playing.

Flatscreen displays don't cause this problem.

If it is the monitor and it has no off switch (like mine) you can try moving around the room to find a sweet spot with no interference.

EDIT: I just re-read your post and I don't think it is the monitor. Could be a bad lead....a wiring malfunction in your guitar.... um .... it's late and I'm a drummer anyway. Sorry.

mwilloam · Post by **mwilloam** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 10:21 am

Thanks for the reply. No monitor involved, even though that would make it worse. There just seems to be some type of grounding or whatever that occurs when I touch the metal cover. If I could sustain this somehow the noise level is great but I don't do electronics and am trying not to spend extra $$$. Thanks again.

m2 · Post by m2 » Thu Nov 10, 2005 2:28 pm

I have the same Tele. The pickups are not grounded correctly and/or there is not enough if any copper foil on the back of the pickguard to ground it. Furthermore it needs to be connected to the out put jack ground so that you don't become the ground.

I threw out those pickups the day I bought the mine. Great feeling little Tele but the pickups do suck out of the box. I put a Tele set of Joe Barden's in there when I got it and haven't looked back. They're super loud, zero noise and spankin' Tele bright. Highly recommend them. I think I used the PUs that came with it to prop the door open.

Remember no one's going to put on your tombstone that you saved money on your guitar. They might say "he always had a rockin's sound"!

mwilloam · Post by **mwilloam** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 5:16 pm

Thanks for the info. I agree with you about the Tombstone but since its a backup guitar I thought I should try the cheap route. I too love the feel of it and for $300 its a great guitar. I'll take a look for those pickups online. Are they single stacked humbuckers? Whats the going rate for them and do you recommend switching the pots?

Thanks much

johnnytucats · Post by **johnnytucats** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 6:32 pm

There's lots of info out there about how to remove electric guitar hum. Do a google on "remove telecaster hum" and see if any of it looks worth trying.

reekguitar · Post by **reekguitar** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 1:47 am

go to the guitarnuts site, they show how to shield your tele without having to remove the PUs, allthough I aslo suggest to change them.

I just wonder how come there' s no more serious accidents with the poor shelding fender is putting in their guitars...
Just as a reminder, at the time this company was owned by Leo Fender, the guitars were shielded properly.

emulatorloo · Post by **emulatorloo** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 1:29 pm

reekguitar wrote:go to the guitarnuts site, they show how to shield your tele without having to remove the PUs, allthough I aslo suggest to change them.

what a damn fine resource. . .THANKS:

http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/shielding/tele.php

jaffi · Post by **jaffi** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 3:30 am

Just to throw my 2 cents in. Teles and Strats are notorious for being quite a pain in any recording environment. I usually just seclude the Fender guitarist to a far room. Basically, as far from any interference as possible. That is the passive approach. Of course, you can change you pickups to something of the stacked humbucker variety. A lot of these keep true to the original single coil sound. I believe Fender sells some. This was my entire motivation for going to the LP and the PRS. I got sick of the noise. The only Fender pickups that I liked were the lace sensors. But, they got rid of them back in the late 90's. You can ground them as much as you like, but they are still single coils. That means that they will still have a considerable amount of noise.

epidot68 · Post by **epidot68** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 11:04 am

Okay, I am no genius and I'm propably making myself the ground as suggested earlier, but since my studio has power conditioners and other elctrical protection I'm okay with my low-tech solution. I bought aligator clips and wire at radio shack and made a small cable which I then clip to the bridge plate and put the other end in my shoe. I have yet to have a shocking experience and my unwanted noise is gone.

Now, I happen to like the tone of my stock Tele pickups and consider the other stuff as part of the "Fender sound" so take it for what it's worth. I have a couple of Gibson's and they might not buzz, but they also don't jangle. Nice to have options.

dixiechicken · Post by **dixiechicken** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 11:28 am

After 15 years of hum with my custombuilt Telecaster De Luxe I quit.
I bought the Seymour Duncan vintage stack replacements in both positions.

(I had the SC 1/4Pounder in the bridge pos and SC vintage in the neck pos)

Seymour Duncan vintage stack replacements sound great. The sound is lot cleaner without the hum. You can really cut through the mix.
The 1/4pounder has more low mids so with the v-stack you can cut down a bit on the
treble & presence controls.

Cheers: Dixiechicken

jaffi · Post by **jaffi** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 8:30 pm

epidot68 wrote:Okay, I am no genius and I'm propably making myself the ground as suggested earlier, but since my studio has power conditioners and other elctrical protection I'm okay with my low-tech solution. I bought aligator clips and wire at radio shack and made a small cable which I then clip to the bridge plate and put the other end in my shoe. I have yet to have a shocking experience and my unwanted noise is gone.

Now, I happen to like the tone of my stock Tele pickups and consider the other stuff as part of the "Fender sound" so take it for what it's worth. I have a couple of Gibson's and they might not buzz, but they also don't jangle. Nice to have options.

Well, it's all about what you like to hear when your fingers go to work. I admit, I love the sound of a good Strat through a Fender Twin (I even use a modded-out HRD for my main clean rig), but they do have noise problems. If that clip thing works, I am glad to hear it. I have seen other similar fixes, but they were never consistant enough for me. I currently have a '95 P-bass special with active EQ that makes tons of noise. I may try that little clip thingy with it. It only hums when I am not touching the strings, so grounding the bridge to myself may help out. It is a cheap and old bass, but it sounds so sweet. I have buddies with multi-thousand dollar basses that give my bass praise. Plus, I have had it so long that it has that perfect feel to it (I am sure you may know that feeling).