Members gardo Posted November 22, 2017 Members Share Posted November 22, 2017 I've been chasing a clicking sound from a Tele neck pup. First thing was to check all solder joints.,no problem found . I checked the switch,it seemed Ok but I changed it anyway. Still making that noise.Tried a different amp ,still there . I became so obsessed with this sound that I could not enjoy playing this guitar at home . Finally I found the problem. The neck pickup fit too close to the pickgaurd .I tried a different pickgaurd ,no difference.. Believe it or not .a few seconds with a Dremel to carefully trim the opening enough to create a slight air gap around the pup not only solved the problem but opened up the tone. The pup in this case is a Fender Vintage Noiseless that. mounts to the bottom of the cavity rather than to the pickgaurd.. Somehow freeing up the pup helped alot. If you have a pickgaurd on your Tele ,pull it off if you can and see if the sound improves. If it does this is a simple fix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badpenguin Posted November 22, 2017 Members Share Posted November 22, 2017 Good advice Gardo, sure to save someone a few frustrating hours searching for the problem! Reminds me of a client who came to me, his guitar's bridge pickup making "ticking" sounds thru the amp. I played it, no tick. He played it, it ticked. Played my Paul, no tick. HE played my Paul, it ticked. I sat there, staring at him, then simply said...."Take off your watch from your right hand please." Took it off, no tick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted November 22, 2017 Members Share Posted November 22, 2017 Wow! Does the pickguard have metal shielding on the back? I never thought PVC could interfere with a magnetic field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted November 22, 2017 Author Members Share Posted November 22, 2017 No shielding. I can't say if it was some kind of static charge or simply the mechanical contact.Also the noiseless pup is a stacked humbucker as opposed to a single coil. I don't know where this enters into the equation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted November 22, 2017 Members Share Posted November 22, 2017 Glad you were able to diagnose and solve the issue. I wonder if the same thing could happen with pickup rings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted November 22, 2017 Members Share Posted November 22, 2017 I've been chasing a clicking sound from a Tele neck pup. First thing was to check all solder joints.' date='no problem found . I checked the switch,it seemed Ok but I changed it anyway. Still making that noise.Tried a different amp ,still there . I became so obsessed with this sound that I could not enjoy playing this guitar at home . Finally I found the problem. The neck pickup fit too close to the pickgaurd .I tried a different pickgaurd ,no difference.. Believe it or not .a few seconds with a Dremel to carefully trim the opening enough to create a slight air gap around the pup not only solved the problem but opened up the tone. The pup in this case is a Fender Vintage Noiseless that. mounts to the bottom of the cavity rather than to the pickgaurd.. Somehow freeing up the pup helped alot. If you have a pickgaurd on your Tele ,pull it off if you can and see if the sound improves. If it does this is a simple fix [/quote'] Nice. The original Tele pickup neck set up was a real drip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted November 23, 2017 Members Share Posted November 23, 2017 If it was touching the case of the pup I can see how hitting the pickguard while playing might cause that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted November 23, 2017 Author Members Share Posted November 23, 2017 If it was touching the case of the pup I can see how hitting the pickguard while playing might cause that. The pickup was a close fit,not tight but just touching on the neck side of the opening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted November 23, 2017 Members Share Posted November 23, 2017 I reckon that's the culprit. My Strat is doing something similar at the moment. Maybe the Kinman cases are a bit big for my old pickguard. Hmmm... I'll report back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted November 24, 2017 Members Share Posted November 24, 2017 Sounds like the pickup was fairly microphonic and was picking up the creaky noise of the pick guard rub. I get that every so often from pickup rings and springs. Unfortunately there isn't always one good solution. Luckily you found one for yours. I might have tried a little lubrication around the opening in the pick guard first to see if that worked. If not I'd likely do the same thing by you did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted November 27, 2017 Author Members Share Posted November 27, 2017 Try wiping your pickgaurd with a dryer sheet to eliminate static. I found this on another site and it actually works Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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