How can i get my tele to stop buzzing like mad

[James HE]

It's only bad when I'm playing in my apartment-there are powerlines running right outside my window!! . I heaRd somthing once about putting tin foil to shield out some of the noise, but I'm not shure how it would be done. It's a thinline tele, so would I have to put it all over the bottom of the pickguard or something? And What about the bridge- it's on of those old-school tele bridges thats a big slab of metal that the pickup sits on- how the hell could I shield the bridge pickup?- man I miss humbuckers... hope my N-2 gets out of repair soon, but the tele sounds so good...

-JHE

 

[tdukex]

Carvin guitars sells shielding kits for about $10 bucks. It contains copper foil tape with adhesive backing, insulated wire, and solder. I bought one for a Gretsch solid body once, and it was easy enough to install.

 

[Emeric]

Hey JamesHE,

Have you checked the wiring to make sure there isn't anything messed with it? I just rewired my tele (1970 beatup piece of junk) from the ground up, pots, switch, input jack and it made a big difference in the buzzing.

 

[Gary Hendershot]

A shure-fire way to eliminate huuummmmmmm and buzzzZZzzzzZz in a Tele is to go to the new-fangled Fender Vintage Noiseless pickups, which are actually mini-stacked humbuckers that look and sound very close to standard single coils in the Tele.

As Emeric sez above, a thorough rewiring and shielding job will usually reduce interference. And since you're in there, you might as well replace the potentiometers, capacitors, and the pickup switch as well with quality parts. The mechanical components eventually wear out and/or get corrosion buildup causing weak crackly sound and the capacitors get attacked by moisture over time. You can usually recondition the potentiometers with cleaners, sometimes not.

 

[James HE]

I had thought about putting mini-humbuckers in the bridge, but I don't see myself getting rid of the lipstick pickup in the bridge. The guitar is only about 3 years old so I don't think the wiring and stuff is that bad (yet). I only really have problems with it when I'm in my apartment, I have to face due north and tilt back ever so slightly to make it stop... I'll probably wont be living here for too much longer so I don't I don't really want to throw money at the problem just yet...

-JHE