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Post subject: American Deluxe Tele
Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 12:20 pm
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I just taken delivery of a 2010 American Deluxe Tele. Fantastic guitar, just what I hoped for. Butterscotch, lightweigth ash body, maple board, brilliant. That is with the exception of the N3 pickups. They are without doubt the worst sounding pair of pickups I've ever heard, awful. Now, this in itself is not a major concern as I didn't have great expectaions for them and fully intended to replace them along with the S1 switching. Thing is they're supposed to be noiseless but I have quite loud buzzing coming from the guitar when I'm not touching any of the metal hardware. I've had a look inside the guitar and can't see any screw lug that you usually find attached to the bottom of the control cavity. I've had a look in the pickup routs as well and still nothing. So my question is, has the guitar been properly grounded? Is the lack of a screw lug unique to the N3 pickups and there's another reason for the buzzing. As I've already said it's not a major problem as I intend to replace the electrics anyway but I had hoped to enjoy playing the guitar in the meantime prior to making a decision on what pickups to buy. Any thoughts would be welcomed. Cheers, David.


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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Tele
Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 1:49 pm
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I have an `07 American Deluxe Tele with Samarium Colbalt noiseless pick ups and have no problems at all with buzzing or hum. Are you playing near a computer or other appliance like a radio ? That can cause interferance sometimes. Its might not be your problem but its a starting point and the first thing I would correct.

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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Tele
Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 3:25 pm
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David,

I have read a couple different forums where people discuss the same issues with their N3 pickups. Just like you said, when you touch or put any pressure on metal hardware, the buzzing tends to lessen. That sounds like a grounding problem but I am by no means an expert. Also, on the other end of the spectrum, I have spoken with people who say the N3's are so quiet it is creepy...even with large amounts of gain or distortion. That being said, there is a good possibility something may be wrong so get in touch with Fender just to be safe. Please let us know what happens-I've got a new Deluxe coming soon too!

Lee


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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Tele
Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 3:38 pm
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Here are some related posts and maybe some contacts to see what the problem was and how it was resolved if you're inclined:

https://www.fender.com/community/forums ... 46357fd99d

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/telecaster-d ... noise.html


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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Tele
Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 9:56 pm
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DavidW wrote:
I just taken delivery of a 2010 American Deluxe Tele. Fantastic guitar, just what I hoped for. Butterscotch, lightweight ash body, maple board, brilliant. That is with the exception of the N3 pickups. They are without doubt the worst sounding pair of pickups I've ever heard, awful. Now, this in itself is not a major concern as I didn't have great expectations for them and fully intended to replace them along with the S1 switching. Thing is they're supposed to be noiseless but I have quite loud buzzing coming from the guitar when I'm not touching any of the metal hardware. I've had a look inside the guitar and can't see any screw lug that you usually find attached to the bottom of the control cavity. I've had a look in the pickup routs as well and still nothing. So my question is, has the guitar been properly grounded? Is the lack of a screw lug unique to the N3 pickups and there's another reason for the buzzing. As I've already said it's not a major problem as I intend to replace the electrics anyway but I had hoped to enjoy playing the guitar in the meantime prior to making a decision on what pickups to buy. Any thoughts would be welcomed. Cheers, David.

Hi David.
Your problem is in all likelihood caused by ground loops that are associated with the way Fender wires their ground wires, by soldering the ground wires to the back of the pots.

I recently put Samarium Cobalt Noiseless Pickups in an '83 Telecaster and had the same problem as you have. When I lifted my fingers from the strings, or backed off the volume control, it hummed. I researched the Internet and found this article on shielding and eliminating ground loops to eliminate guitar hum:

http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/shielding/shield3.php

The article is on Stratocaster wiring, but the same concepts apply to Telecasters. Since you have a current American Deluxe Telecaster, the area surrounding the pots should be well shielded with shielding paint. So disregard most of this article on copper shielding and focus on the elimination of ground loops.

--By the way, NEVER loosen or remove the ground wire screw that is screwed into the body of your guitar in the routing cavity. The screw is applied to the body into wet shielding paint, and loosening this screw will ruin the contact with the shielding paint.--

You eliminate ground loops by removing ALL of the ground wires that are soldered to the back of the pots. The pots will be grounded by the top metal plate, which should have a ground connection that will run to a "ground star". It's really a shame that Fender has so far refused to bring their wiring into the 21st century.

Changing your wiring will void your warranty, but are you really going to use that warranty for your wiring anyway?? The answer is no, and getting rid of the hum is well worth it.

You want to change your ground wiring to "star grounding," where all of the ground wires run to a single contact point, or "ground star," which grounds all of the ground leads by the ground wire that runs from the input jack. Guitarnuts.com uses a ring to attach all of the ground wires, but all you need to do is wind all of the exposed ends of the ground wire leads together, apply a healthy dose of solder, and finish the "ground star" with electrical tape.

You will probably have a tone control capacitor lead also soldered to the back of a pot to ground it. Unsolder or snip the tone capacitor lead which is soldered to the back of the pot. Then solder a ground wire to the capacitor lead and solder the other end of the ground wire to the "ground star". The Guitarnuts.com article (linked above) has copyrighted illustrations which show all of this. Unfortunately, I can't post the illustrations.

In addition, anywhere you have long runs of positive and ground wire leads, such as from the input jack, or from the pick ups, twist the wires together or clip them together with wire ties as much as is possible. If you look inside your amp, you will see positive and ground wire runs twisted or clipped together to minimize noise.

Eliminating the ground loops made my telecaster dead silent. I am certain that this will work for you. If you feel uncomfortable doing this modification, consult a reputable guitar technician and show him this post, as well as the guitarnuts.com linked page. Good luck!!


Last edited by Torn&Frayed on Thu Feb 03, 2011 4:03 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Tele
Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 10:39 pm
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+1 on eliminating the ground loop. The simple fix is just to remove only the wire(s) that connect the back of the pots together, that wire(s) isn't necessary as the pots are connected together through the control plate. I don't see anything wrong with the rest of the wiring connections as they are IMO.

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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Tele
Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 11:00 pm
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shimmilou wrote:
+1 on eliminating the ground loop. The simple fix is just to remove only the wire(s) that connect the back of the pots together, that wire(s) isn't necessary as the pots are connected together through the control plate. I don't see anything wrong with the rest of the wiring connections as they are IMO.

I would agree on the simple fix, except Fender often times has multiple ground wires attached to both pots which would seem to require the "loop". If all ground wires were attached to one pot, that should solve the problem.

But I guess what you are really suggesting shimmilou, is that even if ground wires are soldered to both pots, as long as the wire that connect both pots together is removed ("the loop"), grounding through the plate would function for both pots without ground loop hum. I guess you would just have to make sure that the input jack ground wire went to the pot where the plate ground lead was located. Unless, of course, grounding is adequately accomplished through the pot to the plate, to the other pot, regardless of the grounding wire that normally extends to the plate contact.

You are probably right shimmilou. But all I do actually know that using a separate "ground star" definitely works.


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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Tele
Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 5:25 am
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Thanks for the great info guys. I dare my Deluxe to hum!


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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Tele
Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 8:09 am
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Torn&Frayed wrote:
... is that even if ground wires are soldered to both pots, as long as the wire that connect both pots together is removed ("the loop"), grounding through the plate would function for both pots without ground loop hum....


Hi Torn&Frayed,

Yes, you are correct. The wire/wires connecting the pots together is really the only loop in the ground circuit. The pot case is a path to the plate, so the plate connects the pots together electrically. I agree with you that the absolute best way would be to connect all of the ground wires to one place, ie the back of only one pot. The method that you described sounds very thorough, and may be the best way. I try to eliminate the loop and see if that is sufficient before I go any farther with any other wiring changes. :)

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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Tele
Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 2:07 pm
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Thankyou very much fellas for your input. As I said in my first post I had intended to change the pickups regardless and today had a set of Bare Knuckle Blackguard Tele Flat 50's arrive through the post. I also had a Callaham control plate with 4 way switch arrive earlier in the week. This will all be fitted at the weekend (not by me I should add) so any grounding issues will be addressed at the same time. I'll let you know what the result is. Thanks once again, David.


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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Tele
Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 7:01 pm
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Torn&Frayed wrote:

--By the way, NEVER loosen or remove the ground wire screw that is screwed into the body of your guitar in the routing cavity. The screw is applied to the body into wet shielding paint, and loosening this screw will ruin the contact with the shielding paint.--


Nothing a small drop of dielectric gel dabbed on with a toothpick wouldn't solve.

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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Tele
Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 12:30 am
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Lee - Have you gotten your Am Dlx yet?


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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Tele
Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 8:53 am
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No not yet. The latest date is early April. I have however bought a Pigtronix EP-2 that is also backordered at the moment! Fantastic envelope phaser though. Oh yea, and a Way Huge Electronics Angry Troll (linear boost) which can be a bit harsh at higher settings but great at lower settings. Guitar Center has a $75 off $349 deal going until V-Day so I couldn't pass up over 20% off. Thanks for asking about my guitar. How's yours treating you?

Lee


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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Tele
Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 10:29 pm
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I love my Am Dlx. I have used the neck profile on a couple of other builds, most recently my Beck Esquire tribute. Lee, that is ridiculous about your guitar, I have seen them around here. Will yours now have the 60th anniversary neck plate?


My Beck Esquire?
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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Tele
Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 6:16 am
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I know it's ridiculous. I was also told that guitars ordered in March-April are being fulfilled now and guitars ordered in May are being sent out in early April. I feel like there's nothing I can do about it anymore. Are all guitars leaving the plant getting that plate this year?

I didn't know you build too?


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