It is currently Tue Mar 17, 2020 12:14 am

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 9 posts ] 
Author Message
Post subject: Help improving the sound of my Squire Affinity Telecaster
Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 2:40 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Sat May 14, 2011 2:39 pm
Posts: 1
Hi

Yeah i know what you're thinking... "This guy has a squire affinity!!?!?! He doesn't deserve to be on this forum!!" Haha

Thing is, i've had this guitar for about 8 years and haven't really touched it, i got it when i was about 9. Recently ive come together with some friends to make a punk rock style band and we've got a gig next month. The only problem is, my guitar sounds like horse $@!& and i really wanna get it to sound good! Everything on it is stock at the moment so the hum is horrible!

I was looking at getting these pickups as they're quite cheap and the reviews are pretty good:
http://www.guitarfetish.com/Calibra...ster_p_149.html

What else can i add or customise to get that punk rocky crunch sort of sound, without the horrible hum that i'm having to deal with now? Do i need to change the pots? and what other electronics can i change?

Bare in mind i have no knowledge about what certain components do on an electric guitar so please explain! I am really interested to know!

Thanks in advance,
James.


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: Help improving the sound of my Squire Affinity Telecaste
Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 9:23 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Fri Nov 09, 2007 6:25 pm
Posts: 693
Location: High on a Mountain Top
I think you'll find that most tele players use near stock pickups. some of the hum issue you have may not be the guitars fault. house wiring, amps, and cords are all part of the mix. Shielding to body cavity would help along with upgrading the pots and switch. How old are your strings? I recommend having a good tech look at it. Just throwing in some new pickups might be a disappointment. and with only a month you can't waste any time or money. I'd seriously consider getting another guitar then take time modding this one.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Help improving the sound of my Squire Affinity Telecaste
Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 10:52 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Thu Sep 23, 2010 9:22 am
Posts: 29
Hi Trevascus,

Hey man, no one here is going to judge you for getting a Squier, or an Affinity for that matter. We've all been there! Heck, I still own an Affinity Tele myself, and think it's a great instrument, and I know a lot of folks who do. The biggest issue with things from Squier as well as MIM Fenders to be honest is just that sometimes the instruments are hit or miss, you can get one that sounds amazing and one that needs to just go back to the shop and get tuned up. It sounds like you have the latter, but as I like to do with just about anything (computers, instruments, electronics, etc.) let's run through some diagnostics, and isolate the problem.

-Does the sound go away when you touch the guitar strings? They're connected to ground so if you hear a significant sound change it's likely the issue is, in fact, the pickups.
-Are you using a ton of pedals and other gear? If so, do your troubleshooting directly connected to the amp, rather than being routed through many (or dozens) of "probable causes" in regards to hum/noise. If making this switch solves the problem, you can troubleshoot single pedals or it may turn out you need a better-regulated power supply (or to supply your power from a different wall jack! Sharing power from the same source can sometimes be the cause of a lot of hum)
-Idaho was 100% correct, the hum could easily be because of the electronics of wherever you're playing. Have you tried playing somewhere else? Used a power conditioner, power strip, surge protector, etc., to see if it's something you can isolate? A lot of times a change from house power to a *good* surge protector (that conditions/regulates power rather than just splitting it) will provide the necessary improvement on the hum that you hear. It's hard to tell because the 60hz hum is exactly what you'd hear with noisy pickups or badly conditioned power.
-Have you tried another guitar through the exact same rig? Preferably an Epi, Gibson, humbucking guitar. See if eliminating pickup hum solves your problem. This is much like the last point, you want to isolate the problem...is it the guitar, the amp, the power, a combination?
-Finally, have you tried a different amp? I have no idea why but when I switched from a solid state Crate amp to a Fender Deluxe, the hum was still there, but not as invasive. Sometimes the electronics in an amp are such that they do a better job with the grounding and the elimination of crossover noise that comes when pumping 120V into an amp.

To your other question about how to fix it, if you isolate the problem is in fact your guitar, yes, there's tons of different ways to solve the problem. I doubt changing out pots and switches will solve the problem since they're passive components that just connect one thing to another, but I guess the shielding and grounding of those components could be part of the problem. I hardly ever see Teles that are shielded, particularly because the metal elements on both of them (the metal cover on the neck, metal plate on the bottom of the bridge) make for easy grounding that does a fairly good job of shielding. Keep in mind that shielding can change your tone, often times significantly, simply on the merits of you altering the electromagnetic signature around the pickup...a lot of ambient stuff gets changed when you deal with voltages and grounding.

Now, onto the pickups you linked...If you do in fact decide you need new pickups, I've found that you really can't go wrong with GFS stuff. Using humbuckers will all but ensure that you no longer have nasty guitar noise (remember it won't guarantee no noise, it will just eliminate the guitar as the source!), but also know that there will be a WHOLE LOT of tonal change. Those pickups you linked are HOT, especially within a single coil size, and particularly that bridge pickup. It will give you a *fat*, often described as *fuzzy* sound simply on merits of being a high-output pickup. That might be a sound you're going for, but keep in mind that you move away from the vintage tele sound when you get that hot. We're talking about the fat sound even in clean.

All that being said, Idaho gave you probably the best tip. Take it to an expert! Especially if you're uncomfortable with any of the terminology either of us used here, it means you still need to learn how everything works before you attempt to tinker. You have the advantage of having a great platform to work on. As much flak as Squiers get, they're amazingly good for learning how to upgrade and work on guitars. You have so-so pickups and so-so hardware, with so-so electronics, and everything could use a good upgrade. Congrats! You have the perfect guitar to learn how to do that! Since you don't have time, though, go see what the cost would be to have an expert take a look at what's causing your hum. You'll know you have a pro when they ask for your guitar and your amp.

I will share one resource with you, as saying you hear a "hum" or "noise" doesn't really give us all a good idea of what's going on. This resource is great for diagnosing the problem. A lot of the steps are detailed above, and I would follow every single one of those steps, figure out the issue, etc.

(Note: Just follow the "Entire System" link, the tele-specific resource is unavailable).

http://www.guitarnuts.com/technical/ele ... /index.php


If all else fails, and you figured out that you can eliminate noise by touching the strings, you can do the craziest thing I've ever seen, and solder an alligator clip to a steel ring and wear it on your pinky, attaching the clip to the bridge. It actually worked! Holy cow!

Good luck!

~Mo


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Help improving the sound of my Squire Affinity Telecaste
Posted: Sun May 15, 2011 8:23 am
Offline
Roadie
Roadie

Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 11:49 am
Posts: 214
Replace the output jack. $2.50 at You-Do-It electronics. I've done it many times to fix grounding noise problems.

_________________
2002 mim Telecaster
Jimmie Vaughan Stratocaster
Mexican HSS Stratocaster
6 non-fender guitars
2 kids (not for sale)
1 wife (uh....no comment)


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Help improving the sound of my Squire Affinity Telecaste
Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 3:29 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2011 11:36 am
Posts: 1597
Location: Chorley, Lancs, UK
A real quick test is just plug your guitar into someoen else's kit and see if you still get a buz or hum.

And as others have said different amps will give you different sounds / tone, so that may be where that elusive tone is that you're looking for.

And as someone else said I too think that new strings would be a really good starting point.

Good luck.

_________________
Cheers
Steve


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Help improving the sound of my Squire Affinity Telecaste
Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 3:36 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Mar 29, 2011 3:25 am
Posts: 629
Location: Just South of the North Pole in a land full of hairy men and scary women.......
Check out Dragonfly loaded pickguards......they come in all sorts of setups and no finnicky wiring involved. I have had two of these and they were both great value for the money!

_________________
speak slowly I'm a drummer too!!
Image
And I proudly lack a stick or a kazoo up my arse...........


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Help improving the sound of my Squire Affinity Telecaste
Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 5:46 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Wed Dec 22, 2010 7:05 am
Posts: 667
The pre-loaded pick guard route may be a very good option for you if you cannot solder or understand wiring diagrams. Otherwise, buy any name brand pickup designed for the style of music you like to play (will be an improvement over stock for sure). Also, shielding the control cavity with copper or foil tape will help cut down on noise too! You may have to buy a different fixed bridge (like for a strat) if you wanna mount a humbucker in the bridge position, and buy a pickup mounting ring (and maybe some minor body routing required).


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Help improving the sound of my Squire Affinity Telecaste
Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 4:43 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 4:54 am
Posts: 2573
Location: Laurel, MD
Don't sweat the fact that you own a Squire.

I would hesitate to change the pickups out right. You know what you want to sound like in your mind's ear. If you suddenly change the pickups you might be disapointed.

One of most important thing that you can do is get the guitar properly set up by a guitar tech. A good set will remind you why you love your guitar.

Also your amp plays a big part in your sound. Many salesmen will be able sell a crap guitar because they demo the guitar through an awesome sounding amp. So if you buy a new amp make sure that you bring YOUR guitar when you are amp shopping.

_________________
1975 Sunburst Stratocaster rosewood finger board
1979 Stratocaster with roseowood finder board
2001 Candy Green Clapton Stratocaster
2007 Andy Summers Inspired Telecaster
2007 '51 P-Bass
2012 Taylor 110
2015 Mystic Ice Blue Deluxe Stratocaster Plus


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Help improving the sound of my Squire Affinity Telecaste
Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 10:44 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sat Aug 02, 2008 7:11 am
Posts: 1344
Location: Portugal
a tele is a tele whether it's a squier or fender heck i love squiers the quality is there the parts are weaker so what?


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 9 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: