Small rattle or buzz

[Doug R]

At a certain note or pitch, I have been noticing a little buzzing/rattling sound coming from my Telecaster - mostly at the frequency of the open B-string.
Sitting with it unplugged the other night, I started picking the B-string and moving my hand around trying to find out where the buzz was coming from. I tightened down all the pickguard screws, the strap pins, the neck and bridge screws, and finally found that the noise was coming from the neck pickup. I rattles just slightly at that certain pitch.
Okay, what do ya' do?
Take it all apart, take out the springs and put rubber tubing under it?
Shove a sliver of a pick down the slot next to it?
Push in a little piece of cloth or rubber next to it?
Super glue?
Any safe and simple fixes to stop the buzzing?

[maestrovert]

hmmmmm....
jes' m.h.o. here, 'k ?
if your neck Pup's mounted to the pickguard, i'd be tempted to remount it to the body, and never mind the empty screw holes....

jes' my $0.02....

[Fatmanstratman]

You didn't say what sort of Tele you have.

If, as the maestro says, your neck pup is pickguard mounted, that could be the cause of the trouble. But I'm not sure that you necessarily need to body mount it.

My personal pup mounting choice is the good old fashioned rubber tube - when it compresses it acts like a shock absorber and cuts out any potential rattles. I'm not a big fan of the spring mountings, and generally discard them in favour of the rubber tubes as soon as I'm doing my first major setup.

For the few pennies involved, it might be worth giving that a go in the first instance. Also, how old is your Tele? Is it possible that a previous owner has at some time taken off the chrome plated pup cover for whatever reason and not clipped it back on firmly?

[red57strat]

Can you hear it through the amp?
If not, I wouldn't worry about it.

[Doug R]

The guitar is a MIM '98 Nashville Deluxe model. I bought it new. I have had the pickguard off only once. It still has the original neck pickup, although I swapped out the bridge pickup and bridge plate and saddles for old-style '52 reissue parts. I don't remember for sure, but I think the neck pickup was probably just mounted to the pickguard.
As for the sound, it's hard to tell if it gets through to the amp, but the buzzing on certain notes has been bugging me for some time. I've been trying to get the strings set-up better, not too high, but not too low, and I kept thinking the buzz was a string buzzing out. If I just hold a finger against the chrome pickup, the buzzing stops. That's why I thought I might just slide a little piece of a matchbook cover or something in there to mute the rattling. I kind of hate to have to take it all apart again for such a little problem. It's just a little sloppy where it goes through the cut-out in the pickguard. I'm not sure changing the springs for rubber tube would even help if it's just vibrating against one side of the pickguard.

[J-man]

Sounds like your neck pickup is resonating at those particular frequencies, just use something to stop it moving.

[PraiseCaster]

If its not the spring, it could be that the little chrome "lipstick" cover on the pup is loose. All you have to do is make sure the tangs (the metal tabs on the bottom of the cover, folded over on the backside of the pup), are down securely, and the cover isnt rattling loose.

My Squier (MIC) had this problem. Fixed the loose tangs, and 'viola!'

[jhundt]

in an 80's Japanese Tele. This one has a strat-style whammy bridge, and I found that the springs were vibrating so I wrapped 'em all in some kind of foam packing material. But there are still strange little buzzes and vibrations. They don't seem to effect the guitars electric sound, but since I only ever sit around playing at home, unplugged, they are kind of intriquing and annoying. I sometimes wonder of there's something in the truss-rod that is loose, but I have no real reason for that speculation...

[yegbert]

Originally Posted by Doug R

As for the sound, it's hard to tell if it gets through to the amp, but the buzzing on certain notes has been bugging me for some time. I've been trying to get the strings set-up better, not too high, but not too low, and I kept thinking the buzz was a string buzzing out. If I just hold a finger against the chrome pickup, the buzzing stops. That's why I thought I might just slide a little piece of a matchbook cover or something in there to mute the rattling. I kind of hate to have to take it all apart again for such a little problem. It's just a little sloppy where it goes through the cut-out in the pickguard. I'm not sure changing the springs for rubber tube would even help if it's just vibrating against one side of the pickguard.

Does this problem go away if you adjust the pickup slightly higher?
If not or if that works but you need the pickup lower for the tone you want, I'd try exactly what you're already thinking in terms of a thin piece of material to take up the space between the side of the pickup cover and the guard.
If that works, then when it's time to restring you can check it out more thoroughly. If the springs or rubber tubing used for spacing are providing insufficient or marginal tension at the height you like the pickup, then get slightly stronger springs or slightly longer tubing, whichever type of spacer is your preference. If the cutout for the pickup is too large and it's just that extra space, you could fill in the space with some type of filler.

Or you could use this as an excuse to get a replacement pickguard. :)

I understand the logic that if the sound isn't coming out the amp then maybe it doesn't need fixed. But if you're chasing down the subtle sounds like strings rattling against a saddle screw this type of rattle could really be a nuisance. If it bugs you and you enjoy fixing these little things then you might as well try to fix it. YMMV on whether it's worthwhile fixing these type of nuisances.