General Telecaster Noise Question

[Gary in Boston]

In a band situation you probably won't hear it.

Practicing you will hear it.

In a studio you will hear it.

 

[ChrisDowning]

Yes you need the specific copper tape for shielding or all the pieces you end up using won't connect through the adhesive - at the end, you'll want to connect all the shielding to earth as well just to be certain you got it. My Tele (see avi) doesn't have any extra shielding but it will get noisy on some gain settings due to the pedals interacting so the pedals or amp might be the issue. I don't think one of the pups on a Tele is reverse wound so not sure you get noise cancellation like a Strat.. Does someone want to confirm or shoot that down?

 

[adjason]

I thought that these American Pro guitar came shielded from the factory? My vintera tele likes to buzz but there is no shielding on it. Maybe try to post a video here or play another one and see if it is different?

 

[cousinpaul]

Try moving around the room with the guirar relative to the position of your amp. There should be a spot where the buzz quiets down. Other causes for excessive noise could be the wiring in your house, cell phone in the room, etc.

 

[Green Tele]

I thought that these American Pro guitar came shielded from the factory? My vintera tele likes to buzz but there is no shielding on it. Maybe try to post a video here or play another one and see if it is different?

Never owned an AM PR or AM PR II or previous AM STD shielded..

Try moving around the room with the guirar relative to the position of your amp. There should be a spot where the buzz quiets down. Other causes for excessive noise could be the wiring in your house, cell phone in the room, etc.

Thanks I don't have the guitar in my possession any more, it's still with Fender's tech.

My other guitars, when using single coils, sure moving around the room and all that is normal, some variation. My tele though... it's the noise cancelling middle position that was an issue. Ruled out all grounding/shielding before sending it off.

 

[Green Tele]

I don't think one of the pups on a Tele is reverse wound so not sure you get noise cancellation like a Strat.. Does someone want to confirm or shoot that down?

This is the main question that doesn't seem to have a consensus on this forum.

 

[jim_pridx]

Ilitch Noise canceling pickguard, sold through Lindy Fralin or from ilitchelectronics.com. Works great in my 63 AVRI Tele Custom with stock pickups. No noise and no change in tone. Win Win.

^^^This^^^
I've been using these for years with no noise issues. Perhaps they're a bit pricey, but they do the job and do it well!

 

[Green Tele]

For me personally: I'm not on a quest to eliminate all noise etc I can live the normal stuff, just sucks that I waited 20 years to get my first "traditional tele" and it's making noise where it shouldn't out of the box.

 

[Sea Devil]

There's no such thing as a left-handed flat-pole Tele bridge pickup, or a leftie neck pickup.

 

[ChrisDowning]

For me personally: I'm not on a quest to eliminate all noise etc I can live the normal stuff, just sucks that I waited 20 years to get my first "traditional tele" and it's making noise where it shouldn't out of the box.

Yes I agree. You should be able to get to a normal background noise level with a good Tele otherwise there's something not earthed correctly or reverse connected like the output jack. Happens.

 

[Green Tele]

There's no such thing as a left-handed flat-pole Tele bridge pickup, or a leftie neck pickup.

Yeah I know that.

Sadly the senior Fender tech disagrees. He replaced my pickups with what he had laying around (can't tell me what they are) and said it would be 12+ months to order replacement vmod 2 pickups so he decided this is happening and is going to ship the guitar back.

Doesn't sound right in any sense. After that call today I asked the dealer politely to help me out, situation isn't going good. Hope to get my guitar back soon either way.

 

[Grateful Ape]

I have Areas in my Pro I, but I was amazed to find when opening it up that Fender does not shield these guitars. Come on Fender, this is an expensive, American-made guitar. Could you not have splashed a little shielding paint in there?

 

[ChrisDowning]

Ha - it's fiddly to do the cavities with tape - I know I've done a couple - it's not a production line kinda thing more custom. Production line is that black shielding paint - personally not a fan of that stuff.

 

[Green Tele]

Ha - it's fiddly to do the cavities with tape - I know I've done a couple - it's not a production line kinda thing more custom. Production line is that black shielding paint - personally not a fan of that stuff.

The shielding process was fun, and didn't have any issues or difficulties.
I know it didn't change anything regarding the issues my tele has, but made a nice difference in my jazzmaster I did at the same time.

 

[Green Tele]

I just want to cry.

Got my guitar back from fender after months.
Not only did they put mystery non original pickups in it. The problem is now worse, by a lot than when I sent it off to them.

The middle position is twice as noisy compared to using just the next or bridge. And overall the base noise floor way over any of my other fenders. I don't even know how this is possible.

The dealer who assured me they would step in and make it right to avoid this.

 

[boxocrap]

Hey Everyone,

Lurker for many years and finally I'm an Tele owner.

I bought an American Pro II Telecaster - and I love it. My first tele.

I have strats and jazzmasters - and I'm used to the single coil hum, relatively silent in the middle/in-between settings.

The telecaster - is noisy in the middle position, even noisier in the 1st and 3rd. Should the middle/2nd setting be relatively quiet like other fender guitars?

Can't really travel/try any other teles as I'm in lock down and left handed.

Any insights appreciated.

is this stock wiring or some kind of custom mod setup wiring? if it's stock i would look at the shielding aspect of it..if it's custom i would have another look at how it's wired ( maybe a decent guitar tech.. or look online for a large variety of tele wiring diagrams). my tele i used to have was very noisy except in #2 and position especially with any kind of overdrive. i had stock fender singles from the late "60s in it. it was a 3 way switch and i had to find #"2" in between the 1 and 2 settings..that's the way it was then so kinda a 4 way but with only 3 official switch points..i'm sure there are others on this site that did that kind of thing " back in the day" before 4 way switches came out..but i digress see the above points i made regarding shielding and pickup wiring diagrams..and hope you resolve the issues

 

[Green Tele]

is this stock wiring or some kind of custom mod setup wiring? if it's stock i would look at the shielding aspect of it..if it's custom i would have another look at how it's wired ( maybe a decent guitar tech.. or look online for a large variety of tele wiring diagrams). my tele i used to have was very noisy except in #2 and position especially with any kind of overdrive. i had stock fender singles from the late "60s in it. it was a 3 way switch and i had to find #"2" in between the 1 and 2 settings..that's the way it was then so kinda a 4 way but with only 3 official switch points..i'm sure there are others on this site that did that kind of thing " back in the day" before 4 way switches came out..but i digress see the above points i made regarding shielding and pickup wiring diagrams..and hope you resolve the issues

It's stock, but it has a push/push pot for series/parallel. This is how the AM-2 pros come.

Shielding, grounding and now replacement pickups all ruled out. Fender have given up, they have kept my pickups and offered me either a strings attached credit for a different guitar altogether. Or to send it back to them and wait another 6-12 months while they troubleshoot some more and order new stuff to try.

(String attached - fender don't have any left handed telecasters so if I took them up it would still be a 6-12 month wait).

To their credit - the set up on this thing coming back to me is perfection. But sadly my middle position base noise is far worse than when I sent it back to them.

Just so bizarre that they would keep a guitar for months, replace things with non original spec parts then send it back without fixing it. Then apologise and tell me to send it back to them...

 

[boxocrap]

It's stock, but it has a push/push pot for series/parallel. This is how the AM-2 pros come.

Shielding, grounding and now replacement pickups all ruled out. Fender have given up, they have kept my pickups and offered me either a strings attached credit for a different guitar altogether. Or to send it back to them and wait another 6-12 months while they troubleshoot some more and order new stuff to try.

(String attached - fender don't have any left handed telecasters so if I took them up it would still be a 6-12 month wait).

To their credit - the set up on this thing coming back to me is perfection. But sadly my middle position base noise is far worse than when I sent it back to them.

Just so bizarre that they would keep a guitar for months, replace things with non original spec parts then send it back without fixing it. Then apologise and tell me to send it back to them...

i wonder if fender would give you a "loner" in the meantime..but probably not and of course they would not have a lefty available...sux..i hope someone on this site can help you out..

 

[Green Tele]

Trying to add a video for reference

 

[Skyhook]

"General Telecaster Noise"? ... ahh.. you mean Country!