Noisy noiseless N3 bridge pickup

[notjustbass]

Hi I just had my guitar repair check install a set of n3 noiseless pickups in my telecaster. The neck pickup is completely noiseless but the bridge pickup is quite a bit hotter than the neck pickup and it makes about as much noise as a single coil would. I downloaded the wiring schematics and took the guitar back to my repair guy. He said that's just the way he had it wired in and that what I'm hearing is fairly normal. He said that the bridge pickup is probably noisier due to the fact that it didn't have a metal housing over the top like the neck pickup does. What do you guys think? I also shielded the whole guitar with copper foil before I had my guy put in the pickups. The noise is very noticeable even and clean tones

 

[hopdybob]

here i found maybe a reason

Problems with Fender Noiseless pick-ups ??????????????? - Guitar Discussions on theFretBoard

Any one had issues with the Noiseless Strat pick-ups - N3 in this case - Had 2 faulty ones in a week - Not on the same guitar

www.thefretboard.co.uk

"Yes, this is a common problem on all modern Fender pickups, particularly any with plastic bobbins. In order to stop the bobbins melting, the workers don’t get the joints hot enough and a fair proportion end up ‘cold’. It’s even sometimes a problem on the fibreboard ones too."

and i had a friend with fender noiseless, i think samarium, where the poles connected to the hot lead and that way he got noise.
was a new guitar so he could send it back

 

[notjustbass]

So in other words Fender pickups are total crap? That is so embarrassing for fender. I guess I'm going to get rid of the N3s
There are so many Tele pickups to choose from. But not so many noiseless ones. Do you have any recommendations for those?

 

[Bruxist]

Might be worth seeing if Fender will replace this pickup under warranty.

 

[Grateful Ape]

So in other words Fender pickups are total crap? That is so embarrassing for fender. I guess I'm going to get rid of the N3s
There are so many Tele pickups to choose from. But not so many noiseless ones. Do you have any recommendations for those?

Dimarzio Area T 615 for the bridge.

Alternatively, I'd look at one of the many offerings by Bill Lawrence Wilde Pickups or Zexcoil.

 

[notjustbass]

I see that there are quite a few different noiseless pickups by Fender that are available. Is there a particular model that is not plagued by production flaws? Or should I really stay away from them altogether?

 

[notjustbass]

Might be worth seeing if Fender will replace this pickup under warranty.

I bought those pickups NOS from a reverb seller. They had not been installed. The seller probably did not know about the issue (I hope) but I don't know where to go for a warranty. Do you think I could just contact Fender directly?

 

[notjustbass]

I found a fender gen 4 bridge pickup on e-bay for 76.-. I found some positive reviews on those. Would that be compatible with my N3 neck pickup? It seems like that might be an inexpensive way to solve my problem.

 

[Telenator]

Have you ever changed any parts or done any work inside the guitar?
Are you the original owner of this guitar?
Do you use heavy gain when you play?
Have you tried the guitar at a place other than your home to see if the noise is the same?

Let's not jump to conclusions before all the facts are in.

 

[notjustbass]

Have you ever changed any parts or done any work inside the guitar?
Are you the original owner of this guitar?
Do you use heavy gain when you play?
Have you tried the guitar at a place other than your home to see if the noise is the same?

Let's not jump to conclusions before all the facts are in.

I have had the pickups installed in two different Tele copies, which are both shielded with copper foil, by a friend who is a luthier. The hum was also there when I plugged it into an amp at his shop. He seems to think it is normal, because the bridge pickup is hotter. I use mostly clean sounds. Maybe a very mild overdrive. Nothing drastic. Also I tried different locations and different amps ( and direct) in my house. The bridge pickup hums and the neck pickup is dead quiet. So those are the facts and i'm sticking to them LOL

 

[Bruxist]

I bought those pickups NOS from a reverb seller. They had not been installed. The seller probably did not know about the issue (I hope) but I don't know where to go for a warranty. Do you think I could just contact Fender directly?

Worth a shot, I would think.

 

[Telenator]

I have had the pickups installed in two different Tele copies, which are both shielded with copper foil, by a friend who is a luthier. The hum was also there when I plugged it into an amp at his shop. He seems to think it is normal, because the bridge pickup is hotter. I use mostly clean sounds. Maybe a very mild overdrive. Nothing drastic. Also I tried different locations and different amps ( and direct) in my house. The bridge pickup hums and the neck pickup is dead quiet. So those are the facts and i'm sticking to them LOL

Great! In that case, it sounds like a grounding issue with the pickup itself. I'll assume that touching the bridge doesn't stop the hum.

The only other thing that might make sense is that the two coils in the bridge pickup were accidentally wired in parallel when it was manufactured. That would cause a brighter, slightly weaker sound and of course, the hum.

 

[Telenator]

So what happened here? Did this get sorted out?

 

[Dave Harmon]

Hi I just had my guitar repair check install a set of n3 noiseless pickups in my telecaster. The neck pickup is completely noiseless but the bridge pickup is quite a bit hotter than the neck pickup and it makes about as much noise as a single coil would. I downloaded the wiring schematics and took the guitar back to my repair guy. He said that's just the way he had it wired in and that what I'm hearing is fairly normal. He said that the bridge pickup is probably noisier due to the fact that it didn't have a metal housing over the top like the neck pickup does. What do you guys think? I also shielded the whole guitar with copper foil before I had my guy put in the pickups. The noise is very noticeable even and clean tones

I have a 2015 American Deluxe I bought new. It has N3 pups and they are dead quiet.
Your guitar repair guy is just wrong.
Other than that......the N3 pups sound like crap.

I have a new set of CS 51' Nocaster pups I am going to install....that should help a lot with the tone of this thing.
The N3 sound so bad that I only play it once a year or so just to see if it is still working.

 

[memorex]

I can't speak to N3's because my Tele has the Vintage Noiseless. But I wanted to install a phase reverse switch on my bridge pickup, and I noticed that one of the pickup wires was connected to the metal backing plate and the bridge plate and ground. I had to separate the wires to achieve floating conductors and a separate ground. If yours is wired that way, make sure the ground side of the pickup is connected to ground, or do what I did.