Opinions Please

I have just picked up a Custom Shop Telecaster after selling my hot rodded Strat (Hot rails in bridge and Duncan 59 minis in middle / neck) and just acquired an Express 5:50 112 combo. The amp is just what I need (sold my Road King II 212 because it weighed more than me and was waaaay to complex for my needs). Anyway, long story short, the hum off the pickups of the Tele is almost intolerable (the Custom Shop pickups have higher output than regular pickups, guess that doesn't help). Regarless of the position I switch to, and it has an extra where the two pickups are out of phase. Think that swapping out Custom Shop pickups defeats the purpose and given the choice think I will swap the guitar before I modify it or reconsider the amp.

I plugged my Martin OMC-16 with Fishman ellipse into it and it was fine, no hum and sounded sweet on the Ch 1 clean in class A mode. When test driving at the shop was playing a Musicman Axis with humbuckers.

Do you think it could be a tube issue (amp is about 8 months old). Would you live with it or go to a Les Paul or humbucker configured guitar. I know Mesas tend to blend well with humbuckers - my mark III did. Just never expected the noise I am getting with the Tele.

Any advice?

If you've tried two other guitars with the amp with no problem, it's not a tube issue.

Sounds like you've got some sorta grounding problem with the tele. Take it back and make them fix it or get another guitar that doesn't hum.

Nothing wrong with your amp......dont touch that dial.

Face it, Fender guitars hum. Period.

Until you get them modded by having the cavity lined with anti-EMI metallic paint or whatever it is they use to shield the cavity from ambient interference. After that is done (already done on most of the newer Fenders) then you need to get Noiseless pickups.

My Strat had hum that would wake the dead, but I was lucky......the cavity had already been lined with that special paint, all I had to do was buy some noiseless pickups. No more hum. If you really like the Tele sound, then it will be worth it.

Just gotta make sure your pedal chain (if any) doesn't induce hum, and you will be in business.

Thanks guys!

Actually, I realize I'd get some hum, but wow, this is unexpected. Will check out the noiseless and while I am running straight in from input to jack with no pedals, a friend is dropping by later with a new 1/4 in instrument cable, just to satisfy myself that it isn't an issue...

soundchaser59 said:

Nothing wrong with your amp......dont touch that dial.

Face it, Fender guitars hum. Period.

Until you get them modded by having the cavity lined with anti-EMI metallic paint or whatever it is they use to shield the cavity from ambient interference. After that is done (already done on most of the newer Fenders) then you need to get Noiseless pickups.

My Strat had hum that would wake the dead, but I was lucky......the cavity had already been lined with that special paint, all I had to do was buy some noiseless pickups. No more hum. If you really like the Tele sound, then it will be worth it.

Just gotta make sure your pedal chain (if any) doesn't induce hum, and you will be in business.

Click to expand...

I've got a '66 Fender Mustang with 2 of the original pickups. They hum a little but nothing extraordinary. Got a buddy that has an old cheap mexi tele that makes some noise but nothing like you're describing. I think your tele is defective. Maybe the custom shop hooked up something wrong. Who knows? But generally Fenders do not have an intolerable hum.

I also have an American Deluxe strat with the SCN pickups, two single-coil, one humbucker. Can barely tell it's hooked up. If you're a hum/noise hater (like me), you might want to go that route. The SCNs (samarium noiseless cobalt ?) sound good to me. Fender also makes the Vintage Noiseless. The Jeff Beck Hot Noiseless. Lace pickups. Kinman makes a set that some swear by. They're all really humbuckers but they've got the single-coil sound down pretty well.

If you really like the custom shop guitar, you may want to explore replacing the pickups with something like these. Me....I'd probably just take it back and get something that didn't have to be modified. And I am gassing for a nice Tele.

Good luck.

Dont forget about the odd stuff that causes extra hum........fluorescent lights, tv's, computer monitors, short wave radio next door, microwave running in the kitchen, sometimes even cell phones, appliances, etc...... usually you dont realize it until you open the door and let a Fender into the house!

I discovered something else wierd today. May not completely be the Tele. I had unplugged and removed instrument cable. Flicked the standby switch back to on and was playing with the volumes, channels, contour (going back to standby before changing modes/channels, 5/50 settings). Noticed some weird sounds and a hum coming from the amp. At one point I was sitting in front of the amp and reached to grab it and lean it forward to see where the 5/50 switch was set and inspect the power tubes. As soon as I touched the chassis the hum stopped. Let go and hum sort of phased in and out. I could tap on the top of the amp and get it to chim with some funk sounds. Don't know if I have a tube issue, a ground issue or some other issue, but it may not all be down to the Tele... I'm perplexed. Also noticed the power tubes seem hot and glowed pretty bright near where the glass meets the base. The amp is new to me and I am not familiar with the nuances of it. May be normal, but my Road King and Mark 4 power tubes never seemed to look like that...

Get an outlet tester and test the outlet that you're plugged into ASAP!

You should also get a voltage sensor and make sure you chassis and guitar strings aren't hot. (You should have both of these tools in your guitar case and use them everywhere you play, BTW.)

I play several several guitars with single coils, a Tele, a Strat, a PRS with P-90s, etc.., all withot added shielding and have no hum issues with my Express 5:50.
Unless there's an electrical problem, they're almost as quiet as my guitars with humbuckers.

I suspect a bad gound in the guitar (all it takes is a cold solder joint) though I would check the outlet as well.

Hi,

I've had a couple of nice Tele's - and agree that they can be noisy. I'm playing a Ernie Ball - Music Man Albert Lee model now. It's a great Tele/Strat combination and has a dummy coil set up like the Suhr guitars and is really quiet, even on the burn channel. It's also really well shielded. Since you demoed with a Music Man guitar you might find an Albert Lee model to try.

There are good sounding stacked humbucking Tele pickups that you might look at - even the newer Fender noiseless Tele pickups sound pretty good.

My two cents ...