cghoyt
Rookie Solder Flinger
Posts: 16
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Post by cghoyt on Apr 8, 2006 16:51:55 GMT -5
Hey guys, it's been a while since I last stopped by. By the way, thanks for the help on the guitar I was building. Turned out to be amazing.
But I have a new problem with a different guitar, and I thought this would be the most appropriate place to post it.
I have a fender strat deluxe with noiseless pickups and for some reason it has started clicking at a set interval when plugged up to my amp, and any other amp. It seems to be centered on the middle pickup because in that position it is the loudest.
The clicking noise will either be at a slow interval or a quite fast one, you can hear it in the other positions but not near as loud, as like i said, in the middle pickup position. I've never had this sort of problem before and i've never heard of anything like it.
The only explaination that I can think for the cause of the clicking, would be that my guitar fell over, face first onto some carpet and a back pack, nothing too dramatic. But it never did it before this event, and the first time after i played it after this event, the clicking began (it has been a few days since it fell over and today when i played the guitar). I dont know if this caused it or if something just wiggled loose within the guts of the guitar.
I would greatly appreciate any advice you fellas could offer on the problem. If you guys need to hear the actual noise, i could record it with a condenser mic i have and upload it some way or another.
Thanks
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Post by JohnH on Apr 8, 2006 16:55:21 GMT -5
Hmm - a 'set' interval, does that mean it is a regular timing? My guitars pick up the beat from my watch if it gets near the pickups! John
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cghoyt
Rookie Solder Flinger
Posts: 16
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Post by cghoyt on Apr 8, 2006 17:01:28 GMT -5
yep, regular timing. a constant click click click, and it goes in and out randomly every so many seconds. Also seems to do it more when the guitar is laying horizontal.
I'm not near anything though that would make it click, plus it does not happen with any other of my guitars. I'm dumb founded.
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Post by sumgai on Apr 8, 2006 17:12:03 GMT -5
cg,
Has that "special capacitor" come loose, or has it been somehow jarred into slightly touching one of the other switch contacts? This sounds like a physical cause, so you're gonna have to open it up and carefully check it all out.
sumgai
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Post by JohnH on Apr 8, 2006 17:14:52 GMT -5
OK - heres a hypothesis (meaning an idea with no proof).
When the guitar fell over, some connection or shielding part of it came loose, making it vulnerable to noise. The click noise is generated by some outside influence, a machine, refigerator or other electrical gizmo, which now gets into the guitar when it didnt before. If you move to a different room, is it different? Is the sound of the guitar still the same? Is there any new installation nearby that could explain the click, without there being a new fault in teh guitar?
John
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djhollowman
Apprentice Shielder
7 outta 6 cats preferred it.....
Posts: 29
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Post by djhollowman on Apr 9, 2006 15:06:29 GMT -5
Just on the point of external sources, I once had an old Vox valve amp that would pick up a nearby electric fence! (You could also pick up radio stations on it sometimes!!) Drove me nuts trying to figure out what it was, cos the farmer only had it turned on at certain times of year!
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Post by UnklMickey on Apr 11, 2006 17:12:14 GMT -5
...The only explaination that I can think for the cause of the clicking, would be that my guitar fell over, face first ... i'm inclined toward the external noise possibility. CG, did you have a pacemaker installed after that heart attack you had, when you saw your guitar starting to fall? unk
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Post by sumgai on Apr 12, 2006 12:27:51 GMT -5
I am also now tending towards an external source, but it could have been there all along. What if the droppage caused a shield connection of one sort or another to have broken open? I'm minded of the thread last year where a member had a constant 180Hz hum, no matter what he did. It was finally revealed that he lived next to a RailRoad switching yard!! No wonder, they're using 3-phase power, and that will induce 180Hz hum quicker than anything. The answer there was not enough shielding. In this case, while the frequency is much slower, it still sounds like a shielding problem. There is only one test needed, and that is to take everything to a different location and try it all out. CG, is that possible for you? Preferably, a friend's home in a non-industrial area. sumgai
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Post by guitardoode on Apr 13, 2006 11:58:40 GMT -5
Just on the point of external sources, I once had an old Vox valve amp that would pick up a nearby electric fence! (You could also pick up radio stations on it sometimes!!) Drove me nuts trying to figure out what it was, cos the farmer only had it turned on at certain times of year! Oh yes! I have a cheappy wire that came with a starter pack and if i stuff that into my Chinese strat n bump up the distortion i can pick up a radio station of somesort. it's quite amusing. But that clicking interval thingy? I have that problem! Its my phone if i have it in my trouser pocket nearest to the pickups i can here a tick from it. And have anyone stuck a chordless mouse near the pickups, i dont know if its the same with with all mouses but mine makes funny hummy buzz scream thingy that changes pitch depending on the distance of the pickups and angle which i hold it. Oh and another thing i found, if your still using a CRT monitor, aka not the flat ones. you get a hell of a buzz out of them if they're on. Hope this is any help
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Post by UnklMickey on Apr 13, 2006 17:51:59 GMT -5
...But that clicking interval thingy? I have that problem! Its my phone if i have it in my trouser pocket nearest to the pickups i can here a tick from it.... 'doode, only CG will know for sure, but i think you may have hit paydirt with that one! +1 unk
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Post by guitardoode on Apr 14, 2006 8:13:13 GMT -5
hehe thanks for that unk! I'll try and be a help where i can be
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