A slight crackle

[Ripper]

Hi guys...

Im noticing now a little crackle when I play. Not all the time, but alot. If I gently push on the pickguard I can actually make it crackle at will. I know its not my amp, because my other Strat is fine...no crackle.

I aluminum taped and changed the pickguard. Before that all was hunkey-dorey.

Is it possible theres a wire touching the aluminum tape under the pickguard?...Ill be due to change the strings soon and ill check it out then, but in the meantime.

Its the SRV Strat....I hope I dont have to take it back into the shop.

[sumgai]

deep,

Even if you did take it back into the shop, you've modified in an unauthorized way, and they may well say "Bad guitar modder, no warranty service for you!".

You know that the problem didn't exist before your mods, so it very likely is something you did, or failed to do properly. By failure, I mean only that you weren't as careful as possible during re-assembly. Something is obviously touching where it shouldn't, and it's sensitive to motion/pressure in certain areas of the pickguard. I suggest that you don't just rip up the pickguard during the next re-string operation, you should lift it very slowly and inspect for problems as you progress toward full removal.

Either that, or you have a bad solder joint that is barely hanging on for dear life, and you may need only re-touch each solder joint with your hot iron to cure the problem. You may as well make sure that all of the remaining connections are also good. (Note: while I don't ordinarily approve of the "shotgun" method of troubleshooting, in cases like this, I figure you're already in there anyway, with a hot iron already in your hand, so why not take the extra 45 seconds to just "dot the i's and cross the t's", so to speak. Of course, I am assuming here that you can solder a connection without making a mess of things. )

HTH


sumgai