What’s happened to my Tele?

HAL9000

I’ve got a 2005 US Std Tele which for whatever reason has, in the last week or so, suddenly started to sound overly bright. Also, the high strings have started to cut through more than the others - they were well balanced before. I’m guessing that the issue is tone pot or capacitor - anything else I need to be looking at? Thanks.

Philtre

Pedals changed?

Funkfingers

What tone control does your Tele have? TBX, No-Load, Greasebucket or the straightforward treble roll off type?

Tone control pots place a load on the pickups. If the connection carrying the signal to the tone pot is broken, the loading effect ceases.

HAL9000

Philtre said:

Pedals changed?

As far as I’m aware nothing has changed. Same amp, cables, and pedals. Strat still sounds ok, so I'm guessing that the issue must be with the Tele. 

ICBM

Is the tone control still working?

Does the problem affect both pickups?

If just one pickup, does turning the tone control down when that pickup only is selected kill the volume?

HAL9000

I noticed this about a fortnight ago. However, due to a death in the family this hasn’t been the most pressing issue on my mind. Just had another strum and the problem persists. However, I noticed that the high E is noticeably closer to the pickups than the other strings. Tone control seems to be doing its job okay. Won’t get a chance tonight but will have a go at string and pickup heights tomorrow - my feeling is that this is going to sort it.

robgilmo

Check the saddle height adjusters, could be loose in the saddle.

Voxman

Sounds like pickup height has possibly changed.

Funkfingers

robgilmo said:

Check the saddle height adjusters, could be loose in the saddle.

I agree with this. It is far more likely that a saddle grub screw has worked its way downwards than that a pickup height adjustment screw has worked its way closer to the strings against a compressed metal spring or a rubber tubing section.

HAL9000 said:

I’ve got a 2005 US Std Tele ... overly bright. 

Stock pickup? (The one without a metal plate on the underside.) They all do that, sir.

ICBM

Funkfingers said:

Stock pickup? (The one without a metal plate on the underside.) They all do that, sir.

This. Although if it's suddenly got worse it's not just that.

What they also often do is develop cold solder joints at the eyelets, which if it's at the ground end produces a thin, bright and weak sound which the tone control will roll off almost completely like a second volume... hence the previous questions .

Mark1960

Have you used a different brand of strings recently?

axisus

Tried adjusting the arial?

57Deluxe

have you started taking any new medication? Checked your BP recently??

mbe

Turn it off and on again.

HAL9000

ICBM said:

Funkfingers said:

Stock pickup? (The one without a metal plate on the underside.) They all do that, sir.

This. Although if it's suddenly got worse it's not just that.

What they also often do is develop cold solder joints at the eyelets, which if it's at the ground end produces a thin, bright and weak sound which the tone control will roll off almost completely like a second volume... hence the previous questions .

Stock pickups indeed. I suspect it's actually a combination of  a) saddle has dropped which is making the high strings more prominent, and b) I've been pretty much exclusively using my Strat and a P90 equipped guitar for a few weeks now - the Tele is probably bright in comparison. Just realised I need to get a 0.050" Allen key to adjust the saddle. Then see where we are.

ICBM

HAL9000 said:

Stock pickups indeed. I suspect it's actually a combination of  a) saddle has dropped which is making the high strings more prominent, and b) I've been pretty much exclusively using my Strat and a P90 equipped guitar for a few weeks now - the Tele is probably bright in comparison. Just realised I need to get a 0.050" Allen key to adjust the saddle. Then see where we are.

I suspect you just need to get a decent bridge pickup .

(The neck one is actually fine.)

HAL9000

robgilmo said:

Check the saddle height adjusters, could be loose in the saddle.

Just found a suitable Allen key and lifted the high E - as already stated it was noticeably lower than the others. I’ve also dropped the pickup a smidge on the treble side. Everything seems a lot better now. Thanks.

ICBM said:

I suspect you just need to get a decent bridge pickup .

(The neck one is actually fine.)

@icbm i suspect you’re right about a decent bridge pickup. I’d have hoped that on a US guitar it would be better than it actually is, but it’s actually surprisingly generic sounding. I’ve often suspected that there was a period when Fender made pickups designed to make everything sound like a guitar rather than like a Tele, Strat, or whatever. Anyway, the OilCitys in my MIM Strat are far more articulate and organic sounding so could easily be tempted to change the Tele’s pickups at some point.

ICBM

HAL9000 said:

@icbm i suspect you’re right about a decent bridge pickup. I’d have hoped that on a US guitar it would be better than it actually is, but it’s actually surprisingly generic sounding. I’ve often suspected that there was a period when Fender made pickups designed to make everything sound like a guitar rather than like a Tele, Strat, or whatever. Anyway, the OilCitys in my MIM Strat are far more articulate and organic sounding so could easily be tempted to change the Tele’s pickups at some point.

It's specifically that pickup - it has a plastic bobbin and no baseplate, and it just sounds thin and gutless. Horrible.

A lot of people think the USA Standard *bridge* doesn't sound like a 'proper' vintage-style Tele bridge with three saddles, but it's not the problem - it's the pickup. I had a 90s US Std Tele, and when I put a Duncan Antiquity in it it sounded fantastic and as much like a vintage Tele as you could ever need.

I did put the Antiquity neck in too, but that made less of a difference - the Fender neck pickup is actually OK - but if cost isn't an issue you might as well do it.

Also, if the guitar has some patent-pending tone circuit (it will, but I can't remember which version in 2005) get rid of it and fit a standard 250K Log/.047uF tone control... it just sounds better.

kt66

HAL9000 said:

I’ve got a 2005 US Std Tele which for whatever reason has, in the last week or so, suddenly started to sound overly bright. Also, the high strings have started to cut through more than the others - they were well balanced before. I’m guessing that the issue is tone pot or capacitor - anything else I need to be looking at? Thanks.

your ears, seriously, could it be? 

Funkfingers

ICBM said:
It's specifically that pickup - it has a plastic bobbin and no baseplate, and it just sounds thin and gutless. Horrible.

On the Noughties Am Std Telecaster that I owned, the pickup had vulcanised fibreboard plates (and no metal plate).

ICBM said:

A lot of people think the USA Standard *bridge* doesn't sound like a 'proper' vintage-style Tele bridge with three saddles, but it's not the problem - it's the pickup. 

Back in the day, my theory was that Fender was attempting to make the Am Std sound like a vintage piece by increasing the treble response of the pickup to compensate for the machined steel bridge and compressed powder saddles.

When I tried the pickup in a Telecaster copy with an all brass bridge, it still sounded shrieky and horrid.

Funkfingers

This morning, in the process of diagnosing a weak signal problem on my Fender AVRI '52 Telecaster, I discovered that the cause was the 4-way selector switch. 

Quick change to a three-way selector and everything is back as it should be.