Tele feedback like a hollow body??

[JES1680]

So I've got this parts tele. 36th Anniv humbucker in the neck. No matter what I put in the bridge position (standard Fender 3 barrel bridge) it feeds back like crazy at higher volumes or higher gain. I added a ground wire from the bridge to the tone pot, that may have helped some but still crazy uncontrollable feedback. Have tried 3 duncans and another boutique pickup (all wax potted), in there with the same results. I've never had this issue before.

Any ideas?

[RobB]

If all three replacement p/us did the same thing, it has to be something mechanical.

Are the springs holding the bridge p/u weak? Do they “ping” if you hit the pickup? They could be vibrating during high volume.

Is the bridge plate securely attached to the body? Sometimes dust/other detritus can work their way under the bridge. Fender bridge plates can warp over time, as well. I purchased a ’96 Tele that had that problem so I got a Callaham replacement. Solid improvement over the cheapo Fender bridge and it intonates now, too.

Slack the strings and tap on the bridge plate with two fingers. You should just hear a “thunk”, not metallic noises. Check the plate screws, make sure they’re snug but not “gorilla-ed” into the bridge plate.

[JES1680]

Rob,

I'm thinking it is related to the bridge. I changed the bridge pickup springs to rubber tubing thinking that may be it, but nope. Bridge is solidly mounted I've had it on and off 4 or 5 times the last few days. I'm thinking it may be warped. I should have another bridge around, I'll try that.

thanks.

[serial]

Bridge plate. Happens with Teles-I had a MIJ 72 Cusom RI that was a great guitar, save for the feedback and no pickup changes solved it. A few small dots of blue Fun-Tac did though!

[Caddie]

Put it on ebay with a Buy It Now.

[cmatthes]

If the Fun Tac solution doesn't kill it (it should), try putting some pickup foam under the bridge and/or pickup.

[JES1680]

Bridge plate. Happens with Teles-I had a MIJ 72 Cusom RI that was a great guitar, save for the feedback and no pickup changes solved it. A few small dots of blue Fun-Tac did though!

Good Idea, I'm going to sand it see where the low spots are and try this.

[serial]

No need to sand-the Fun Tac is 100% reversible.

[JES1680]

Put it on ebay with a Buy It Now.

At this point your situation seems almost more desirable.

I didn't have any tick tacky but will be getting some tomorrow.

1. Raided my wifes eye glasses kit and used a bunch of nose pads in different places. No Joy.

2. Tried foam under the pickup and under the bridge in multiple places two different types of foam. No Joy

3. Tried a different bridge which is a known flat good one. This seemed to take care of it when I did the tap test w/o barrels and strings.

Strung it up. Same issue.

going to check the flatness of the body tomorrow and get some ticky tacky but don't have high hopes as the foam didn't help much. Very frustrating, bridge is incredibly microphonic to the point that even through a clean amp at reasonable volume if I hit my compressor it unleashes the squeal!

[serial]

You have the tubing on the pickup springs?

[RobB]

Put it on ebay with a Buy It Now.

At this point your situation seems almost more desirable.

I didn't have any tick tacky but will be getting some tomorrow.

1. Raided my wifes eye glasses kit and used a bunch of nose pads in different places. No Joy.

2. Tried foam under the pickup and under the bridge in multiple places two different types of foam. No Joy

3. Tried a different bridge which is a known flat good one. This seemed to take care of it when I did the tap test w/o barrels and strings.

Strung it up. Same issue.

going to check the flatness of the body tomorrow and get some ticky tacky but don't have high hopes as the foam didn't help much. Very frustrating, bridge is incredibly microphonic to the point that even through a clean amp at reasonable volume if I hit my compressor it unleashes the squeal!

Geez, what a PITA for you! Now I’m really intrigued to see what the fix will be.

[JES1680]

You have the tubing on the pickup springs?

Nope tubing in place of springs. Tomorrow is a new day. I'm off so will spend the day trying to stop the SQUEAL....

[stonge]

Standard telecaster bridge plate? I had the same thing happening on my parts Tele when I had a Bill and Becky bridge pickup in it; microphonic whistles when my deluxe reverb went to 4 or above, and was deafening whenever I kicked in the compressor even at lower volumes (and forget about using an overdrive or distortion pedal). I could tap on the bridge plate or the pickup and it would sound like a sledgehammer hitting the speakers (singer could have used it for lead vocals if his mic crapped out mid-gig). I had to swap out that pickup for a Duncan broadcaster, but I suspect that I got the bridge plate bolted back down better when I did the swap (I also flattened the baseplate by rubbing it on the belt sander (with the sander off) just to level it out a bit). Just put a piece of sandpaper on a level surface and rub the base plate on it without leaning in real hard - that might knock down any burrs or high spots on the bottom of the plate.

That allparts joe barden bridge is much more rigid than the stock fender (more solid than anything on my car lol); at the risk of losing some of the tele sound (I think that cheap bridge plate is at least part of the charm of the tele sound - for example, I think my T-51 wasn't tele enough for me due to the better bridge making it sound better than a tele should lol) I might try dropping one of those on there. If that works, then retry some of those other pickups to see what works best.

You don't want to make it sound too good or you won't know it's a tele lol...

[burningyen]

While the feedback is happening, try pressing down on the front edge of the bridge. Does it go away? If so, then take it off the guitar, bend it oh-so-slightly down at the front edge, the idea being that the front edge will clamp to the body when you screw the bridge back on and won't vibrate like a diving board. Put everything back together and see if that helps. Replacing the bridge may not help if the body isn't flat.

[JES1680]

Ok,

so I'm thinking I need a Priest...

1. Tried different foam under the pickup. Nope

2. Sanded the bridge there is a high spot just behind the pickup that won't without some pretty good sanding go flat.

3. Flattened the front of the bridge and sanded

4. The body of the guitar has a slight dip right where the high spot in the bridge is (of course)

5. Decided what the hell and gooped the whole thing with plumbers putty to see if I was making good contact all around (I was see pic)

Still squeals like a bitch! Pushing down on the bridge has no effect now that I've got good contact everywhere, you can see marks from the body of the guitar in the putty so I know I'm getting good contact.

I'm at a loss??

Update********'

Isn't this a fun way to spend the day

Anyway I found an old Dimarzio Fast Track blade pickup and thought what the hell I've tried everything else. Guess what? No Squeal.

Any idea why any single coil I put in there does but humbucker does not?

[stonge]

try the allparts Barden bridge on there ($45 or so on Ebay) - that is a pretty thick baseplate that shouldn't resonate at all and it has a pair of screw holes on the leading edge to bolt the front lip down. Besides, it's always a good idea to keep a spare tele bridge around just in case some parts wander by lol.

[aknapp]

I'm certainly not an expert, but from what I've read, the squeal on a standard Tele Bridge comes from the gap between the plate and the body on the neck side of the plate, which the reason why the Barden bridge (and maybe others) have the two screws there to prevent the squeal. As mentioned previously, the Barden plate is a better quality steel to begin with, so the combination on my parts-o-tele has never squealed.

Could a guy whose handy with a drill press, a 1/8" drill bit, and a countersink bit do the same to a standard bridge plate? Or is there a concern about 2 extra holes?

[JES1680]

Just ordered a Barden bridge seems like that may solve my problem. As for now the Fast Trak T sounds ok, but I prefer an actual single coil there. I guess we'll see.

[RobB]

I'm certainly not an expert, but from what I've read, the squeal on a standard Tele Bridge comes from the gap between the plate and the body on the neck side of the plate, which the reason why the Barden bridge (and maybe others) have the two screws there to prevent the squeal.

Yes and no, kinda. The ever cantankerous Bill Callaham will explain all about why finely-machined, $200 replacement bridges are better than than stock Fender units. There’s a counter-argument that stamped-metal Tele bridges are part of the guitars’ signature tone. Worked fine for Don Rich, Roy Buchanan and all the rest, right?

Fact remains that guitars get used and banged around and parts can bend, twist, and sometimes fail. I didn’t install the two screws on my Callaham, because it wasn’t necessary and I didn’t want to drill into my Tele. He claims it, “adds 8% more sustain”, or some such. I dunno, maybe...he’s the expert and surely knows better than I. I DO know that the bridge added some tight, bottom end and the saddles can be intonated. Plays in tune all over the fretboard, great success!

Could a guy whose handy with a drill press, a 1/8" drill bit, and a countersink bit do the same to a standard bridge plate? Or is there a concern about 2 extra holes?

Sure, but why concern yourself with a destructive mod to an original part if it is performing properly in the first place? If the guitar has zero appreciation potential, by all means, go for it!

[JES1680]

I'm certainly not an expert, but from what I've read, the squeal on a standard Tele Bridge comes from the gap between the plate and the body on the neck side of the plate, which the reason why the Barden bridge (and maybe others) have the two screws there to prevent the squeal.

Yes and no, kinda. The ever cantankerous Bill Callaham will explain all about why finely-machined, $200 replacement bridges are better than than stock Fender units. There’s a counter-argument that stamped-metal Tele bridges are part of the guitars’ signature tone. Worked fine for Don Rich, Roy Buchanan and all the rest, right?

Fact remains that guitars get used and banged around and parts can bend, twist, and sometimes fail. I didn’t install the two screws on my Callaham, because it wasn’t necessary and I didn’t want to drill into my Tele. He claims it, “adds 8% more sustain”, or some such. I dunno, maybe...he’s the expert and surely knows better than I. I DO know that the bridge added some tight, bottom end and the saddles can be intonated. Plays in tune all over the fretboard, great success!

Could a guy whose handy with a drill press, a 1/8" drill bit, and a countersink bit do the same to a standard bridge plate? Or is there a concern about 2 extra holes?

Sure, but why concern yourself with a destructive mod to an original part if it is performing properly in the first place? If the guitar has zero appreciation potential, by all means, go for it!

Yeah I thought about drilling the bridge this is an MJT Tele that I picked up for $800.00 so there is no issue with mods, but I love the feel and the way this thing plays, also love the humbucker in the neck It's a really great guitar and I figure I'll spend a little more on it so I can have my choice of pickups.

Here's a pic of the offender.

[RobB]

That’s a rad Tele, JES. I would mod/tweak the everlovin’ SHITE outta that thing. Rob approves!

[it's me HHB]

Oh I like that

[JohnnyB]

If the Fun Tac solution doesn't kill it (it should), try putting some pickup foam under the bridge and/or pickup.

That's what I was thinking. Stuffing foam in the pickup cavities helped fix a feedback problem on my stepson's Flying Vee.

[Steve Haynie]

"The Offender!"

What a cool name for a guitar!

[JES1680]

^^ And so it shall be.... "The Offender"

[Biz Prof]

The only causes I am aware of that cause this are:

1. A warped or bowed bridge plate,

2. A loose brass baseplate, or

3. Loose (vibrating) coil wire.

Sanding/surfacing should take care of #1

Some manner of adhesive or mechsnical repair should resolve #2

Wax potting or rewinding should address #3

Seems like you've tried some of these already. Good luck.