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Thread: Built In Pickup Buzzing

  1. #1
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    Question Built In Pickup Buzzing

    A couple of weeks ago my Fender FM-52E SB started buzzing - in the middle of an orchestra performance no less! I should probably note, I don't usually play this mandolin with the mandolin orchestra. My main mandolin was out of commission with a cracked saddle at the time. The Fender was my starter mandolin, and my current reasons for keeping it are 1) the pickup is useful for playing at church - the A/V guys can make sure I'm heard over the piano and other instruments, and 2) I've developed an interest in lutherie and it's my guinea pig.

    Back to my buzzing problem, it was initially on the A, and a little on the E string. I checked the usual suspects and now the buzzing has moved to the G and D strings. It can be any fret above the second, but not all the time; it gets worse above the 7th fret, and if the playing angle of my fingers gets sloppy (anything less than perfectly parallel to the frets). They don't buzz when I play open strings. My prime suspect is the pickup. I've tried to test it by holding the pickup and playing the strings, but since it doesn't buzz on open strings, it's fairly impossible to tell one way or the other.
    What can I do to solve this? Would a scrap of felt, fabric, or leather along the bottom of the pickup do any good or would it interfere with the way the pickup works? It sits on 2 internal braces, and is held in place by the pick guard.

    Here's a picture. I'm talking about the part just below the neck. For some reason the audio jack isn't integrated into the end pin, so I plugged a cable in to show where it is, in case that's somehow relevant.
    Click image for larger version. 

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    Sarah

  2. #2
    Registered User Tavy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Built In Pickup Buzzing

    Sounds like fret buzzing die to seasonal changes - so I would check the truss rod, and then the bridge height. Failing that make sure the pickup isn't adjusted too close to the strings or the effect of the magnet will be to drag on the strings.

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  4. #3
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    Default Re: Built In Pickup Buzzing

    What Tavy said, I would suspect the truss rod is too tight, and/or strings are too low. If the pickup is too high it will pull the strings sharp, but I don't think it would buzz. The pickup can buzz, but it would buzz all the time whether you are playing or not.
    THE WORLD IS A BETTER PLACE JUST FOR YOUR SMILE!

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  6. #4

    Default Re: Built In Pickup Buzzing

    Really easier with three hands, so borrow one so you can pluck and fret while poking at suspect areas. Can be fret noise, which only requires two hands to identify, but also the pickguard to pickup contact has opportunity. Tuner and tailpiece parts also can resonate, and there are possibles with the pots being loose, as well as the jack. And yes, it is possible to make a pickup assembly with a loose cover too.

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  8. #5
    Registered User Rick Jones's Avatar
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    Default Re: Built In Pickup Buzzing

    Sometimes the little compression springs on the pickup height adjustment screws can buzz against the screws. On my guitars I have replaced those little springs with a short length of surgical tube. It compresses just like a spring, but it makes no noise at all.
    All my life I wanted to be somebody, now I realize I should have been more specific.

  9. #6
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    Default Re: Built In Pickup Buzzing

    Thanks for the suggestions. If there is a truss rod, there is no access to it. After the first round of checking and adjusting, I had to raise the bridge quite a bit because the strings were suddenly hitting the higher frets when I tried to intonate at the 12th fret. I also removed my clip on tuner and the tailpiece cover, which helped a tiny bit, and tightened every screw I could find. I also put some leather scraps between the pickguard and mandolin body, as the pickguard has caused buzzing in the past, and one of the pickguard screws has a felt washer, so I made felt washers for the other screws as well. The pickup can't really be moved as the screws holding it in place go through the pick guard, the pickup itself and then into the mandolin body.

    After taking closer look at the frets today, it is possible some are loose. The fretboard itself is also in bad shape, and one fret that I thought had popped out just looked that way because the fretboard is chipped next to it. I tried hammering the frets back into place, but I'm either being too gentle or they just aren't moving or staying. After stringing it back up, the buzzing seemed worse, and it looked like the bridge was lower than I had set it. I ran out of time, but I'll try raising it again tomorrow and pay more attention to whether it stays in place after being adjusted.

  10. #7
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    Default Re: Built In Pickup Buzzing

    Hopefully your top is not sinking, as you said the action was lower than you remember setting it. Also look thru the ff holes with a dental mirror and see if a wire is touching the top. That will buzz. If it is take the jack loose and turn it a few times to twist the wire and it will keep it away from the top. I always do this to all the jacks I put in.
    THE WORLD IS A BETTER PLACE JUST FOR YOUR SMILE!

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  12. #8
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    Default Re: Built In Pickup Buzzing

    Well, life happened, but I finally got back to tinkering with the Fender tonight. So far the saddle seems to be staying at the height I set, and the strings themselves also seem to be staying. The action is now ridiculously high, and still hitting some of the frets, and the buzz has now progressed to being louder, and more of a metal rattle, and I can produce it on the open D string. The wires didn't look like they were touching the top, but I fiddled with them a bit anyway.

    At this point, I think I've gone as far as I can with my skills, and what I'm comfortable with trying, so I'll be contacting a local luthier in the near future. Thanks for all the suggestions!
    Sarah
    Mandolin: playing 8 strings as fast as I can.
    Piano: 88 keys - all the important notes.
    Music: it's what I play.

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