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Has anyone else out there noticed the earthing problems which exist on the new American Deluxe Fender N3 pickups?

snorkie635

By snorkie635,
in Bass Guitars

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snorkie635 Grand Master

snorkie635

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Just recentlybought one of these and it sounds/plays well except when you fail to touch the strings - this seems to remove the earth connection and results in a really annoying high end fizzing. Took it back to the dealer and all of the basses on their wall had exactly the same problem. Do Fender test these things? Anyone any ideas how to remove this kind of problem - I'm going to try to add shielding, but on a new bass!

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Acebassmusic Mentor

Acebassmusic

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Yip, I had the same problem (mine was second hand). Lots of earth hiss and fizz until I shielded everything - battery compartment electrics routing and pick-up recesses. I joined all of them together by soldering short lengths of wire from one to the other and then finally to earth. Used slug tape from B&Q :D Waaay better now.

I think Fender should be highly embarrased about sending out basses that cost in the region of £1k+ with this type of issue. There are a lot of budget basses that dont have this problem. Right.....just got to go and find a ladder so I can climb down off my soapbox....

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snorkie635 Grand Master

snorkie635

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[quote name='Acebassmusic' timestamp='1334089732' post='1610865']
Yip, I had the same problem (mine was second hand). Lots of earth hiss and fizz until I shielded everything - battery compartment electrics routing and pick-up recesses. I joined all of them together by soldering short lengths of wire from one to the other and then finally to earth. Used slug tape from B&Q :D Waaay better now.

I think Fender should be highly embarrased about sending out basses that cost in the region of £1k+ with this type of issue. There are a lot of budget basses that dont have this problem. Right.....just got to go and find a ladder so I can climb down off my soapbox....
[/quote]

Thanks for this my friend. Just shows that I'm not alone. I'll give it a go with what you suggest. This is the first time I've had any bass (budget or otherwise) with this problem - it did put a downer on my purchase as I had saved hard to buy this model.

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Panamonte Enthusiast

Panamonte

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[quote name='gsgbass' timestamp='1334505413' post='1616940']
I recently purchased a Deluxe Precision with no grounding problems.
[/quote]

No issues with mine either, but this is evidently a fairly common problem and there's really no excuse for it. I know I'd have been mightily p***ed off if my bass had turned up with buzzing/humming as an unexpected feature.



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markstuk Experienced

markstuk

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And what was the dealers reaction? I'm puzzled that somehow it's now down to you to fix the problem... ? Or is this something else I don't appreciate about having Fenders? :)

[quote name='snorkie635' timestamp='1334084088' post='1610759']
Just recentlybought one of these and it sounds/plays well except when you fail to touch the strings - this seems to remove the earth connection and results in a really annoying high end fizzing. Took it back to the dealer and all of the basses on their wall had exactly the same problem. Do Fender test these things? Anyone any ideas how to remove this kind of problem - I'm going to try to add shielding, but on a new bass!
[/quote]

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darwin Contributor

darwin

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Thanks for the heads up. I've been having the same problem with a USA deluxe jazz, its especially bad when near my laptop - I assume from the wifi ?
I ended up buying a boss noise gate to mute when I'm not playing but will get the cavities shielded and see if that helps...

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Ed_S Experienced

Ed_S

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Yeah, my USA Deluxe P (or at very least its tragic preamp) had shielding issues which I'd not really noticed in setup and testing but came thundering to light in the recording studio thanks to a fluorescent strip light in the booth. I recently ripped out the preamp and replaced it with a Glockenklang 2-band and it seems ok now, but to be fair I've not subjected it to any serious interference to test it yet. I've seen it written that the cavity shielding on the deluxe bodies is painted on and then lacquered over, so that screw that seems to be going into nothing more exciting than the wood is actually your link into the cavity shielding.. dunno how true that is, but it would stand to reason.

If it still has issues when I test it properly, I might get the body refinished and conventionally shielded because the quality of the finish is total dross for a £1400 bass, but the neck is great and I've paid too much for it already so might as well go the whole distance given its potential 2nd hand value.

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Alanbass Rising Star

Alanbass

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I had exactly the same problem. The Fender Deluxe is unfortunately not shielded so I had to shield the control cavity. Having done that i discovered that most of the inteerference was coming from the bridge pickup so I then shieded behind both pickups. The problem was pretty well rectified. Why on earth fender don't have shielding as standard on their top of the line bassses is totally beyond me.

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bremen Mentor

bremen

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[quote name='Alanbass' timestamp='1334529510' post='1617385']
I had exactly the same problem. The Why on earth fender don't have shielding as standard on their top of the line bassses is totally beyond me.
[/quote]

Because they don't give a cattle truck. They know that if it says "fender" on the headstock in big letters and "made in USA" in smaller ones we'll feel privileged to be allowed to pay whatever they ask.

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snorkie635 Grand Master

snorkie635

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[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1334511739' post='1617073']
And what was the dealers reaction? I'm puzzled that somehow it's now down to you to fix the problem... ? Or is this something else I don't appreciate about having Fenders? :)
[/quote]
The dealer is being very helpful and has now shipped the bass back to Fender UK so that they can check it out. From the responses, it seems I am very much not alone here.

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