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Gibson ES-335 Buzzing


labeldd

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Hello,

I get a buzzing sound in my ES-335 when playing certain chords/notes.

Sometimes I belive it's from the pickup vibrating into the plastic surrounding it and sometimes I think it's from the wires inside touching the vibrating top. when I put my finger inside the F-hole I can feel and move the wires and the buzzing will go away.

I tried another ES-335 in the shop, and when I put my finger in the F-hole I could not feel the wires inside. Should they be strapped up inside the guitar or something? Maybe they forgot it on mine, I don't know. I bought mine on ebay, so I can't go back with it and tell them to fix it..

 

Anyone else had this problem?

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Yes, both problems you mention are common to hollow, and semi-hollow, Gibson guitars, AND can cause to buzzing problems you describe. The permanent fix is to address both situations at the same time, and both are jobs for someone VERY experienced in working on f-hole guitars (temporary do-it-yourself quick fix at the bottom of this post).

 

You don't mention it, but I'll bet that your pickups are also setting at an angle to the string path. The problem here is caused by the fact that Gibson does not contour the bottom of the pickup mounting rings to the curve of the top of the guitar. They take stock rings that are parallel tapered (front to back) and physically bend them around the curved top with the mounting screws. This not only changes the physical dimensions of the opening in the ring, but also stresses the ring at the apex of the bend. I have seen many crack and break over time due to this bending. The other thing about the assembly with the "standard" rings is that if the pickup is not setting parallel to the string path, it kicks the unseen bottom portion of the pickup out, possibly touching the edge or the hole routed in the wood. The solution is to have a set of custom, and properly, fitted pickup rings installed, such that the top of the ring is straight and parallel to the strings, and the bottom is contoured and tapered to sit on the curved top.

 

The wiring mess you mention is caused by two things, the fact that most Gibson are "production line" guitars, and in the case of archtops and semi-hollows, the completely assembled wiring harness with electronics has to be stuffed in to the guitar through one of the pickup holes, drawn up into their respective mounting holes, and fastened from the top. If you've ever seen a fully assembled wiring harness with two pickups, four potentiometers, a switch and a jack, it resembles a bowl of spaghetti. By the time you get all this stuffed into the guitar, pushed and twisted around inside the guitar to get the components to their mounting holes, and then get everything mounted and fastened, even the cleanest, neatest, wiring harness can become twisted and knotted by the time everything is in it's place. There is just not time in the factory to do it any other way. Sometimes there is no problems, sometimes there are.

 

What I do to eliminate this situation is to completely remove the wiring harness and electronics, build a wiring "jig" (an exact duplication of the top of the guitar made from 1/4" plywood, with all the mounting holes the right size in the right spots, etc), twist and spin the electronic componentents (everything still soldered together) to get the best, neatest and most direct wiring paths, and fasten everything down just as if it were in the "real" guitar. Once you do the best you can with the factory wired harness, you have to decide if it can be better if certain wires are unsoldered and re-routed, or shortened (or lengthened), if the pots would wire up better in spun, etc. Once the wiring is all cleaned up, bundle the the wires together with zip ties taking care to keep everything suspended and fastened together such that when removed from the work jig and stuffed back into the guitar, everything stays where you want it. Care must also be taken when reassembling back into the guitar to not get things all twisted up again. One of my other "pet-peeves" when reassembling the wiring harness is that there are NO wires clearly visible through the lower f-hole.

 

Both these projects are VERY time consuming, and it would be unrealistic to expect it to be done this way at the factory. It may also be cost prohibitive to pay an qualified tech to do this for you depending on your personal situation. I did photograph a wiring harness project of this nature, and will try to post the photos when I get time to edit them. Let me know if you would like me to post the photos.

 

Now, all that said, there is a quick and easy TEMPORARY fix to both these problems. You can straighten up and isolate your pickups by removing them with rings attached and install a piece of foam to the side which will rest against the edge of the wood and straighten it up and isolate it from the vibrating top when reinstalled. You can also "adjust" the wiring harness by sticking a long thin screwdriver through the lower f-hole and carefully move the wires around (generally downward away from the vibrating top of the guitar), but by doing this you run the risk of breaking wires, solder lugs, and/or solder joints if your not very careful.

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Thank you very much for a great and thorough answer! Highly appreciated!

I was hoping it would be an easy fix as I have no experience at all working on guitars. Guess I should have bought a Les Paul afterall O:)

 

I was thinking I might fix the wires by scotch-taping them to the top and stick something thin like a piece of a pick down at each side of the pick-ups to pin them down more. I doubt it will work though. Simple solutions aren't always the answer ;)

 

If it is not too much trouble, I would be really interested to see the pictures to consider if this is something I might be able to do myself. I not, they might be useful if I ask someone else do it for me.

 

Thanx again!

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I was thinking I might fix the wires by scotch-taping them to the top and stick something thin like a piece of a pick down at each side of the pick-ups to pin them down more.

 

DO NOT tape the wires to the top of the guitar. Contact and vibration with the top is EXACTLY what your trying to avoid and eliminate. The wires should be suspended from point to point of their electronic components and not touch ANY of the wood, especially the top and back.

 

DO NOT shim your pickups out from the side of the routed holes (or plastic mounting rings) with something HARD like a pick. Have you ever heard a pick rattling around inside a flattop guitar. This again is what your trying to eliminate and avoid. You must use a vibration damping soft material such as polyethylene foam (preferred), rubber surgical tubing (second choice), or polyurethane foam (third choice).

 

The point in both cases is to isolate these things from each other so as they don't touch and cause sympathetic vibrations. Solving these problems will also allow your guitar to resonate better. I will get some photos up of the wire routing and bundling.

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  • 5 months later...

My ES137 classic does this too. The toggle switch vibrates in the middle position, and now ive got another buzz coming from something else at certain pitches too. I will have to fix these problems and may aswell take another look at the wiring whilst the harness is all taken out.

 

This is a good video series to demonstrate how to work on a semi hollow, ive used it in the past perfectly and hope it helps some of you that have maybe not done this before. Thanks to the guy who took the time on making this one.

 

 

Also I cannot reccomend the Dan Erlewine dvd's and books like 'how to make your electric guitar play great' enough. I thought my guitar was good when I got it new from the Gibson factory and boy is it better now it's had the full Erlewine & co treatment. Your missing out big time until you learn and use these setup techniques.

 

Theres 4 hours worth of Erlewine on Youku! vol 1 cd 1+2 and vol 2 cd 1+2 I really feel like I should have paid to watch this. At least I bought the Book though.

 

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTE3MzEwMjg4.html

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  • 4 years later...

Thanks for the tip about the wiring I have no intention of touching mine! The buzz does definitely seem to emanate from the bridge saddles/tail strings area though. The comment about the pickups is relevant too when I restrung it I noticed the neck pick up was actually fouling with the stings if struck hardish, I dropped it down to about 5mm below the strings with an instant improvement in clarity and tone, some local buzzing obviously removed but still whenI hit D, A, or G. And I play in these keys a lot!

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  • 2 weeks later...

That is why I love that fact that my BB King has a control plate on the back. Why Gibson does not do that for all ES's I can't understand. The BB King has no F-holes and it has to have a control plate, but come on does the tone change that much. My guitar sounds amazing.

I sure hope Gibson reads these post , save the buyers a lot of work

 

4H

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  • 2 months later...

Its one or two of the set screws in the saddle. They will work themselves loose and buzz like crazy and usally at different areas of your fretboard. My 335 did the same thing and it drove me nuts. Just tighten to stop..unless they need adjusting.

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