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335 pickups rattling - how to fix?


jc1funk

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I have a new 335. It has a rattle that appears to come from the pick ups, ie if I apply pressure to the pickup cover the vibration disappears. It is an intermittent issue, but when it's bad it's bad and it affects the tone of the note/s played (usually in the bottom octave). The issue translates through the pickup to the amp, so in it's current state, I don't consider this a working guitar.

 

I've been doing a lot of research and found these two articles:

 

http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/66211-gibson-es-335-buzzing/

 

http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/guitar-amps-gizmos/15635-pickup-rattling.html

 

Can anyone else shed any more light on this and possible fixes before I go ahead and pull the pickups out during the next string change...???

 

Or should I be taking this under-warranty guitar back and asking for a refund/replacement? And that's a hard question to ask considering how much time I spent playing 335s before settling on this one...

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Guest EastEnder

Not uncommon, since the pickups are basically suspended at two points and can rattle against the rings. I've got a couple that did this and i ran a strip of foam around the underside of the cover so that it butts against the underside of the ring. Can't see the fix from above.

 

Having said that, I've never had these kind of "rattles" translate to the amp. That would concern me that something within the pickup itself is loose. Very unusual, but I suppose it could happen. I'd check the solder connections holding the cover to the pickup base at the next string change (tomorrow!). I'd even shake the pickup, plugged in, to see if anything's amiss.

 

In any event, congratulations on the new guitar. I hope it all works out.

 

EE

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Not uncommon, since the pickups are basically suspended at two points and can rattle against the rings. I've got a couple that did this and i ran a strip of foam around the underside of the cover so that it butts against the underside of the ring. Can't see the fix from above.

 

Having said that, I've never had these kind of "rattles" translate to the amp. That would concern me that something within the pickup itself is loose. Very unusual, but I suppose it could happen. I'd check the solder connections holding the cover to the pickup base at the next string change (tomorrow!). I'd even shake the pickup, plugged in, to see if anything's amiss.

 

In any event, congratulations on the new guitar. I hope it all works out.

 

EE

 

Cheers for the pointers, EastEnder. Fingers crossed it's an easy fix...

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My Byrdland does does the same thing --- though just a tiny bit.

 

I took a small piece of black wet/dry 1500 grit sandpaper, folded it over a few times and forced it between the pickup ring and the pickup. You can't see it, it fits snug and the vibrations stopped.

 

Granted, the vibrations were only heard acoustically --- not through an amp.

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  • 7 years later...
23 hours ago, Bloozman said:

My 335 rattles, but it seems to be coming from the B string around the 7th fret.. It's a high pitched squeal.. I can't fix it.. I tried raising the bridge to no avail...Anyone?

 

A fret rattle at the 7th fret is right in the main zone for a trussrod adjustment. 

You can capo the first fret, hold string down a 15th fret and see how much clearance you have under string at 7th feet

Should be thickness of a Business card 

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On 12/8/2020 at 5:05 PM, Bloozman said:

My 335 rattles, but it seems to be coming from the B string around the 7th fret.. It's a high pitched squeal.. I can't fix it.. I tried raising the bridge to no avail...Anyone?

 

So that's F#. Does it do the same when you fret that note on another string? If so it's a resonance and could be difficult to track down; might even be coming from the tuners.

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