Re: Pickup Static
I had the same problem. I bought, what was supposed to be replacement pickguards for a couple of Squier Telecasters (giant pickguard - Tele Deluxe style). But the cost seemed really cheap ($8.95 each!) for a pickguard that's roughly 16-18" x 12". I bought them from my local shop - they were supposed to be ordered from Squier. Sure enough, they didn't fit properly. Maybe 2 of the holes would line up once the pickups were lined up with the strings.
Anyhow, I was able to produce static noise just by rubbing the pickguard - no contact to the strings or anything else. Definitely not a loose connection, really is static. The original pickguards don't do that. Cheap materials.
GuitarDoc mentioned grounding the pickguard, but that wasn't enough for me. Technically, mine is already (or should be) grounded through a couple of sources: foil sticker above control cavity with the pots making contact, and pickup mounting screws touch the pickguard then the baseplate of the pickups, which should be grounded. But I also tried adding foil between the bridge and pickguard.
I ended up running a strip of alluminum foil where my pinky tends to rub the pickguard when strumming, and taped it down. I already had some hockey tape striping going on on another pickguard
The foil touches the bridge base plate and that's enough to get rid of the static.
I'm picking up a custom made one in a couple of days. Let's hope that works out.
