Help with Tribute Legacy

[Pw1971]

I have a Tibute Legacy. It is a Guitar Center/Musicians Friend special run. I bought it new about 2 years ago (2016) at Guitar Center. Overall it’s a pretty sweet guitar. Looks great. Feels great. I found info on them when I bought it but now I can’t find anything on them on the web. From what i remember reading they seem to be just a little below actual Tribute Legacy quality.
Here’s the issue. The pickups. I can’t remember exactly what the difference is between them and the actual tribute Legacy pickups is/are...BUT...I get static out of the guitar when I touch ANY metal on the guitar and when I run my fingers up the strings. It’s driving me nuts. My son has a Squier affinity strat and his guitar does not do this so it’s not the amp or the cord. I’ve also had one tech look at it and he could not replicate the problem.
A few things I’ve read said it might be the electric in my house.
Any suggestions/feedback would be appreciated. I’m willing to sink a little money into the guitar but I’m not wealthy. Would new/different pick ups work?

[john o]

Howdy, the crackling could be related to inadequate shielding of the pickups/controls cavity beneath the pickguard. I had this same problem on a tribute legacy. Here is a potential solution: (some recommend using copper tape rather than aluminum tape)

http://guitarsbyleo.com/FORUM/viewtopic ... ohm#p34282

[DanDoulogos]

Sounds like a ground fault issue to me.

If your wiring wasn't grounded in the guitar, the guitar would be noisy when you're not touching the strings, but get a lot quieter when you did touch them (as the ambient signal would drain to ground through your body (by way of the strings) to ground).

I'd buy or borrow a ground fault indicator and see what's going on in your outlets. it's a great tool to have in your toolbox even if you seldom use it.

[Pw1971]

Thanks to both of you for the replies. A few things:

I’ve had techs look at it and they said grounding in the guitar looked fine. I asked them about shielding and they said they couldn’t replicate the problem so they didn’t think that had anything to do with it.

If it IS the electric in my house...why doesn’t my son’s Squier do it and what is it about the G&L that would make it do it? Is it something about the pick ups? Would different pick ups solve it? Or what about installing grounded outlets in my house? (GCFI? I think it is).
I know the pick ups in this guitar are made in Indonesia to G&L specs. So these aren’t the same pick ups necessarily that are going in to other Tribute Legacies.

[FZTNT]

Was this issue present when you bought the guitar, or did it develop after some time? If it was there from the beginning you should have taken it back. If it developed later then it's probably in the electronics some where. Open op the controls plate and start wiggling things around and see if you can replicate the issue and perhaps locate something loose. I know that sounds pretty basic but it's a good place to start, you never know.

Tom

[Pw1971]

I don’t really remember to be honest. I think it was there from the get go. But didn’t notice it until later and thought “now that’s peculiar.” I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal to fix and by the time I actually realized it was going to be a pain it was kind of too late to return it. As it is now I’m just more curious than anything. I’ve learned to live with it as best I can. And I’ve got my eye on another G&L Tribute anyway. This hasn’t soured my opinion of the brand. Also to be honest I’m not that good of a player so I’m not compromising anything but my sanity.