Taylor ES1.3 white noise when not touching strings

[PeteyPower16]

I have a Taylor 321ce with ES1.3. The system has a body sensor pickup and a magnetic pickup under the neck.

When I play this guitar at church, I notice a white noise sound. It is not a buzz, and not distorted/RF noise. If I touch the sleeve of the instrument cable with my hand, or if I touch the strings with my hand, the white noise is reduced to nearly silent. (I can reproduce the same sort of effect at home using my Roland amplifier, but it is much more subtle and hardly noticeable.)

Is this normal? Does this suggest a grounding issue/ground loop with my guitar: with either the bridge ground, or with either of the two pickups? Could it be a shielding issue with my guitar? A grounding issue with the church’s amplification system? Or is this expected when using a single coil pickup? (I expected some white noise, but not one that I could control by touching the strings and creating a ground.)

The ES1.3 system is designed with a ground fuse that is intact (I replaced the fuse with a paper clip). The metal rings at the end of each string touch a metal plate under the bridge to create an electrical connection, and this plate is electrically connected to the sleeve of the output jack. I tested this: multimeter readings of about 10 ohms from the strings to the sleeve contact of a connected 1/4” cable. (I use nanoweb coated strings, so I only get 10 ohms on the steel B and e strings—I get infinite resistance on the wound strings unless I scrape the coating off gently on the wound phosphor-bronze strings—after which I get 10 ohms.)

Is this normal? I would greatly appreciate the opinions of anyone with experience of this specific electronic system, including how it is supposed to work.

[Bob Womack]

Your internal fuse could be burned out. Taylor sells them in their online store. Give them a call and ask if that sounds like the fuse is burned. They may be able to walk you through checking that possibility. Their customer service is first-rate.

Bob

[PeteyPower16]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

Your internal fuse could be burned out. Taylor sells them in their online store. Give them a call and ask if that sounds like the fuse is burned. They may be able to walk you through checking that possibility. Their customer service is first-rate.

Bob

Thanks for thinking of that. I’ve replaced the fuse with a conductive staple because the original fuse is no longer made. I also tested continuity from the strings to the sleeve of my cable, so I am confident it is not that.

I’d be grateful if you have any other ideas!

[YamahaGuy]

I'd give a TRS cable a try.

[Turp]

I have the same issue with the 9v ES1.3 version in a 512ce 12fret. I also replaced with a conductive bridge instead of the fuse. I use a TRS cable which is slightly better and provides a much stronger signal, but it is still noisy with the grounding issue. I have since abandoned that guitar type for gigging although otherwise the tone is great.

As far as I know, the option is for Taylor to repair or upgrade to ES2, or replace the Taylor PU with a MISI which uses a LR Baggs Element. FWIW, the ES2 guitar I played sounded good.

I don’t want to come off as anti-Taylor because I really like them,”but” I’m personally hesitant to go though the expense to ship a guitar and alter it with another Taylor proprietary pickup design that they will abandon later.

[jonfields45]

You’ve eliminated the fuse leaving cabling as the next likely culprit. I doubt your external cable is the problem. What I do suspect is one of the Molex connections inside has oxidized or you have a “tin whisker” starting to short out a hum canceling coil. I would carefully take each internal connection apart, inspect any visible solder joints for dendrites, and give each side a short shot of contact cleaner. The Home Depot bulk electrical cleaner will be fine in this application. Use a cotton cloth to capture over spray. If you find a whisker gently brush it off with a fingernail.

Report back and I’ll think of something less likely if the problem persists.

[fazool]

Originally Posted by PeteyPower16

I’ve replaced the fuse with a conductive staple because the original fuse is no longer made. ...

1) I think you can still get the fuse from Taylor because I've gotten some - their newer systems use similar fuses (or did for a long time)

2) replacing a fuse with a dummy i s a bad idea as it defeats the whole purpose

3) if you do replace an electrical conductor you might consider using an actual wire instead of a staple.

[PeteyPower16]

Originally Posted by fazool

1) I think you can still get the fuse from Taylor because I've gotten some - their newer systems use similar fuses (or did for a long time)



2) replacing a fuse with a dummy i s a bad idea as it defeats the whole purpose



3) if you do replace an electrical conductor you might consider using an actual wire instead of a staple.

Thanks for pointing this out. I have eliminated the fuse as the issue, so just trying to eliminate the remaining amount of white noise now.

Also, at the risk of this post pivoting to a fuse discussion, I read online that many people believe the fuse is not a necessary component (slightly over-designed by Taylor). This is no different than the setup on almost all electric guitars. For reference, I got this information and also the paperclip idea here: https://calicoguitarworks.com/taylor...ystem-repairs/

Still, this question remains, now that I am sure that the string ground is functioning as designed: (1) why do I still get white noise, and (2) why does that noise go away when I touch the strings or the metal end of my Tip-Sleeve cable?

[leew3]

I had a similar issue in my 2006 GS-6 that is a 3v ES1 system. It started as you describe, then there was no output after a while. I had the preamp board replaced and it's back in business. No promises that this is the issue for you as YMMV. I've had good success with Taylor support and local authorized repair centers.