Strange distortion on Jazzmaster

[Jestapali]

Ok, a weird one (at least for me) I recently got a used Jazzmaster AV65. It has a C. Novak Jazzmaster Fat pickup on the bridge and the original AV65 on the neck. Both pickups sound fine when isolated, but in the middle position there is a distortion when I play the D string (either on chord or soloing) It does not happen at all times, but it does, quite unpredictable.

Given that the sound of both pickups on their own is good, all considerations about potential distorted buzzing, etc., don't apply. Weird.

Any ideas?

[andy_tchp]

This will seem counter-intuitive, but I'd almost put money on it being the cause:

Dodgy three-way switch.

When the switch contacts lose their 'springiness', they can vibrate when in the middle position (in sympathy with the strings), enough to cause an intermittent connection/buzzing, which ends up sounding like distortion.

Does the distortion increase when you really 'dig in' to the strings?

[Jestapali]

Yes, it increases when I "dig in". Thank you for this, I'll explore the switch (it's certainly a little scratchy)

[l9gaj]

This will seem counter-intuitive, but I'd almost put money on it being the cause:

Dodgy three-way switch.

When the switch contacts lose their 'springiness', they can vibrate when in the middle position (in sympathy with the strings), enough to cause an intermittent connection/buzzing, which ends up sounding like distortion.

Does the distortion increase when you really 'dig in' to the strings?

Good call