A bit of help with noise after installing new pickups

[Xash]

Hi all. I've decided to do something exciting a while back and got myself a pair of SD 59s, which sound great, by the way. With my soldering skills, I've managed to replace the stock Epi Les Paul standard pro humbuckers with 59s but I've faced a bit of a problem. Whenever I don't touch the strings, or any other metal parts, I get quite a loud hum and a bit of a pop whenever I come contact with the metals parts. It's loud enough to be annoying when playing, not super loud but clearly audible whenever i lose contact with the metal parts. Reading around, it seems like a grounding issue or an issue wirh dodgy soldering. My other guitar doesn't have the same issue with the same amp and cable, so it must be a problem with my installation. I've resoldered the whole thing much much neater and I thought the problem has gone away but the next day when I tried it without headphones, I've got the same hum and pop.

Furthermore, a few days later when I tried playing again, I've found that when swiching to bridge pickup, it's really quiet and almost lacks distortion even on lead channel, while neck pickup is totally fine. There's also was no hum or pop sound while being in neck position. I've also noticed some other weird things. When I had the hum and pop on both pickups, turning the guitar away from me (so that the strings would face my body), would reduce the hum. Opening the cavity and moving my finger around inside, while not touching anything, would intensify the hum. I'd imagine it has something to do with the interference my body produces? Even touching the wooden part of the body would also intersify the hum.

I thought before trying anything, I'd ask around here for some advise.

In regards of the hum disappearing on one of the pickups, it feels like either a connection has come undone somewhere. (but they are pretty solid) Or something is touching something.

I've got a question about the braided wires that I've grounded to the botton of the volume pots. Should they be isolated from each other, as in should they be touch each other while going through the bridge cavity into the pots area? Or does it not matter? I've looked around but there's not a lot information available on these older style pickup connectors (mostly 4 conductor information, rather than 2 that I have). I've realised later that the cavities were painted with some sort of metal shielding, so once more, should the top of the pots be touching that, or should I isolate them?

I don't mind messing around with the guitar until I get it right, so I'm open to all suggestions. I can also provide some pictures, if that helps.

Thanks!

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: A bit of help with noise after installing new pickups

Yes, very clear pics showing all of the wiring and connections would be of great help.

At least one of your problems is a grounding issue, but the way you describe the bridge pup tells me you've got another problem as well.
Do you have the black lead wires of both pups going to their respective vol pots, and to the same respective lugs? You can use this diagram, but since your pups are single conductor, just ignore the red and white wires, and the green and plain wires represent your braided shield.
http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=2h_2v_2t_3w

To answer a couple of your questions...
No it doesn't matter if the braided parts touch each other, that's all connected to common ground;
It's good to have the pot casing touch the conductive paint but not necessary if you solder ground wires to each pot. The outer pot case should not be isolated from the others or any other ground.

Do you have the bridge grounded to the back of a pot? This will ground the bridge, tailpiece, strings, and tuners. Also make sure the switch is grounded as in the diagram.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: A bit of help with noise after installing new pickups

A couple other things...

Make sure that the lugs on the pots do NOT touch the shielding paint or any other wires.

If you are playing in an area that has fluorescent lights, you can get some of the interference/hum that you are describing (especially when you rotate the guitar around).
And, sometimes you can create static electricity from rubbing your hand/fingers on the pickguard. If this is extensive, you can cure it by lining the bottom of your pickguard with aluminum foil (a spray adhesive works good for this) and soldering a wire to any grounded part in the control cavity, going under the pickup ring so it doesn't show.

 

[Xash]

Re: A bit of help with noise after installing new pickups

Yes, very clear pics showing all of the wiring and connections would be of great help.

At least one of your problems is a grounding issue, but the way you describe the bridge pup tells me you've got another problem as well.
Do you have the black lead wires of both pups going to their respective vol pots, and to the same respective lugs? You can use this diagram, but since your pups are single conductor, just ignore the red and white wires, and the green and plain wires represent your braided shield.
http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=2h_2v_2t_3w

To answer a couple of your questions...
No it doesn't matter if the braided parts touch each other, that's all connected to common ground;
It's good to have the pot casing touch the conductive paint but not necessary if you solder ground wires to each pot. The outer pot case should not be isolated from the others or any other ground.

Do you have the bridge grounded to the back of a pot? This will ground the bridge, tailpiece, strings, and tuners. Also make sure the switch is grounded as in the diagram.

A couple other things...

Make sure that the lugs on the pots do NOT touch the shielding paint or any other wires.

If you are playing in an area that has fluorescent lights, you can get some of the interference/hum that you are describing (especially when you rotate the guitar around).
And, sometimes you can create static electricity from rubbing your hand/fingers on the pickguard. If this is extensive, you can cure it by lining the bottom of your pickguard with aluminum foil (a spray adhesive works good for this) and soldering a wire to any grounded part in the control cavity, going under the pickup ring so it doesn't show.

Thanks for the reply.

I've figured the low volume pickup problem. Turns out that the braid on one of them was not soldered well enough to the bottom of the volume pot. I've pulled all the wires with a bit of strength and it just came out. I've soldered it back in, a little more thorough this time.

Here's the picture of my wiring, although this is before I've resoldered the braids. The top one was the problematic one.

About the lugs, does this include the circle parts? It might be touching the shielding paint/foil from the other side, where the knobs are.

I think to me the popping is more annoying than the hum.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: A bit of help with noise after installing new pickups

It's OK if the outer case ("the circle part") of the pots touches the foil...they are already grounding points. It's also ok if the shafts that attach to the knobs touch the foil/paint. Just make sure no lugs or bare wires touch the foil.

You also might want to try foiling your guard like I suggested earlier to get rid of the popping.

Oh, and practice up a bit on your soldering technique. You don't need gobs of solder, but you do need an iron that's at least 40-50 watts so you can heat up the braid and pot quickly and cause the solder to flow like water.