Blah, serious buzz in new pickup set - any non standard ideas?

[eci]

Guitar:

Ibanez Jem with 5 way, 1 tone, 1 vol

Pickups:

N: Jazz
M: STK-S7
B: Perpetual burn

Used SD's wiring diagram, and wired the 5 way according to how the Dimarzio's were wired, but of course using SD's color codes: Black hot, white/red coil split for the humbuckers, and white hot, red not used for the STK-S7.

With a multimeter, I checked from the following all the way to the output jack sleeve:

Tone pot case
Vol pot case
All 3 pickup grounds, both bare and green wire ( black wire on STK-S7 )
Trem claw
5 way

All direct shorts ( good ground ) Pots are brand new SD YJM speed pots. I also checked the pickup hots and other "non ground" connections to ground - no shorts.

The amp is DEAD QUIET with any other guitar, and with the Jem previously with the Dimarzios.

What the heck could I be missing? This is a BUZZ, not a hum.

 

[crafty]

Re: Blah, serious buzz in new pickup set - any non standard ideas?

Does the buzz go away when you touch the bridge?

 

[Mincer]

Re: Blah, serious buzz in new pickup set - any non standard ideas?

Maybe the wires reversed on the jack?

 

[eci]

Re: Blah, serious buzz in new pickup set - any non standard ideas?

Maybe the wires reversed on the jack?

Checked - sleeve to volume pot case, tip to middle lug.

 

[eci]

Re: Blah, serious buzz in new pickup set - any non standard ideas?

Does the buzz go away when you touch the bridge?

It lessens but not 100% - like 50?

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Blah, serious buzz in new pickup set - any non standard ideas?

Well you can still have the grounds work and then let in noise. If your cavity/pickguard aren't shielded, the wires and stuff will pick up buzz. Also if you're not running dedicated ground wires to each component including the switch, it will let in more buzz. I always do my do diligence with grounding and shielding before I assume something is broken.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Blah, serious buzz in new pickup set - any non standard ideas?

It lessens but not 100% - like 50?

Is your bridge grounded? Sometimes I forget to hook up that ground wire after doing work in the guitar.

 

[eci]

Re: Blah, serious buzz in new pickup set - any non standard ideas?

Is your bridge grounded? Sometimes I forget to hook up that ground wire after doing work in the guitar.

Yes... good joint at trem claw plate. Multimeter from tuning peg all the way to output jack is 0.8 ohms.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Blah, serious buzz in new pickup set - any non standard ideas?

I always ground my bridge straight to the output jack sleeve connection tab, never to the back of a pot. It's technically the same thing anyway but also one less thing to wire to the back of the pots if I change them.

I would reflow all the solder connections to make sure everything seated right. There should not be a buzz regardless. If there are any ground wires that are braided or ground connections hanging free in the cavity, tape them off so they don't touch anything they shouldn't. Same with the red/white wires of the humbuckers and the red from the STK.

I have two Screamin' Demons wired to a 3-way blade switch and a 250K volume pot with the only shielding being what is on the back of the pickguard. It's quiet as a mouse.

 

[greekdude]

Re: Blah, serious buzz in new pickup set - any non standard ideas?

is the buzz/hum constant across :
- pickups selection
- tone control(s)
- vol control
?

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Blah, serious buzz in new pickup set - any non standard ideas?

If you temporarily connect the output from the switch directly to the output jack (bypassing vol and tone pots) do you still get the same buzz?
Is the buzz consistent in each switch position?

 

[crafty]

Re: Blah, serious buzz in new pickup set - any non standard ideas?

It lessens but not 100% - like 50?

Disconnect the neck pickup, touch the bridge, and see if that helps. If not, reconnect the pickup and disconnect the middle or bridge pickup, and repeat until the buzz goes away. If the buzz goes away when any pickup is disconnected and you are touching the bridge, you will know there's a defective ground in the pickup that is disconnected.

If the noise does not go away when any are disconnected, check all of the solder joints for shorts to ground.