Help! Jagmaster grounding problem...again...

[Oceano]

So a little while ago I asked around here about my jagmaster making noise when I'm not touching something metal. I understand that this is a grounding issue. I was never able to fix it before but now its just getting on my nerves. I've tried to redo every single possible connection and the thing still hums. I have no idea what to do. Could it possibly be the pickups? They are the cheap duncan designed ones. I'm really frustrated. Someone please help.

 

[scottish]

Re: Help! Jagmaster grounding problem...again...

im presuming you have the bridge grounded? if so, the do you have the switch grounded? usually i dont bother grounding the switch but sometimes its necessary. another possibly is that you have a ground loop.

 

[scottish]

Re: Help! Jagmaster grounding problem...again...

wait, jagmaster has humbuckers right? almost certainly you dont have the bridge grounded or you have ground loops. if the back of your pickguard is shielded then its probably loops.

 

[Oceano]

Re: Help! Jagmaster grounding problem...again...

Yes it does have humbuckers. And the bridge is grounded. That means that the tremolo claw has a wire going to it right?

Only the control portion of the of the pickguard has any kind of shielding on it.

Its wired according to the way it was wired when I got it, but just in case, what exactly is a grounding loop?

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Help! Jagmaster grounding problem...again...

Where is the selector switch on the Jagmaster? Does it pass through the foil screening on the back of the pickguard? If not, then its chassis needs to be grounded using an insulated wire.

Ground loops are multiple paths from a given component to ground. e.g. Controls through screening foil PLUS their casings linked by a wire. Loops like this can induce hum.

 

[Oceano]

Re: Help! Jagmaster grounding problem...again...

The selector switch is not near that control area. The switch is located on the bottom horn kind of like the opposite of a Les Paul.

Oh ok so should I remove the foil from the pickguard, or put something in the way of the pots so they don't touch the foil? The guitar came wired that way and didn't have that annoying buzz before so Idk why that started after I played around with the pickups.

 

[scottish]

Re: Help! Jagmaster grounding problem...again...

if it didnt hum before you switched out the pups then chances are you did something when you put the new ones in. you may have damaged a pot when soldering on the new ground wires from the new pups.

in general, if you have foil on the back of your pickguard, then any components touching the foil do not need ground wires linking them together. The pups should be soldered to the back of the vol pot and so should the jack ground and the bridge ground.

In your case, you may want to try running a ground wire from the switch to the back of the volume pot. The best way to do it is to desolder all the grounds from the back of vol pot and then run them all there, twist together and solder and then solder the one big collection of grounds to the back of the pot.

Like i said though, it sounds like you may have damaged a pot when soldering on the new pup grounds...provided of course thats all you did. If you take some detailed pics of your wiring then it might help to post them here.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Help! Jagmaster grounding problem...again...

in general, if you have foil on the back of your pickguard, then any components touching the foil do not need ground wires linking them together.

Agreed. So, I wonder, why are Fender American Standard Stratocasters "double grounded" like this? :scratchch

 

[Oceano]

Re: Help! Jagmaster grounding problem...again...

But if they're double grounded isn't that the same as a ground loop? or am i confusing them? I didn't change the pickups just swapped the magnets. I don't even think I took them out all the way. Wouldn't a damaged pot just sound scratchy though? I didn't know they could stop grounding all together.

 

[scottish]

Re: Help! Jagmaster grounding problem...again...

if all you did was swap the magnets then the only thing i can think of that would arise in grounding problems would be that you damaged the grounding connection on the actual pickup.

thats assuming you did not desolder the pups to remove them.

 

[Oceano]

Re: Help! Jagmaster grounding problem...again...

What about the possibility of the pot being damaged? would that cause a grounding kind of hum?

 

[Sporky McGuffin]

Re: Help! Jagmaster grounding problem...again...

my jagmaster making noise when I'm not touching something metal.

Shielding issue.

When you touch something metal, your body is grounded through the guitar (which is grounded through the amp, which represents a serious electrocution risk).

Sounds like you've disconnected a connection to a shield for the control cavities, or that something you've changed has resulted in more RF noise pickup.

 

[Oceano]

Re: Help! Jagmaster grounding problem...again...

Shielding issue.

When you touch something metal, your body is grounded through the guitar (which is grounded through the amp, which represents a serious electrocution risk).

Sounds like you've disconnected a connection to a shield for the control cavities, or that something you've changed has resulted in more RF noise pickup.

Everything is connected though. I made sure of that and even redid some of the ones that didn't look so good. Does RF noise go away when you tough something metal?

 

[Oceano]

Re: Help! Jagmaster grounding problem...again...

Ok so I took a continuity meter to all the parts. The bridge is grounded now (wasn't all the way before) but the beep is not constant and the numbers are very high (in the four digits), whereas the other parts like the jack, switch and tone pot were all single digit numbers. Does this mean anything? I did also notice the wire that is grounding the bridge is kind of messed up looking due to accidentally being touched with the iron. Could this be the culprit?

 

[scottish]

Re: Help! Jagmaster grounding problem...again...

almost certainly yes. run a new wire and make sure its soldered on properly. you should get a constant connection reading on the meter.