I can't stop the hum...and its grounded?!

[Herschel Riffs]

So as the title says, I have my strat wired up as such: 2 hum( sh-2/tb-4) 1 volume and 5 way lever. everythings perfect except when I touch my bridge or any metal...the hum doesn't stop. any ideas as to why? I have the bridge grounded, tried grounding the switch (which didn't work) and now I'm out of ideas. any suggestions?

 

[925SS]

Re: I can't stop the hum...and its grounded?!

So you have 5 points of ground on the back of the vol pot, correct?
1 sh-2
2TB-4
3 Bridge/ trem claw
4 Switch
5 Output jack
Check your connections
House wiring ok?
Amp ground ok?
Any pedals?

 

[blueman335]

Re: I can't stop the hum...and its grounded?!

Ah yes. Heard that many times here. Been thru it myself too. Bottom line: If it was grounded right, it wouldn't hum. You just have to check everything until you find what's not in the ground loop. You're the only one that can do that.

 

[Herschel Riffs]

Re: I can't stop the hum...and its grounded?!

yea I'm sure everythings grounded right, and I even switched pots...maybe I should redo it one more time, including switching the trem claw?

 

[uOpt]

Re: I can't stop the hum...and its grounded?!

Does it get better if you touch the output plug while the guitar is in playing position?

Did you use shielded cable?

Did you connect the bare wire in the pickup wires? (5 connectors total)

 

[Herschel Riffs]

Re: I can't stop the hum...and its grounded?!

Blueman335 you were right, redid the sodlering and now its tamed down a bit, thanks!

 

[blueman335]

Re: I can't stop the hum...and its grounded?!

Blueman335 you were right, redid the sodlering and now its tamed down a bit, thanks!

Good work! It drives all of us crazy. You'd swear everything is right...and it still hums! But trust me, if you look long enough and closely enough, you'll find the problem.

 

[Herschel Riffs]

Re: I can't stop the hum...and its grounded?!

exactly! I did notice one thing however, after a while of playing there was more hum, go figure!. so I checked my connections and all that and all seems fine but the hum is there. its gone when I have both humbuckers on together but thats about it. I think I may need a new pot and switch, since thats all I can think of as being the culprit. thanks for all your help thus far guys, I appreciate it.

 

[925SS]

Re: I can't stop the hum...and its grounded?!

might as well get a new input jack while your at it, start with a clean slate

 

[orpheo]

Re: I can't stop the hum...and its grounded?!

@blueman even that might not be 'true'. I did a les paul, and redid and redid that sucker over and over again, for years. Eventually I got so fed up with that thing I yanked out the treble stud of the tailpiece and layed down a new earth wire. THat was the ticket to silence. The wire itself corroded so badly over the the last 35 years it just didn't want to 'ground' the guitar anymore. New wire, done. That's my biggest gripe with les pauls. Really. It's easier on tremolo's. Thats one of the reasons I love trems on les pauls. best of all worlds, hahaha

 

[blueman335]

Re: I can't stop the hum...and its grounded?!

@blueman even that might not be 'true'. I did a les paul, and redid and redid that sucker over and over again, for years. Eventually I got so fed up with that thing I yanked out the treble stud of the tailpiece and layed down a new earth wire. THat was the ticket to silence. The wire itself corroded so badly over the the last 35 years it just didn't want to 'ground' the guitar anymore. New wire, done. That's my biggest gripe with les pauls. Really. It's easier on tremolo's. Thats one of the reasons I love trems on les pauls. best of all worlds, hahaha

Well, there was still something that wasn't connected; if you've checked everything else repeatedly, the ground/tailpiece connection is next on the list. That's rarely a problem, but it does happen. I've run across it once or twice. The vast majority of the time there's a missed ground on the pots or toggle, or the jack wires reversed. If there's no hum, you replace PU's or pots or toggle, and then there's noise, it's something you did.

 

[rts99]

Re: I can't stop the hum...and its grounded?!

Do you have a 2-wire or 3-wire power cord on the amp in question? I have a non-grounded amp (2-wire) that hums like crazy if I plug the power cord in one way, but makes no noise at all if I turn the plug over. Don't ask me why. The 2-wire power cord isn't supposed to have a ground connection between the house wiring and the equipment ground reference, but apparently it does. Food for thought.

Good Luck

 

[ErikH]

Re: I can't stop the hum...and its grounded?!

The thing about electronics is there's no "maybe's". It's all absolutes; it either works or it doesn't.

 

[Herschel Riffs]

Re: I can't stop the hum...and its grounded?!

so i switched my electronics...could it be a pickup thats causing this? ever since i got my JB(bought second hand) I've had this hum....

 

[ErikH]

I can't stop the hum...and its grounded?!

Only way to find out is to put another humbucker in there.

 

[Herschel Riffs]

Re: I can't stop the hum...and its grounded?!

well time to find a random bucker out here...thanks for the input guys i really appreciate it

 

[ErikH]

I can't stop the hum...and its grounded?!

Before you do, take a multimeter and check all of your connections. Make sure that you have everything right. It may look right, but a meter will tell you whether the continuity is there or not.

 

[Herschel Riffs]

Re: I can't stop the hum...and its grounded?!

I'll have to get my hands on one somehow. I noticed when my pot is anywhere from 0-2 on volume it stops the hum as is should when i touch any metal on it but once its blasted halfway or past it just buzzes all out lol ahhhh my luck is great

 

[Coma]

Re: I can't stop the hum...and its grounded?!

I'll have to get my hands on one somehow. I noticed when my pot is anywhere from 0-2 on volume it stops the hum as is should when i touch any metal on it but once its blasted halfway or past it just buzzes all out lol ahhhh my luck is great

I'm in the same boat atm. It really sucks. :-(

 

[chadd]

Re: I can't stop the hum...and its grounded?!

@blueman even that might not be 'true'. I did a les paul, and redid and redid that sucker over and over again, for years. Eventually I got so fed up with that thing I yanked out the treble stud of the tailpiece and layed down a new earth wire. THat was the ticket to silence. The wire itself corroded so badly over the the last 35 years it just didn't want to 'ground' the guitar anymore. New wire, done. That's my biggest gripe with les pauls. Really. It's easier on tremolo's. Thats one of the reasons I love trems on les pauls. best of all worlds, hahaha

I've been having some noise issues with one of my LPs, the only thing I haven't done yet is to check to check that wire. Whenever I get some spare time, that is my next course of action.