My TB-11 Custom Custom Trembucker "hums" alone - (no newbie)

F

Franco

New member
Dear all,

I have a guitar with 1 HB + 1 single coil sized humbucker + 1 single coil sized humbucker.

Each pickup is connected to a 3 position on/on/on switch to have parallel/coil/series wiring possibilities based on Duncan diagram.

Then, there´s the master rotary switch which gives the classic strat pickup combinations (actually only 4).

I have noticed my bridge TB-11 "hums" even when played alone in all its 3 positions on the DPDT.
Otherwise the TB-11 plays perfectly. The Ohm reading is correct when it is in each of its 3 positions and sounds make sense tonewise.

Of course, If I combine the TB-11 with any other pickup (middle or neck), the combination result sounds "in-phase", but there is "hum" added to the sound, even if the other pickup is totally hum-free.

Yesterday I have decided to open the TB-11. Carefully disassembled. Saw nothing damaged. Even gave a small solder touch to the internal shielded cable in it´s 3 points. Everything looked clean.
Tried to flip or rotate the magnet. Nothing improved in the "hum" issue.
Then, placed the magnet in the factory correct position.

I should add the middle and neck pickups are totally silent (except in their single coil position of the 3DPDT switch) !

What in the would could this be ??

Thanks for helping !
 
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Re: My TB-11 Custom Custom Trembucker "hums" alone - (no newbie)

Following, I've got a pickup with a similar problem.

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Re: My TB-11 Custom Custom Trembucker "hums" alone - (no newbie)

Make sure you have ground wires soldered to everything. Switches, pots, bridge.
 
Re: My TB-11 Custom Custom Trembucker "hums" alone - (no newbie)

#1 Check if the bare wire is connected to the pickup and to the ground in the electronic circut
#2 Check if the proper wire from the coils is soldered to the ground (without cold joints)
#3 next time try to solder everything using flux (I prefer the "no clean") and make sure all joints are shiny
#4 check if there are no ground loops, all the ground wires should meet in one point, best would be the output jack, but for the sake of convenience you may solder all ground wires to the pot nearest the jack and from the pot to jack

Just my 2 cents, I hope it will help somehow!
 
Re: My TB-11 Custom Custom Trembucker "hums" alone - (no newbie)

^All great advice. I'd say if you check those and it still hums, post some clear pics and maybe we can collectively sort this out for you.
 
Re: My TB-11 Custom Custom Trembucker "hums" alone - (no newbie)

I had a similar situation a few months back. I followed all the prescribed advise, including several soldering re-do's, and still had no luck. I happened to have an extra pickup of the same model, so I decided to drop it in. Wired it exactly as the previous one. The humming was gone!

If I had to guess, I'd say there's some faulty wiring within the pickup itself. I'm just curious how often this occurs, since it's probably impossible for QC to identify before the pickup leaves the factory.

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Re: My TB-11 Custom Custom Trembucker "hums" alone - (no newbie)

Just a crazy thought, is it possible that your wiring in the TB-11 position somehow brake the connection of the bridge and strings ground wire to the common ground? You can easily check that, just by touching the strings. When you touch the strings and the hum stops or drops significantly that would be it.
 
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