Mystery Pickups with no ground wire

[DayDecco]

Hello everyone,

I've just grabbed an old Samick Rangercaster 3 (SSS) that had been mistreated by the previous owner. I've posted about the pickups earlier, but couldn't identify them.

The issue now is that the pickups have only a hot wire coming out of them. Where would I solder a ground wire?

Here are some pics:



Thanks!

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Mystery Pickups with no ground wire

Is there a braid/ground with an insultated/hot wire in the middle?

 

[shadowfire90]

Re: Mystery Pickups with no ground wire

if you strip the outer portion of the blue wire is there two wires inside? I mean it's a long shot as like you said the person mistreated the guitar but just an out of the box idea.

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Mystery Pickups with no ground wire

There's no way it worked with one but not the other.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Mystery Pickups with no ground wire

You have 2 ends of the pickup coil with that sort of pickup. Which is hot or ground is interchangeable.

If there is not an obvious tiny bit of hair-thin coil wire poking out, their only use will be to weigh paper down, or fill an otherwise more empty bin.

 

[DayDecco]

Re: Mystery Pickups with no ground wire

Thanks, everybody. I'll investigate and let you know. Right now, all I get is noise when I plug the guitar. Unplugged, it's one of the most comfortable guitars I've ever played, but it's becoming more of a project than I expected.

 

[DayDecco]

Re: Mystery Pickups with no ground wire

You're right, @shadowfire90 and @idsnowdog,

Sorry about that - I had reassembled the guitar without paying too much attention to the way it was wired.

They're indeed shielded wires and are grounded on the back of the volume pot. The whole circuit is grounded under the back of the bridge (it's a hardtail). The wiring seems pretty competent, at least to untrained eyes, but I get a lot of noise and static, regardless of the pickup selected. The only thing that's not grounded is the jack - would it make that much of a difference, or am I looking at something else?

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Mystery Pickups with no ground wire

You're right, @shadowfire90 and @idsnowdog,

Sorry about that - I had reassembled the guitar without paying too much attention to the way it was wired.

They're indeed shielded wires and are grounded on the back of the volume pot. The whole circuit is grounded under the back of the bridge (it's a hardtail). The wiring seems pretty competent, at least to untrained eyes, but I get a lot of noise and static, regardless of the pickup selected. The only thing that's not grounded is the jack - would it make that much of a difference, or am I looking at something else?

What is the nature of the noise? Is it 60 cycle hum, microphonic feedback, or is it a crackling sound when you move the cable?

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: Mystery Pickups with no ground wire

Jack has to be grounded.

 

[DayDecco]

Re: Mystery Pickups with no ground wire

Now I'm embarrassed for having started this thread.

In my hurry to play the guitar I hadn't noticed that the jack wire was also shielded and I just soldered everything (ground and probably a bit of hot) to the jack's hot lug. I've redone the soldering properly and it works now.

I apologize for all the trouble and promise to check everything more carefully in the future.

I now retreat to a newly-dug hole where I shall be hiding for the remainder of the week.

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Mystery Pickups with no ground wire

Wiring is confusing so I wouldn't over think it.