New Seymour Duncan owner, need advice...

[ncook]

I just installed a new SD Custom in the bridge position and an APH-1(b) in the neck. (I know, the APH-1(b) is a bridge pup, I didn't know!). It all seems good except I get alot of noise when I take my hands off of the strings. All the guts are new, I'm including pics and a PDF of my schematics. Any input on a possible cure is greatly appreciated.
Schematics

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: New Seymour Duncan owner, need advice...

There's no problem... when you touch the string, it grounds the guitar, thus negating most of the noise. There's no getting passed it with passive pickups.

 

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: New Seymour Duncan owner, need advice...

Did you ground it properly??

 

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: New Seymour Duncan owner, need advice...

Dam, didnt see JB from hells post...ahaha, ya, touching the strings helps cut hum on most guitars i've played.

 

[ncook]

Re: New Seymour Duncan owner, need advice...

Did you ground it properly??

I don't know if I grounded properly, thats why I included the pictures and schematics.
I know most guitars do this, it just seems louder than most.

 

[big_black]

Re: New Seymour Duncan owner, need advice...

You deffinatley have a grounding problem. Your description is a sure sign (happened many times to me). If properly grounded, there should be no difference when you are touching the strings, or if you are not. You have alot of wire coming together on the back of that pot. I'd look there first.

 

[flank]

Re: New Seymour Duncan owner, need advice...

its a grounding problem for sure.......and you can fix it, your just going to have to scope it out yourself......you should be able to find where the loose connection is

 

[ncook]

Re: New Seymour Duncan owner, need advice...

You deffinatley have a grounding problem. Your description is a sure sign (happened many times to me). If properly grounded, there should be no difference when you are touching the strings, or if you are not. You have alot of wire coming together on the back of that pot. I'd look there first.

You think it may be a loose wire? I just installed all of them but there could be one I guess. I these a problem with bringing all the wires to one pot as I did? (check out the picture)

 

[theodie]

Re: New Seymour Duncan owner, need advice...

There should be a wire that is soldered to your trem claw that runs into the control cavity to get grounded to one of the pots. Thats how the strings should get grounded on that guitar. Take the cavity cover off and look for that wire.

 

[ncook]

Re: New Seymour Duncan owner, need advice...

There should be a wire that is soldered to your trem claw that runs into the control cavity to get grounded to one of the pots. Thats how the strings should get grounded on that guitar. Take the cavity cover off and look for that wire.

All of the guts of this guitar are new. I installed everything today, including a trem claw ground. This is my first full install so keep that in mind as I may have overlooked something obvious to a seasoned guitar tech. Do the pictures and schematics look right?

 

[theodie]

Re: New Seymour Duncan owner, need advice...

I cant really tell from the pictures but, It does sound like maybe you dont have the trem claw grounded to the pot or its a cold solder joint. Also, If I am seeing it correctly, you need a ground wire grounding the 2 pots together. Also, I like to ground the switch also. I like to solder a wire to the pot and run a stripped section of it under the switch where the switch meets the body if that makes sense. Alot of times I will put a connector onto that wire so, I can put the screw for the switch through the connector and then thred it into the switch and tighten it down. I forget what the connector is called but, It has a little ring on the end.

 

[ncook]

Re: New Seymour Duncan owner, need advice...

I cant really tell from the pictures but, It does sound like maybe you dont have the trem claw grounded to the pot or its a cold solder joint. Also, If I am seeing it correctly, you need a ground wire grounding the 2 pots together. Also, I like to ground the switch also. I like to solder a wire to the pot and run a stripped section of it under the switch where the switch meets the body if that makes sense. Alot of times I will put a connector onto that wire so, I can put the screw for the switch through the connector and then thred it into the switch and tighten it down. I forget what the connector is called but, It has a little ring on the end.

OK, so check my solder points on the trem claw and the tone pot, add a ground between the tone and volume pots and add a ground to the switch. Now on the switch, I could just solder directly to the metal body and have it covered right?

 

[ncook]

Re: New Seymour Duncan owner, need advice...

I cant really tell from the pictures but, It does sound like maybe you dont have the trem claw grounded to the pot or its a cold solder joint. Also, If I am seeing it correctly, you need a ground wire grounding the 2 pots together. Also, I like to ground the switch also. I like to solder a wire to the pot and run a stripped section of it under the switch where the switch meets the body if that makes sense. Alot of times I will put a connector onto that wire so, I can put the screw for the switch through the connector and then thred it into the switch and tighten it down. I forget what the connector is called but, It has a little ring on the end.

Did you look at the schematic? (theres a link above the first pic, its just a small .pdf), does everything else seem good?

 

[kjrocks]

Re: New Seymour Duncan owner, need advice...

I'd start with that knot of wires soldered to that pot. They appear to be twisted together then soldered.I'd try them in smaller groups first.And dont overlook your cable sometimes its as simple as that.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: New Seymour Duncan owner, need advice...

There's no problem... when you touch the string, it grounds the guitar, thus negating most of the noise. There's no getting passed it with passive pickups.

+1

The guitar is functioning fine... this is a normal symptom of passive pickups in noisy environments (near monitors, fans, flourescent lights, dimmers, transformers.....) your Dinky is working fine (unless it´s a Fusion, but the offset inlays on maple and schaller lead me to believe it´s a Dinky reverse, either way definitely an ontario Jackson judging by the control cavity....).

On USA Jacksons all of the cavities incl the Pup routs are covered with shielding paint to help a bit, but this is quite normal.....

And HELLO, Guys, good morning: He´s getting noise when he LIFTS his hand off the strings, the strings (wire to the trem claw) HAVE to be grounded or nothing would change at all

I´ll bet that it also gets minutely better when you touch the pots or the jack?? If so, yes, your guitar is functioning properly and the only way to improve it is a better shielding job (or active pickups)

...If properly grounded, there should be no difference when you are touching the strings, or if you are not. .....

What you´re saying would be the same as saying the string ground is superfluous.... it isn´t, otherwise no engineer in the world would have put it there.... nobody would risk an electric shock (from miswired wall outlets) for no reason

 

[ncook]

Re: New Seymour Duncan owner, need advice...

+1

The guitar is functioning fine... this is a normal symptom of passive pickups in noisy environments (near monitors, fans, flourescent lights, dimmers, transformers.....) your Dinky is working fine (unless it´s a Fusion, but the offset inlays on maple and schaller lead me to believe it´s a Dinky reverse, either way definitely an ontario Jackson judging by the control cavity....).

On USA Jacksons all of the cavities incl the Pup routs are covered with shielding paint to help a bit, but this is quite normal.....

And HELLO, Guys, good morning: He´s getting noise when he LIFTS his hand off the strings, the strings (wire to the trem claw) HAVE to be grounded or nothing would change at all

I´ll bet that it also gets minutely better when you touch the pots or the jack?? If so, yes, your guitar is functioning properly and the only way to improve it is a better shielding job (or active pickups)



What you´re saying would be the same as saying the string ground is superfluous.... it isn´t, otherwise no engineer in the world would have put it there.... nobody would risk an electric shock (from miswired wall outlets) for no reason

Is there a home remedy for shielding? I have a PRS also and when I take my hands off the strings I can hear a sound but its nowher near as loud. I assume it has a shielded cavity?

 

[APB_4]

Re: New Seymour Duncan owner, need advice...

What you´re saying would be the same as saying the string ground is superfluous.... it isn´t, otherwise no engineer in the world would have put it there.... nobody would risk an electric shock (from miswired wall outlets) for no reason

I know you're supposed to use trip switches and stuff but would it make sense to solder a fuse on the string ground wire to avoid electric shocks?
Sorry about the highjack.

 

[ncook]

Re: New Seymour Duncan owner, need advice...

Heres 2 schematics, the top is from DiMarzio and the bottom is from Seymour Duncan. I wired mine like the Seymour Duncan one. Notice the differences, the DiMarzio calls for the CAP to be in a diifferent place and for the line with the CAP to be grounded. Why doesnt Seymour DUncan call for that?

 

[theodie]

Re: New Seymour Duncan owner, need advice...

The cap is no big deal actually. Even though they are wired differently, the result will still be the same. Its just a different method of getting the job done.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: New Seymour Duncan owner, need advice...

Is there a home remedy for shielding? I have a PRS also and when I take my hands off the strings I can hear a sound but its nowher near as loud. I assume it has a shielded cavity?

#
Shielding paaint or copper foil, both available from Stew mac... alternatively, there´s also silver bearing paint that ´s used fopr repairing car window defrosters whick also works wonderfully... Just remember to run a wire from the pots otherwise it´s for naught

If you do it PERFECTLY (almost impossible, even for Pros), aou can remove the string ground completely... wyour luckj on this will be better with Humbucker than with singles...

Your PRS is almost certainly factory shelded

I know you're supposed to use trip switches and stuff but would it make sense to solder a fuse on the string ground wire to avoid electric shocks?
Sorry about the highjack.

NO, that fuse wouldn´t really help, but I picked up a trick from Dan Erlewine that Has saved my life before and that I to this day regard as "standard" on all passive axes...

I wire a 220k ohm resistor and a 500V/ >0.001uF cap parallel to each other, and splice that into the ground... the string ground still functions fine, but the setup only lets a nice low 40 volts throuhg in case the house is miswired ... pots, jackplates, jacks and such can still zap you, though...