noise question

sccanj

New member
i just installed three hums in my strat, they sound great but theres little noise in the output even with the clean chanel, is it normal or is it an amp problem, cables problems or what?
 
Re: noise question

By noise, I assume you mean hiss, or buzz. Describing the noise a bit more in depth will help to identify the issue. Was there buzzing before you installed the new pickups? If not, and everything else is the same, you can probably be sure that it's something wrong with the pickups or the wiring. Something to check is if the noise changes at all depending on if your hands are touching the strings or not.
So if you can toss out a bit more information about the situation, it'll help a bunch. (i.e. type of pups, wiring schematic, amp type, any effects, etc.)
 
Re: noise question

Since the problem is global I doubt that it is related to the pickups themselves. One bad pickup can happen, three in one guitar from a single install is extremely rare.

The most common cause of noise is poor sheilding/grounding but there are other causes including faulty switches and pots. Sometimes pots and switches will get noisey and hum if they get over heated, old or worn. The problem with noisey pots and switches is that they often still work properly and meter within spec.

What you may need to do is wire a pickup directly to the output jack and see if the noise goes away. If it does, add a component at a time until the noise returns and then replace that component.

I often check all the ground points and if the noise persists I replace the components. Inline plastic switches hit the trash can first, switchcraft switches can stay. Next the pots get replaced and that usually fixs things up.

Good luck, noisey guitars can be a pain to troubleshoot unless you have a second guitar to play and the patients to work through the guitars guts.
 
Re: noise question

Noise can come from you guitar, the instrument cable or from the amp itself. you can turn the amp on and let it warm without plugging any thing to it. If you get noise from the amp itself, you know it is not your guitar. I f the amp does not give out any noise, turn the volume of the amp way down and plug in the instrument cable, then make sure you do not touch the tip of the 1/4' jack and turn the volume up. If there is noise, you know it is from the cable. However, some amps may have input receptacles grounded when the jack is not plugged in, so you may have to make sure the receptacle is grounded properly when the jack is plugged in also. If there is still no unwanted noise, turn down the volume, plug in your guitar and then turn the volume back up again. If there is noise, you can be sure it is from your guitar and you have to do your diagnostics within the guitar. I have a feeling either the bridge on your guitar is not grounded or you may have a noisy amp which you've never noticed before. Good luck.
 
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