Noisy Whole Lotta Humbuckers?

[Rexfordbridge]

I recently had my tech install a set of WLH’s in my Les Paul. We also swapped out the cob bots for pots and caps. The guitar is noisy. The tech tells me he checked all the wiring and it’s wired properly and grounded yet when I touch any metal pieces on the guitar it gets quieter. He says he thinks it’s the pickups. While I don’t have another guitar with SD pickups I do have a PRS and the diffference is night and day with idle noise (the PRS being much quieter).

So, is this idle buzzing noise from the pickups or something else?

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Noisy Whole Lotta Humbuckers?

Sounds like either the bridge isn’t grounded or maybe he used the wrong color codes on the pickups. Does it sound right while playing? I would check for a missing ground connection if it sounds right while playing.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Noisy Whole Lotta Humbuckers?

When the tech "checked all the wiring", he missed something. Like beau said, he missed a ground or wired it incorrectly. If done right, there should be no noise at all.

Take it back to him and tell him to do it right this time.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Noisy Whole Lotta Humbuckers?

Actually, if you could take a few good quality pics showing all the wiring, every connection, we could probably point out to you what he missed or did wrong. Then you could either fix it yourself or you could take it back and tell him specifically what to correct. If he can see that you are armed with a little knowledge he will be less likely to brush you off or take advantage of you in the future.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Noisy Whole Lotta Humbuckers?

Also, have you tried the guitar in another building? A great wiring job on the guitar can make all sorts of noise if the wiring job in the building is not very good.

 

[Gransen]

Re: Noisy Whole Lotta Humbuckers?

Also, have you tried the guitar in another building? A great wiring job on the guitar can make all sorts of noise if the wiring job in the building is not very good.

Seriously...??? You just sent me back to 3rd semester at vocational school, because I remember that being taught to me regarding sensitive electronic devices. But the instructor (back in 1993) said that this is becoming less and less of an issue BACK THEN: (1) a better regulated power source...meaning the stuff coming in from the power lines, and (2) better power supplies in the devices (converting household AC to usable DC for electronics) that do a better job of dealing with noise and line spikes and such.

Knowing that our power grid is maxed out, and that manufacturing standards can often time take a nose dive, is this actually still a factor...??? "Pickups picking up on stray electromagnetic fields from behind the walls due to improper shielding of the building's wiring." That's the ONLY thing that I can think of.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Noisy Whole Lotta Humbuckers?

^ Poor wiring is well known. Houses have shoddy wiring all the time....especially in cheaply made apartments.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Noisy Whole Lotta Humbuckers?

Seriously...??? You just sent me back to 3rd semester at vocational school, because I remember that being taught to me regarding sensitive electronic devices. But the instructor (back in 1993) said that this is becoming less and less of an issue BACK THEN: (1) a better regulated power source...meaning the stuff coming in from the power lines, and (2) better power supplies in the devices (converting household AC to usable DC for electronics) that do a better job of dealing with noise and line spikes and such.

Knowing that our power grid is maxed out, and that manufacturing standards can often time take a nose dive, is this actually still a factor...??? "Pickups picking up on stray electromagnetic fields from behind the walls due to improper shielding of the building's wiring." That's the ONLY thing that I can think of.

Yes, it's still an issue. Usually the result of something causing line noise like fluorescent lighting or a refrigerator compressor being on the same circuit. Based on the OP's description of the noise stopping when touching something metal, I'd put my money on a bad ground connection.

 

[Gransen]

Re: Noisy Whole Lotta Humbuckers?

Yes, it's still an issue. Usually the result of something causing line noise like fluorescent lighting or a refrigerator compressor being on the same circuit. Based on the OP's description of the noise stopping when touching something metal, I'd put my money on a bad ground connection.

Good to know. Sometimes there's fixes for that kind of stuff, sometimes not so much.

Also good to know a way to troubleshoot a bad ground on a guitar. When you say "bad ground connection," do you mean, like "insufficient due to poor soldering." I don't see how it could be shorting on a coil wire and acting as a jumper to ground, thus no sound. And an open circuit means no sound too. I'm running the circuit concept through my head, and honestly struggling connecting "bad ground" to "noise that gets cancelled when metal is touched." And yeah, I get the concept that now it's actually grounded through our skin on down to "earth ground," thus the circuit is complete. But why the noise...??? I'm over here thinking "bad ground" means "no sound."

 

[greekdude]

Re: Noisy Whole Lotta Humbuckers?

I recently had my tech install a set of WLH’s in my Les Paul. We also swapped out the cob bots for pots and caps. The guitar is noisy. The tech tells me he checked all the wiring and it’s wired properly and grounded yet when I touch any metal pieces on the guitar it gets quieter. He says he thinks it’s the pickups. While I don’t have another guitar with SD pickups I do have a PRS and the diffference is night and day with idle noise (the PRS being much quieter).

So, is this idle buzzing noise from the pickups or something else?

any metal parts including strings right?

 

[Mincer]

Re: Noisy Whole Lotta Humbuckers?

Sadly, it is still an issue. But to make sure, try the guitar somewhere else (a friend's house, or a store).

 

[Silver]

Re: Noisy Whole Lotta Humbuckers?

But if the PRS is quiet, why wouldn't the Les Paul be in the same building?

 

[Darg1911]

Re: Noisy Whole Lotta Humbuckers?

Assuming it wasn't buzzy before the swap, what did the WLH's replace?

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Noisy Whole Lotta Humbuckers?

But if the PRS is quiet, why wouldn't the Les Paul be in the same building?

Because the LP has a wiring issue...at least a faulty ground to the bridge (or no ground to the bridge).

It is not the pickups,
It is not the wiring in the building,
It is not the fluorescent lighting,
It is not a refrigerator compressor,
It is probably not because it's in an apartment vs a home...if the apartment is less than 70 years old, if anything the electrical codes for an apartment are more rigid than a private home.
It IS the wiring in the guitar.

 

[Gransen]

Re: Noisy Whole Lotta Humbuckers?

Because the LP has a wiring issue...at least a faulty ground to the bridge (or no ground to the bridge).

I was wondering how a bad ground connection would cause "buzzing" instead of "zero sound output." The part in parenthesis has me looking at things different now! Them pickups are still grounded to the amp, so they're hot. And now the strings need to be grounded, or else the pickups will think less of them, and think more of everything else that they also love!

Totally forgot about ground to output, and what that means to a pickup & amp...

 

[Dahla]

Re: Noisy Whole Lotta Humbuckers?

If you have a multimeter, checking grounding is pretty easy:

«First switch your multi-meter to the Continuity setting. Touch the probes to a guitar string and the ground section of the output jack. If you hear a clear beep then your ground is good. If not then it’s time to check all of your wiring, making sure that all solder-joints are nice and solid.»

https://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/the-tone-garage/how-a-multi-meter-can-help-your-guitar


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dahla]

Re: Noisy Whole Lotta Humbuckers?

The continuity symbol looks like a diode symbol with propagation waves around it. Like sound coming from a speaker.

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[Guitar Rod]

Re: Noisy Whole Lotta Humbuckers?

If you have a multimeter, checking grounding is pretty easy:

«First switch your multi-meter to the Continuity setting. Touch the probes to a guitar string and the ground section of the output jack. If you hear a clear beep then your ground is good. If not then it’s time to check all of your wiring, making sure that all solder-joints are nice and solid.»

https://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/the-tone-garage/how-a-multi-meter-can-help-your-guitar

Thanks for this post. I'm not the OP, but it helped me coincidentally with noisy Whole Lotta Humbuckers. Checked everything before, solder joints, the ground wire at the bridge (or so I thought). So I did what you recommended. Got a beep from the jack to the switch, to the volume and tone pots, to the pickups and pickup adjustment screws, but nothing to the bridge or strings. So I pull the tailpiece grommet and made dang sure the wire was wedged between it and the body. Put her back together and tested from the jack to the strings. BEEP! :banana: Plugged it in and dead silence. So nice...

Thanks again! :beerchug: