Pickup Humming Problem

[LesPaulFetish]

Hey guys,

Just installed a Dimarzio Tone Zone in the bridge position of my guitar and it hums louder than any single coil I have under high gain. The noise is especially bad if I point the guitar towards an electronic device i.e. my amp, but not quite as bad if I point it towards a wall or something (but still noticeable). I wired the pickup as per the Dimarzio instructions i.e. soldered the green and bare wires together and grounded them, taped off the bare wire so it doesn't touch anything, used red as the hot connection and soldered white to black and taped it off. The neck pickup on my guitar is completely silent as was my previous bridge pickup. What are the chances the pickup is defective? It hums way more than it should.

I measured the DC resistance of both coils at 17.7K which is pretty close to the spec on their website. The baseplate is connected to the ground wire (tested for continuity). My next step is to just solder it directly to my output jack and see what happens, any other ideas? I just want to make sure the pickup is defective (or not). I can try uploading a video soon to demonstrate them hum and compare it to the neck pickup (which is a Dimarzio Steve Morse).

Thanks!

 

[dotsdad]

Re: Pickup Humming Problem

A pic might help. Maybe a bad solder joint ?

 

[LesPaulFetish]

Re: Pickup Humming Problem

A pic might help. Maybe a bad solder joint ?

It may have been, I since reinstalled it and it's fine I think i didn't heat the solder onto the volume pot very well last time. I think it's good now! There's a connection between the bridge plate and the back of the volume (with a multimeter) and it's much quieter.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Pickup Humming Problem

The only time I've had a problem with a pickup humming, it ABSOLUTELY drove me nuts...

...I can listen to "It's A Small World..." only so many times, and that was the only tune it knew!!!

Bill

(Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

 

[LesPaulFetish]

Re: Pickup Humming Problem

Turns out it was something internal probably shorted or loose, if I wiggled the pickup the noise would come back. Wiggle it again, it would disappear. I've since sent it back since it was driving me crazy, old pickup is back and it works! Tone is great but not worth it when the things buzzing more than a single coil half the time lol.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Pickup Humming Problem

Turns out it was something internal probably shorted or loose, if I wiggled the pickup the noise would come back. Wiggle it again, it would disappear. I've since sent it back since it was driving me crazy, old pickup is back and it works! Tone is great but not worth it when the things buzzing more than a single coil half the time lol.

Sounds like an easy fix for that PU. Just take off the tape carefully.

 

[LesPaulFetish]

Re: Pickup Humming Problem

Sounds like an easy fix for that PU. Just take off the tape carefully.

I did, couldn't see the connections they weren't visible. I tried taking off the baseplate but it was stuck on there pretty hard so just sent it back.