Simple wiring question......

Dr. Jimmy

Dr. Jimmy

New member
If I'm wiring up some Strat pickups (in my case Hot Noiseless p/u's in one guitar, 3 Cool Rails in another) and the pickguard has the foil in the area where the controls are, do I still need to solder a wire connecting all three pots together, or are they grounded through the foil?
 
Re: Simple wiring question......

The chassis of each of the pots is grounded through the foil.
 
Re: Simple wiring question......

Well, I'm getting some buzz through it, goes away when I touch any metal on the guitar. Wondering if I should get some copper tape and get busy lining the cavity/pickguard, as well as redo the wiring and tighten it up a little.....
 
Re: Simple wiring question......

Dr. Jimmy said:
Well, I'm getting some buzz through it, goes away when I touch any metal on the guitar. Wondering if I should get some copper tape and get busy lining the cavity/pickguard, as well as redo the wiring and tighten it up a little.....
Click to expand...
That sounds like your bridge ground isn't well connected or connected at all.
First I'd hit all the ground solder joints and then I'd worry about copper taping everything... which could only help in the end, but that doesn't sound like RF noise, that sounds like a bad ground connection.

MM
 
Re: Simple wiring question......

Check to see if there is a star washer between the pot and the pickguard foil. What happens sometimes is that it eats thru the foil and tears a circle in the foil which breaks the ground connection. If that is the case you can replace the foil or solder a ground wire to the case of the pots.
 
Re: Simple wiring question......

Last night I dug into it and touched up solder joints, cleaned up some wiring, added some copper shielding tape to the pickguard (which only had the small foil patch near the control section), added a wire from the switch housing to ground and replaced the bridge pickup with a Cool Rails. No luck, still getting the buzz mainly on the neck and middle pickups (the Hot Noiseless ones) just slightly on the bridge. I am stumped. When I'm playing in a band situation it's not noticable at all, it just bugs me that it's there to begin with.....
 
Simple wiring question

Simple wiring question

Well if you insist on beeing anal about it, the myth implies that it is a chicken egg, but whatever.
 
Re: Simple wiring question......

too much foil?
shorts to nakey wires and such
unconnected pieces of foil?
creates antenna dish effect focusing RF frequency at the pickups
pieces of foil not connected to ground?
same as above
bad ground?
well cold solder joint/not good connection
 
Re: Simple wiring question......

Dr. Jimmy said:
Last night I dug into it and touched up solder joints, cleaned up some wiring, added some copper shielding tape to the pickguard (which only had the small foil patch near the control section), added a wire from the switch housing to ground and replaced the bridge pickup with a Cool Rails. No luck, still getting the buzz mainly on the neck and middle pickups (the Hot Noiseless ones) just slightly on the bridge. I am stumped. When I'm playing in a band situation it's not noticeable at all, it just bugs me that it's there to begin with.....
Click to expand...
Did you check the output jack connections and wires?

Could it be the outlet your amp is plugged in to?

It may be that you don't hear it when playing with the band because the wiring is better or not as much of an issue at home.

MM
 
Re: Simple wiring question......

Yeah, I redid the jack wiring with some nice shielded cable. I've tried the amp(s) in various outlets, it happens at my house, at rehearsal (someone elses house) as well as at different clubs........ Maybe I'm being too critical?
 
Re: Simple wiring question......

The foil connects the pot's mass but of course at some point that whole shebang needs to be grounded. So you need one ground wire on one of the pots or somewhere else in the foil's reach.

(ground means to the output plug ground, not the string "ground")
 
Re: Simple wiring question......

Dr. Jimmy said:
Yeah, I redid the jack wiring with some nice shielded cable. I've tried the amp(s) in various outlets, it happens at my house, at rehearsal (someone elses house) as well as at different clubs........ Maybe I'm being too critical?
Click to expand...

did you ground one end of the shielded cable?
 
Re: Simple wiring question......

uOpt said:
The foil connects the pot's mass but of course at some point that whole shebang needs to be grounded. So you need one ground wire on one of the pots or somewhere else in the foil's reach.

(ground means to the output plug ground, not the string "ground")
Click to expand...

Yes, I have a wire (the shield of a shielded cable) going from the back of the vol. pot to the output jack.
 
Re: Simple wiring question......

ehdwuld said:
did you ground one end of the shielded cable?
Click to expand...

Both ends, one end at the output jack, the other to the back of the volume pot (which also has the ground wires from the pickups, the trem claw and from the frame of the 5-way switch).
 
Re: Simple wiring question......

Uh. Of course you need to connect the shield of the cable both to the output plug and to the mass in the guitar.
 
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