Stupid tech... still have grounding issue! OMGBBQWTF?! Anyone help me with wiring?

[Boy_Narf]

ok so i attempted to replace my 5way switch by myslef, and was unsuccessful. I had everything right except i was getting a terrible ground humming noise even after everything was grounded. So i wussed out after re soldering everything 5 times and took it to a tech. He did a complete rewire job... it looks beautiful however, it still has the ground buzzing noise (I HAD IT RIGHT IN THE FIRST PLACE) i took it back and they told me that is normal with my single humbuckers, but i was never like that with the original switch. Ok so when i touch the tuning pegs, or the strings the buzzing goes away in the majority of the switch positions (if i touch the screws or switch it self it gets louder). So i am just wondering if this means it is truly a grounding issue or not. (i have checked over everything to ensure there is no looping, and to ensure that everything is properly grounded) I HAVE NO IDEA plz help anyone

 

[FAC]

Re: Stupid tech... still have grounding issue! OMGBBQWTF?! Anyone help me with wiring

Is the grounding wire that comes from the bridge attached?

 

[Boy_Narf]

Re: Stupid tech... still have grounding issue! OMGBBQWTF?! Anyone help me with wiring

roger that that was the 1st thing that i checked...

is there any chance that one of my pots is burned out??? and not providing an adequate ground?

 

[alkeys]

Re: Stupid tech... still have grounding issue! OMGBBQWTF?! Anyone help me with wiring

Also please make sure and try various amps and cables. I know it sounds stupid but you don't know how many times I've made the bonehead mistake of thinking it was my instrument that was at fault when really it was something else- like overhead lights, crappy earth ground on the house, my amp was acting up etc....

 

[Boy_Narf]

Re: Stupid tech... still have grounding issue! OMGBBQWTF?! Anyone help me with wiring

no i tried an amp at the store... high end mesa... and i tried my 2 amps at home... and all with brand new PW cabling... other guitars also sound fine on this rig... its just this one

 

[FAC]

Re: Stupid tech... still have grounding issue! OMGBBQWTF?! Anyone help me with wiring

roger that that was the 1st thing that i checked...

is there any chance that one of my pots is burned out??? and not providing an adequate ground?

It sounds like you probably already did this, but just in case...is it possible that the grounding wire to the bridge is no longer attached to the bridge?

What happens if you touch a piece of wire to the bridge and to your ground?

 

[alex1fly]

Re: Stupid tech... still have grounding issue! OMGBBQWTF?! Anyone help me with wiring

I almost had a conniption when I plugged in with a speaker cable instead of a guitar cable and got awful buzzing a few days after I'd declared my Les Paul "finished." Careful!

 

[Boy_Narf]

Re: Stupid tech... still have grounding issue! OMGBBQWTF?! Anyone help me with wiring

ok like i said i already tried that ground... i even took a piece of wire put one end to the input jack plate, and then touched everything checking for ground. Basically the only way to get the noise to stop is to touch the tuning pegs, or the strings... i know this defiantly has grounding issues any more advice?

and no, am not using a speaker cable... i am using planet waves circuit breaker cables which are all brand new... and i have tried 3 different ones of those, and one really cheap cable (no idea what brand)

 

[alex1fly]

Re: Stupid tech... still have grounding issue! OMGBBQWTF?! Anyone help me with wiring

It sounds like you may have some bad grounding joints. I know you've checked everything but I've had a similar problem a lot, like its grounded but not very well, and it usually cleared up when I went back and re-soldered the ground joints, making sure to get a lot of wire under the solder. I've fried some pots and they acted like on/off switches when that happened. If your pots work fine, you resolder the ground joints and its still there, take it back to the tech.

 

[Boy_Narf]

Re: Stupid tech... still have grounding issue! OMGBBQWTF?! Anyone help me with wiring

well there is no way that i am going to do it on my self again... i messed up so bad be4... looks like some free guitar tech work for me

 

[skipguitarguy13]

Re: Stupid tech... still have grounding issue! OMGBBQWTF?! Anyone help me with wiring

Try a 3 way switch if you can much simpler and faster to go between pickups that way hope this helps.Might solve you ground prob?

 

[skipguitarguy13]

Re: Stupid tech... still have grounding issue! OMGBBQWTF?! Anyone help me with wiring

Also Check If You Havent Already The Black Ground Under Pickup Make Sure It Is Hooked Up.

 

[Boy_Narf]

Re: Stupid tech... still have grounding issue! OMGBBQWTF?! Anyone help me with wiring

well i want the 5 way, cause I'm running a HSS setup. And yea i have checked absolutely every friggen ground wire 1000 times... this is drivin me insane!

 

[metalspider]

Re: Stupid tech... still have grounding issue! OMGBBQWTF?! Anyone help me with wiring

shield it.
http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/shielding/shield3.php
i dont follow this exactly myself just the basic principals,works wonders.

 

[Boy_Narf]

Re: Stupid tech... still have grounding issue! OMGBBQWTF?! Anyone help me with wiring

ok well, the back of the plastic panel is shieled, but that sounds like a pain in the ass... I was just wondering if anyone could tell me exactly how to hook up the multimeter to the guitar. i get the principle of it, but i just need to know if (you put 1 clip on a ground such as the input plate, and you put the other clip on what ever your testing, and if it reads 0 then it is properly grounded?) Is this correct? and i would like to know what setting i should have the multi meter on? any help would be sweet thanx

 

[BeachPirate]

Re: Stupid tech... still have grounding issue! OMGBBQWTF?! Anyone help me with wiring

ok well, the back of the plastic panel is shieled, but that sounds like a pain in the ass... I was just wondering if anyone could tell me exactly how to hook up the multimeter to the guitar. i get the principle of it, but i just need to know if (you put 1 clip on a ground such as the input plate, and you put the other clip on what ever your testing, and if it reads 0 then it is properly grounded?) Is this correct? and i would like to know what setting i should have the multi meter on? any help would be sweet thanx

I'd plug a guitar cable into the guitar and put one meter clip on the 1/4 jack sleeve (the jack tip is the main, the sleeve is the ground) on the other end of the cable.

Then select the continuity mode (or Ohm on some meters), if its a decent meter it will have an audio tone which sounds off when there is an electrical path between two points. If the meter just has a needle the needle should move to zero. Just touch the two meter probes together and you will see what I mean.

Now touch the other meter probe to different ground points, pots, shielding on the back of the pickguard, etc., there should be a strong steady tone and a zero meter reading between the two ground points.

I was thinking about your situation, a 5 way switch that is pretty basic stuff, really not much to go wrong so just a couple questions. (a) did you check the foil shielding under the switch to make sure it didn't peel off when you removed the old one? That you touch the switch screws and it gets louder is a clue. I'd put your meter probe on the switch screws to make sure they are grounded. (b) you don't have a ground wire connected to switch right creating a ground loop? The foil shield should ground the switch.

 

[metalspider]

Re: Stupid tech... still have grounding issue! OMGBBQWTF?! Anyone help me with wiring

well if your multimeter is set to ohms then yes 0 is good and 1 would mean infinite resistance(no connection).most multimeters have a setting in which 0 ohm would be produce a beep tone from the meter as well which is handy while testing for connectivity.

edit:looks like beachpirate managed to reply before i finished typing

 

[Boy_Narf]

Re: Stupid tech... still have grounding issue! OMGBBQWTF?! Anyone help me with wiring

um, there was no foil on the old switch, so i guess there is none at all... its just chillin on the black paint ...

 

[Boy_Narf]

Re: Stupid tech... still have grounding issue! OMGBBQWTF?! Anyone help me with wiring

ok... so after 2 more trips back to the tech... he says he checked every ground... and double checked all the wiring... and ensures me that it is 100% perfect compared to the schematic... and that all the grounds are grounded with no issues. Basically he said get new pickups. So i have attempted to put a ground wire from the ground on the input jack... to every possible location i can find... and it seems that the only way i can get rid of the buzzing is to touch tuning pegs, strings, or bridge (with my fingers, wire does nothing)... this is really frustrating... cause if i knew it was gonna be this much of a pain in the ass, i would have just left my old ****ty half working switch in it... anyhow, if anyone can think of anything that i havnt tried please suggest it to me... im about ready to give up.

P.S. i will be picking up a multimeter next time i head home, i think the tech might just not want to do extra work...

 

[metalspider]

Re: Stupid tech... still have grounding issue! OMGBBQWTF?! Anyone help me with wiring

the standard wiring for guitars is full of ground loops.
if you have some foil under the pots then there bodies are already electrically connected and adding a wire from the top of the pots to the main ground just means you added a loop.

read the link i gave before carefully you'll learn a lot.