Will GTR Electronics Make More Noise When OUTSIDE the Instrument?

[Petros]

Okay, strange question, but pertains to making repairs.

I'm not talking about a guitar that has a shielded cavity for electronics, which I know can make a difference.

I have a hollowbody, and I just changed the wiring. I used shielded wiring as per the original layout. Pots are new but same layout except for one push pull switch, which is now where a 4-wire Seymour Duncan Alnico Pro 2 neck pickup connects (it's a series/parallel switch). While the wiring harness is still outside the instrument, I'm noticing more noise than I heard before the mod. Before I put the electronics back into the instrument, can someone tell me:

Is it common to hear more noise when the wiring is outside the instrument? Or, is it likely the case that whatever I hear with the wring outside the instrument that's exactly what it will sound like when it's back inside?

God knows I do not want to take this out once I get it in, and if the noise is a sign of a problem I need to fix it beforehand.

Thanks.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Will GTR Electronics Make More Noise When OUTSIDE the Instrument?

The un-grounded mini toggle is what's causing the noise. You have to run a ground wire to the side of it. If the solder won't stick, sand it or use flux or both.

The same thing happened to me when I added mini toggles to my strats - the noise increased from where I had it. I grounded the mini toggles and it went back to normal.

I was actually just fiddling with the electronix in my 335 last night too. To make sure everything was working before I put the electronix back inside, I played it with everything hanging out and it was silent. I put everything back in and it was silent.

Sometimes stuff will be noisier outside of the guitar, but if it's super loud with a humbucker and shielded wires, somethings wrong. Grounding the mini toggle should help = )

 

[Petros]

Re: Will GTR Electronics Make More Noise When OUTSIDE the Instrument?

Thanks for a response Clint.

It's not super loud, but it's not silent like a strat I had rewired. I was hoping I would get similar results using shielded wiring in the hollow body, but it's not the same.

To answer my own question, I went ahead and for two hours struggled with getting the wiring and pots back into the guitar. Answer: The noise that the guitar made outside the instrument is the same as what it makes inside. So, yes I still have some noise, and that sucks.

Two points:

1. I'm not using mini toggles. It's a Bournes 250K push pull pot, and yes I realize same switch but different switching mechanism. I grounded this pot as per a typical 2V 2T diagram, and the switch housing is physically in contact with the pot. So I do not think this is the issue.


2. Could it be that I need to connect the ground wire to the bridge? I don't have a bridge ground wire on the strat I rewired, which is dead silent, but that guitar has a copper lined cavity. I noticed with the hollow body now when I'm touching the pickup cover or the knurled top of the pot the hum goes away almost completely. The guitar did have a bridge wire before I did the mod, but still I never noticed a hum when I took my hands off the strings.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Will GTR Electronics Make More Noise When OUTSIDE the Instrument?

Yes I'd give that a try connecting the ground circuit to the bridge.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Will GTR Electronics Make More Noise When OUTSIDE the Instrument?

I would certainly ground the bridge, if possible.

 

[Petros]

Re: Will GTR Electronics Make More Noise When OUTSIDE the Instrument?

Okay. This is interesting.


I just connected the bridge ground wire.



Just connecting the bridge ground wire diminished the noise to almost nothing. *I did not even have to touch the strings and the noise was almost gone. It suggests that the strings pick up electromagnetic waves (EMI) and without being connected to ground the EMI gets amplified through proximity to the pickups, yes?



I kept reading about the need to attach the bridge ground wire SO THAT when you touch the strings the noise will go away given your body acts as a ground. In this case, there's a reduction in noise simply making the connection. I didn't expect that. Hence, the reason why when the wiring was outside the guitar without attaching the bridge ground (because the ground wire wouldn't reach) the system yielded more noise.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Will GTR Electronics Make More Noise When OUTSIDE the Instrument?

I was thinking that the ground wire to the bridge uses the bridge and the rest of the guitar as a chassis ground, a source of zero voltage for the noise that accumulates in the electronix to dissipate.