Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on December 1, 2009 at 8:16am

Sam, were you the one who was looking at a cheap Mag pickup off ebay or was that Tom Langford? Anyhow, I think the solder connections on those are crap (just had to resolder something on mine). You might be onto something.

-WY

Wichita Sam said:

before you get crazy with shielding, check your solder connections... most piezo's and humbuckers shouldn't hum... You can try grounding, but I would look for "cold solder" joints or just resolder everything.... take your time, make sure that iron is hot and hold the joint still until it is throughly cooled....

the best,

wichita Sam

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Permalink Reply by Bobiron on December 1, 2009 at 1:00pm

Try another pot, they are faulty sometimes, even new ones.

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Permalink Reply by Travis "SlackJack" Woodall on December 3, 2009 at 9:14am

I have the same issue. I have looked into this and here is what I found out....The most important thing that needs to be grounded is the strings themselves, that is where (supposedly) the buzz is coming from. If you put a thin strip of metal under the bridge and then run a ground wire from that to the volume pot. Now, I haven't put this into practice but I am told that it will work. It may be worth a shot.

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Permalink Reply by Tres Seaver on December 3, 2009 at 3:56pm

Travis Woodall said:

I have the same issue. I have looked into this and here is what I found out....The most important thing that needs to be grounded is the strings themselves, that is where (supposedly) the buzz is coming from. If you put a thin strip of metal under the bridge and then run a ground wire from that to the volume pot. Now, I haven't put this into practice but I am told that it will work. It may be worth a shot.

I'm dead ignorant on magnetic pickups, but believe the received wisdom that grounding the strings is crucial when using them. I haven't found it needful to ground strings when using a piezo: my tiny knowledge of the physics invovled says that it couldn't possibly help, as the piezo is purely a mechanical transducer.

Generally speaking, redoing each solder joint with care has removed any buzz from my piezo-only rigs.

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Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on December 3, 2009 at 4:34pm

Oh...yeah... make sure the negative side of the pup is wired to the ground side of the jack... mucho importante

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Permalink Reply by David L. on December 3, 2009 at 11:42pm

Hi,

If all the above have not resolved it one thought is that if touching the volume pot resolves it is the pot grounded? I tend to use the volume pot as my common earth which I then ground to the output jack - I have noticed in books and in the forum comments that the pots often have like a varnish over them that needs filing off a bit to ensure a good contact.
Also If the magnetic pick up is a single coil it will pick up a hum from any electric supply (some of my strat copies hum a bit at night when the lights are on but less so in the day).
If you are able to post a photo of the wiring it would be good to see how it is connected up.

Regards,
David

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Permalink Reply by Michael Prout on August 16, 2011 at 4:28am

I have only built two pick ups so far but have not had any off sounds.  I just followed some general rules that others put in their instructions.  I made sure there was a good connection and no exposed wire(completely covered by solder).  I got shiny new reels of wire from Radio Shack,  Worth buying since I won't run out any time soon and it was cheap.  I also saw one build that someone put foam padding around the piezo.  So I used some double sided sticky foam tape on both sides of the piezo for mounting.  I haven't had any sound issues.  My friend that actually plays guitar said you couldn't belive I built an electric cgb and my first one sounded great.  I don't even play,  But, I'm learning.

 

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