So, I took that new gold humbucker and installed it in my latest build--visions of that lovely silence humbuckers are noted for.
Used a 500k pot and standard mono jack. Soldered the braided wire from the pickup and the negative side of the jack to the back of the pot. Also soldered a short lead from the right-most lug (viewed from the back) of the pot to the back of the pot.
The positive output of the pickup was soldered to the left-most lug of the pot and the positive lead from the jack to the center lug of the pot.
Popped an audio cord into the git and into my Pignose--ready for that sweet sound of a new build. Turned on the amp and.............there is was. The dreaded hum/buzz we all know.
Went back with a digital ohmmeter and checked the continuity from the braided wire to the output jack. Zero ohms, good ground. Checked from the ground lug of the pot to the back of the pot case, same thing, zero ohms. Checked from the metal body of the pickup to the back of pot, again good ground.
I even tried bypassing the pot in case it was rough or crappy internally. No change.
Grounded the strings. No change.
Tried a very short audio cable in case the 15 footer was acting as an antenna. No help.
Went to battery power on the amp and a little hum was lost. Tells me how clean a wal-wart is. Still an ugly hum persisted.
Then, quite by accident, I touched the body of the pickup with my finger. Odd.......the hum all but disappeared (maybe I'm the antenna). Having no personal pride at this point, I took a two-foot test lead and clipped it to the body of the pickup and tucked the other end into my pants (not too far down). I now had a connection from my body to the body of the pickup and there was silence at last.
Strummed, played a tune or two waiting for the hum to sneak back into my speaker. Nothing, just a nice sounding pickup. Then, I pulled the test lead from the pickup. There it was again....hum.
At this point, I'm scratching my scalp (not much hair up there these days) wondering what I missed, what I could do differently. I even pulled out my old electrical circuit tester and made sure my wall outlets were wired correctly and properly grounded.
Oh yea. I tuned out all the lights just to be sure. No help there.
Finally, I pulled out my daily-player (single wound pickup) and plugged it in. There was a slight hum, but not as loud as with the new build. just out of curiosity, I touched the pickup body with a finger.......damn! the buzz disappeared. In the several months I've been playing this one, I never noticed this.
So,what's going on? Am I going to need to wear a grounding strap on my wrist for the rest of my life?
Does anyone have any experience with a hum/buzz when everything appears to be proper wired and grounded?
Tags:
Not an unreasonable approach Wayfinder.
I should be able to jumper from the pickup to the amp thus bypassing the pot, jack and solder joints. If the "hum" is gone, I can add back one component at a time. until it comes back.
I'll give it a go this morning.
Okay, add this to my twilight-zone guitar.
I plug the audio cord into the guitar and amp as before and get the hum as before. I then pick up the cable that has been running from the amp which is on a shelf about a foot off the floor and placed the bulk of the cord on my work bench. Shizammmmm...No hum!
Odd, me-thinks, so I lift the cord and toss it back on the concrete floor. PooooF......The hum ins back.
Back on the bench, volume to full blast. Damn!, no hum......
At this point I don't know if my floor is possessed or the bench is blessed, or maybe, just maybe, the 10' audio cord is cheap and not well shielded and sucking in signals from beyond the floor.
I ordered a double-shielded cable just to see if there is actually a difference.
I'll still do the jumper past the pot and jack just to confirm that they are not somehow in the mix.
So I says to myself: "Self, it's the cable stupid."
After digging around in various boxes and drawers, I finally come across an audio cable I bought at Radio soon after the announcement of their demise. It is one of those that has the little loops in it like an old telephone cord. I never cared for it because the loops tended to get tangled up. Anyway, I looked at the diameter of the cable and it looked noticeably thicker than my plain-Jane cable.
I plugged in the guitar and amp using the cable I had been using. Tossed the cord on the floor (their is a thin rug) and confirmed that I had a good hum going (no comments please).
I then switched to the Radio Shack cord and "Presto-Chango.......the hum is gone (even with the cord on the floor). Switched back and the hum is back.
So, it appears that the cord I had been using is in fact poorly shielded and picking up signals from the concrete floor or outer space.
Just for kicks & giggles, I did jumper from the pickup wires straight to the jack. Did this with the old cable and volume up. No clicks or change in the amp output, so the jumpers offered no less resistance than going through the pot.
Frustrating, but a good learning experience. And just think how much better my other guitars will sound with a decent cord.
Thanks to everyone for the help and suggestions. Good group.
Well, it's not that that irritating 60 Hz buzz, but a little higher pitch. So, I guess it would be a hum. I'll post an mp3 of it.
I'd say play it with the wire down your pants. If it works don't fix it... : )
does that constitute getting a hummer?
Okay, Daryl.
You win the quick response prize hands down. Very good..................
Check to ensure you have strictly used star grounding to a single point. No double-backs or chains. No loops.
Thanks Eric.
I always ground everything to the back of the pot which I pre-tin so connections are easy.
I think the thicker cable is doing the trick.
I would suggest you temporarily move the git/amp to a different enviornment. See if the hum is caused by something in the house or room. You said that you turned off the lights. However light dimmers can be a noise source, as can flourescent lights. Even possibly from another room.
Thanks Gary.
I'll give it a try in the music room in the house. Nice areas with no fluorescent lights.
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