Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by swampapple slim on August 6, 2011 at 6:12am

make sure bridge is grounded too that will make noise if you think about touching it

Permalink Reply by swampapple slim on August 6, 2011 at 6:29am

strings and magnetic field make bridge hot you will need a wire on the brass piece the glory of mag pups try a temp wire see what it does Slim

Permalink Reply by swampapple slim on August 6, 2011 at 6:39am

look at more diagrams even the ground has to be on tone or vol as diagram shows it happend to me i grounded 1 to vol and it was suposed to be tone then it worked the grounde are doin what hots are so nothing is cold figure that 1 out any questions write i just wires 2 boxes 1 single with 500k pot and .023 cap then a 250k vol a 500k tone and another 500k tone i have a 23 and a 47 in all positions you can do it on 1 pup its mad 2 tones im unlimited from .69ur and thats pure base no trebel gets through untill i dial with 2 tones EXACTLY what i want best thing sinci mag pup in mt pics there is a diagram for fenders you can use that put pup hot to vol jump to tones and your on your way to tonal bliss SLIM

Permalink Reply by swampapple slim on August 6, 2011 at 7:02am

THE 2 TONE DIAGRAM IS IN MY PICKS THE ALL WRITING 1, SUMS IT UP HOW IT WORKS. AND DO LIKE THE OTHER AND YOUR DONE. EVEN 1 PUP I WOULD WORK ITS WELL WORTH TIME AND MOUNTAIN OF KNOWLEDGE ON WIREING GOOD LUCK IF YOU DECIDE TO TRY SOMTHING I READ ABOUT SEYMORS COLOR SCHEME I KNEW TO WATCH HIS PUPS BECAUSE FE HAS TONS OF SEYMORE DIAGRAMS AND COLORS ARE ALWAYS WRONG  RITE FOR SEYMORE ENJOY AND SORRY ABOUT CAPS I HATE THAT Slim, finally

Permalink Reply by Roadkill a.k.a. John Maw on August 6, 2011 at 11:53am

Hi Slim.

Thanks for the suggestions. I have no tone or volume pots at the moment so that can't be an issue. Because the bridge is only a temporary one it is wooden, so that doesn't need to be grounded either. The strings are grounded. All seems very strange.

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on August 6, 2011 at 1:03pm

John,

Got to thinking about this, and I remembered something. The way a magnetic pickup works is that the steel string vibrates, and the steel string core interrupts the magnetic field generated by the pole pieces and the pup windings. This causes a voltage change, that the amplifier amplifies to produce sound.

But it also works the other way, especially with humbuckers, or with either humbucking or single coil pups that are set too close to the strings. The strings themselves become weakly magnetized when a current is applied to the pup windings ( e.g., when you are plugged in). If you then touch the strings with a metal slide or with metal finger picks, you are completing / shorting a circuit between the weakly magnetized string and the metal slide or finger picks; the pup will pick up the click from the weakly magnetized string attracting the metal slide or finger pick, transmitting this as another signal that the amp picks up, and amplifies, resulting in...yep.

If you play with just your fingers, your skin has enough resistance so that the shorted ( e.g., grounded through your body) circuit isn't generating enough voltage that the pup can register. Hence, no clicks.

Hmmm. And you say your piezo and strings are grounded to the jack...do you have access to a multimeter? You could check the circuit fully including the ground to the jack. If that all checks out, then start checking your cable ( cheap ones are typically poorly to ungrounded- I have several that do this, but keep forgetting to toss them as any guitar cable is precious where I live), and then your amp, amp to earth, outlet ground, etc.

Royal PITA, electricity can be.

Permalink Reply by Roadkill a.k.a. John Maw on August 7, 2011 at 6:55pm

Hi.

I've tried moving the pickup away from the strings (also tried it much closer on one side than the other) but that doesn't seem to be the answer unless I need to get it further away than my construction allows at the moment.

The lead is of reasonable quality and I tried another one (same results). I also tried another amp - also same results. That doesn't mean that it isn't one of the above, but really not sure. Why does it not occur when there is a piezo (or two) wired in parallel? Much head scratching.

Thanks for the suggestions.

oilyfool said:

John,

Got to thinking about this, and I remembered something. The way a magnetic pickup works is that the steel string vibrates, and the steel string core interrupts the magnetic field generated by the pole pieces and the pup windings. This causes a voltage change, that the amplifier amplifies to produce sound.

But it also works the other way, especially with humbuckers, or with either humbucking or single coil pups that are set too close to the strings. The strings themselves become weakly magnetized when a current is applied to the pup windings ( e.g., when you are plugged in). If you then touch the strings with a metal slide or with metal finger picks, you are completing / shorting a circuit between the weakly magnetized string and the metal slide or finger picks; the pup will pick up the click from the weakly magnetized string attracting the metal slide or finger pick, transmitting this as another signal that the amp picks up, and amplifies, resulting in...yep.

If you play with just your fingers, your skin has enough resistance so that the shorted ( e.g., grounded through your body) circuit isn't generating enough voltage that the pup can register. Hence, no clicks.

Hmmm. And you say your piezo and strings are grounded to the jack...do you have access to a multimeter? You could check the circuit fully including the ground to the jack. If that all checks out, then start checking your cable ( cheap ones are typically poorly to ungrounded- I have several that do this, but keep forgetting to toss them as any guitar cable is precious where I live), and then your amp, amp to earth, outlet ground, etc.

Royal PITA, electricity can be.

Permalink Reply by David L. on August 8, 2011 at 2:02am

Hi John,

 

I had a play with a few of the electric guitars I have and with the volume turned up full (so basically just like wiring direct to the jack socket without a pot) and all of them click when a metal touches the strings.  I don't normally notice because I tend to rest my hand on the bridge when I play which stops this from happening and also I usually have the volume pot turned down which also reduces this effect.  As your strings are grounded as a test if you touch one of the strings with your hand and strum your pick on the other strings it should stop the click.

 

Regards,

David

Permalink Reply by Roadkill a.k.a. John Maw on August 8, 2011 at 7:41pm

Hi David.

Thanks for the reply.

Yes. You are right. Touching the string (fingering) or another string does stop the click. Is there a way of using that knowledge to stop the clicking? Do you know why having the piezo in the circuit at full volume also stops the click?

Permalink Reply by David L. on August 8, 2011 at 11:41pm

Hi John,

 

The two I have to hand with piezos and magnetic pickups - one has little effect on adding the piezo (single coil with 1 piezo) and one reduces the click to some degree (1 mini humbucker 3 piezos in parallel).

 

Out of interest have you tried it without a bridge earth as then the metal pick/metal slide will not be contacting the circuit directly when you play and touch the strings? (The trade off is how much hum you get without the earth to the strings but it maybe worth a try as the humbucker may be fine without and the piezo doesn't need it).

 

With your current setup how feasible is it to play with the strumming hand palm touching the strings between the bridge and tailpiece?

 

Regards,

David

 

 

Permalink Reply by Roadkill a.k.a. John Maw on August 9, 2011 at 10:46am

Hi David.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will try removing the earth as soon as I get a moment (hopefully in the next few days) and let you know.

Thanks again for the help. All the best.

John

David Lloyd said:

Hi John,

 

The two I have to hand with piezos and magnetic pickups - one has little effect on adding the piezo (single coil with 1 piezo) and one reduces the click to some degree (1 mini humbucker 3 piezos in parallel).

 

Out of interest have you tried it without a bridge earth as then the metal pick/metal slide will not be contacting the circuit directly when you play and touch the strings? (The trade off is how much hum you get without the earth to the strings but it maybe worth a try as the humbucker may be fine without and the piezo doesn't need it).

 

With your current setup how feasible is it to play with the strumming hand palm touching the strings between the bridge and tailpiece?

 

Regards,

David

 

 

Permalink Reply by jabes on August 24, 2011 at 8:46am

john i'm having a similar prob with my first pup git ,hum mmmm until i touch a string no clicks tho'. will try disconnect e from bridge. good luck and thanks to all :)

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