I had a thought about twisting the wires inside the git.  I was delivering a gift build to my friend, we played it a bit with a portable amp, and there was a LOT of hum from the multiple overhead fluorescent lights in his store.  this moring it occurred to me that copper phone lines and computer CAT5 cable twist the conductors around each other to reduce noise.  It ought to work inside a git.

The blue arrows are the "induced" current flow in the wire loops from fluorescent light EM Noise, the yellow arrows are the charge flowing in the conductors, each loop opposes the next, much like a hum-bucker.

Anyone try this and found if it makes a difference?

Views: 739

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

yup  .  a few  folks  on  here  have  done  the   twisted wire  method  ,  but  more-so  in advance  ,  so     it  would   be  hard  for them to answer  if  it  made a difference or not . i  do  believe  i  have heard   one  or  2  people  say  the twisted  wire method  worked for them (or at-least  hushed  the buzz a bit  )  as a remedy after  the  fact  .  others  just mention it  in a list  of remedies in buzz bitch  posts  .  i , myself have  never   tried  it ,  luckily i haven't  had the need  to     . 

i don't twist because i use shielded wire, twisting that is impossible. also, shielded/coaxial wire deals with both electro magnetic as electro static hum. 

I salvage coaxial cable from old tv, SCART, antenna and computer cables, which basically exists out of one or more coaxial wires bonded together.

The coaxial doesn't need twisting because it's already shielded with the ground wire twisted around or surrounding the positive wire inside. Regular straight wires need twisting(ground and positive together to simulate shielding. 

Like Wayfinder, I twist every set of pickup wires (piezo to pot. Pot to jack). I also encase the twisted wires in 1/4" shrink wrap just to make a neat appearing harness.

There seem to be so many sources of hum (external such as lights, cheap or poorly shielded audio cables and internal such as bad pots or poor solder joints), that it seems smart to do anything you can (in advance) to reduce or eliminate hum. Twisted wires takes only seconds, so if it helps great. If not, it isn't going to hurt.

As an aside, I've made up a few very basic piezo harnesses with only the audio jack and the piezo. These, too I twist.The interesting thing is that these "basic" harnesses always seem to have practically zero hum from the git-go. Makes me wonder if all that wire running from piezo to pot to jack starts to create (or pick up) some of the hum we hear. Just a thought.

Aluminum foil and duct tape are the two key ingredients  for a good project.....

Hey. We're

Nay, Tom T lost his train of thought and wandered off again. Happens to the best of us. Get a song in your head and drift away. Ooo that's a good song! Think I'll g

: )

Foil is great. I've even seen shielding tape. I've known people who have shielded the cavities around each pickup and the controls to get rid of RMF hum. 

Ya, those florescent lights suck. Glad to see those things are disappearing. 

I had a thought.......I'm sure I did (maybe).

Anyway, as I was saying......

If it can't be fixed with duct tape and foil, the chewing gum isn't going to help (or something like that).

And yes, florescent lights suck for pickup hum.

i've got a hub cab banjo with a pickup wich had a little humming, i had straigt wires. i read this and tried it out and it works a little bit. most hum is cached by the metal from the hub cap its made of

Vanish for the most part

well that's what a good sniper in a ghillie suit tries to do...

Hahaha, no the most of the hum comes from the single coil pickup, i have repaced it with a humbucker, and i put in a coaxial (shielded) wire, no more hum for that banjo any more. My other instruments still hum a little, because of the lack of humbucking pickups.

I have experimented with some wires today, coaxial/shielded wires seem to have less hum than twisted wires, straight wires have most hum. 

If your using a single coil pickup or piezo, you won't be able to get rid of all the hum. Definitely ground the hub cap like Wayfinder said, ground the strings too and the electronics(pots & pickups).

RSS

The Essential Pages

New to Cigar Box Nation? How to Play Cigar Box GuitarsFree Plans & How to Build Cigar Box GuitarsCigar Box Guitar Building Basics

Site Sponsor

Recommended Links & Resources


Forum

crossover guitar.

Started by Timothy Hunter in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 21. 11 Replies

Tune up songs

Started by Ghostbuttons in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 9. 5 Replies

Duel output jacks

Started by Justin Stanchfield in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 8. 6 Replies

How to Get Your Own Music on Spotify

Started by Cigar Box Nation in Feature Articles. Last reply by Southern Ray Feb 21. 2 Replies

CB Bass Guitar

Started by Mi Rankin in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Justin Stanchfield Jan 27. 5 Replies

Latest Activity

Dar Stellabotta posted a video

A Cigar Box Guitar Six Stringer Built by Louie Lamanna

This video is the unboxing and the demonstration of a beautiful, six stringer built by Louie Lamanna. Join Louie and I June 15 at the second annual Pittsburg...
52 minutes ago
Doug Thorsvik commented on Doug Thorsvik's video
Thumbnail

Hail the Resurrection Day: 2-String Violin Chugger Cigar Box Guitar

"Happy Easter to you too Andries! The passion is definitely in full swing. Turns out I’m…"
1 hour ago
A.D.EKER commented on Doug Thorsvik's video
Thumbnail

Hail the Resurrection Day: 2-String Violin Chugger Cigar Box Guitar

"Happy Easter Doug ! the Passion is in full swing !"
1 hour ago
A.D.EKER commented on Ricky D's photo
2 hours ago
A.D.EKER commented on A.D.EKER's video
2 hours ago
Keith Rearick liked Doug Thorsvik's video
5 hours ago
Keith Rearick liked A.D.EKER's video
5 hours ago
Keith Rearick liked Doug Thorsvik's video
6 hours ago
Keith Rearick liked Ricky D's photo
6 hours ago
Keith Rearick liked Ricky D's photo
6 hours ago
Keith Rearick liked Ricky D's photo
6 hours ago
Keith Rearick liked Ricky D's photo
6 hours ago

Music

© 2024   Created by Ben "C. B. Gitty" Baker.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

\uastyle>\ud/** Scrollup **/\ud.scrollup {\ud background: url("https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/963882636?profile=original") no-repeat scroll 0 0 transparent;\ud bottom: 25px;\ud display: inline !important;\ud height: 40px;\ud opacity: 0.3 !important;\ud position: fixed;\ud right: 30px;\ud text-indent: -9999px;\ud width: 40px;\ud z-index: 999;\ud}\ud.scrollup:hover {\ud opacity:0.99!important;\ud}\ud \uascript type="text/javascript">\ud x$(document).ready(function(){\ud x$(window).scroll(function(){\ud if (x$(this).scrollTop() > 100) {\ud x$('.scrollup').fadeIn();\ud } else {\ud x$('.scrollup').fadeOut();\ud }\ud });\ud x$('.scrollup').click(function(){\ud x$("html, body").animate({ scrollTop: 0 }, 600);\ud return false;\ud });\ud });\ud \ua!-- End Scroll Up -->