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Old 2007-06-09, 18:23
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Soeru
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Pickup wiring help!

I recently installed a pickup and completely new electronics into a guitar that I just pulled emg's from. Everything is wired exactly like in the following diagram:

http://static.zoovy.com/img/guitare...cs/-/wd_u010_01

I can hear the strings perfectly however it creates HUGE static buzz when my hand is on the bridge or strings or wherever, contrary to what usually happens with some guitars that when you let go of the bridge it buzzes.

The only way the buzz is silenced is if I touch the metal-end of the cable connected to the guitar(not the input jack, just the cable), then the buzz goes away, doesn't matter if I'm touching the strings/bridge or not at all either, if I'm touching the cable the noise dies.

It's just 1 pickup, 1 volume, nothing else, the same exact diagram I posted. The ground from the bridge, South start and Bare from the pickup, and ground from the input jack ALL go to the 3rd prong on the volume knob, as it's also supposed to be grounded. That's probably the only difference, but it shouldn't matter so long as every ground is making contact(they're all soldered together onto that 3rd prong on the volume.

What am I doing wrong with this wiring?
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Old 2007-06-09, 18:50
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Well is it like way worse than most guitars when you're not touching the bridge, or is it just like if you were not touching it?

For shielding reasons you're supposed to ground the back of the pot too. What i usually do is i bend the third lug back so it touches the pot casing, then solder it on there. Then i collect all the wires that are to be grounded, twist them together, tin them and solder them on to the 3rd lug. If you have a trem guitar make sure that the bridge ground wire actually is connected to the bridge, I've heard some stories of tech's cutting it off at the bridge point when they install EMG's for the added safety. If it's a fixed bridge it's harder to check, you'd have to unscrew the bridge post closest to the control cavity. Check with a multimeter too, you should have nearly no resistance between the stings and the ground lug.

Also, try touching the ground lug and see if the buzz disappears (it should).

I've had the same problem too before, turns out the wire from the bridge had come off after years of tremolo abuse :P
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Old 2007-06-09, 19:06
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jopop
Well is it like way worse than most guitars when you're not touching the bridge, or is it just like if you were not touching it?

For shielding reasons you're supposed to ground the back of the pot too. What i usually do is i bend the third lug back so it touches the pot casing, then solder it on there. Then i collect all the wires that are to be grounded, twist them together, tin them and solder them on to the 3rd lug. If you have a trem guitar make sure that the bridge ground wire actually is connected to the bridge, I've heard some stories of tech's cutting it off at the bridge point when they install EMG's for the added safety. If it's a fixed bridge it's harder to check, you'd have to unscrew the bridge post closest to the control cavity. Check with a multimeter too, you should have nearly no resistance between the stings and the ground lug.

Also, try touching the ground lug and see if the buzz disappears (it should).

I've had the same problem too before, turns out the wire from the bridge had come off after years of tremolo abuse :P


Actually no the buzz is much worse than with a normally wired guitar.

It's a trem guitar, the ground is soldered right onto the spring clamp like normal. I've tried touching all parts of the guitar and the bridge at the same time and the buzzing doesn't go away so the bridge is wired appropriately, because the current didn't flow through my hands

That's exactly how I have it wired, I have all the cables twisted together and looped around the 3rd lug and soldered perfectly there.

I didn't ground the back of the pot, but I pressed the bare wire against it out of curiosity and it didn't do anything(should have yielded the same effect), I also touched the 3rd prong and no buzz goes away at all either. Should I solder a small bit of wire to the small blob that holds all the cables together at the 3rd prong?

Only touching the metal part of the cable makes the noise go away almost entirely, especially if I touch the flap of the input jack at the same time(inside part folded metal part, that presses against and holds the cable end inside you know what I mean?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by far_beyond_sane

(Did you know In Flames had a 2005 album called "Come Clarity"? How prophetic. I think they're trying to tell us all their sperm are dead.)
 
Old 2007-06-09, 23:44
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Jopop
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Strange Do you have a multimeter? Check the continuity between the metal part of the cable and the strings on your guitar, and if there's nothing, check between the metal part of the cable and the 3rd lug, etc.. There's something fishy here for sure.

Also, do you have a normal amount of output or does it sound really weak / bad? You may have wired the pickup out of phase too you know :-/ (slim chance though).
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Old 2007-06-10, 09:27
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No I don't have a multimeter. But yeah I do get really low signal! I think that's it, I was playing my Universe into my amp and the pickups apart from having no noise sounded much LOUDER, this guitar sounds like really distant, drowned in all that hum/buzz. What did I do wrong with my wiring? How did I wire the pickup out of phase? Maybe I soldered the terminals on the input jack wrong?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by far_beyond_sane

(Did you know In Flames had a 2005 album called "Come Clarity"? How prophetic. I think they're trying to tell us all their sperm are dead.)
 
Old 2007-06-10, 17:44
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I would guess its something on the input jack like you said. You may have the ground and the hot reversed.
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Old 2007-06-10, 20:38
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reverse the 2 wires on the jack. common thing that happends.
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