Grounding issue?

[Mugician]

So, I've been waiting for a pair of pots and a new cap (exchange for bunk pickups from GFS) for a week, and they JUST sent shipping information, so I have yet ANOTHER week to wait for parts. I haven't played my electric (only have one) in a week, and rather than waiting in misery, I decided to wire the guitar up without controls for temp play. Two reasons: I can't stand not playing the guitar (love playing it too much), and I wanted to see how easy it might be to try out my grounding idea (see thread "Grounding"). My iron blows, and it takes WAY too long to solder to the few washers I have on hand, so I ditched that idea and am exploring other options at the moment. I might go looking for a thinner washer, or I might wait for my new iron (Xytronic 168) to come in the mail with the other parts.

Either way, I used a busted pot for all my ground connections in this temp wiring, and from it, a wire to the output jack. As far as I can see, my connections aren't broken or flimsy. I also heat shrunk everything I'm not going to need to unsolder when my parts come, which leaves all the wires that go to ground. The problem is one I've encountered before with the two Strats I owned at one point, where I get buzz unless I'm touching the bridge, strings, jack, tuners, or the dummy pot. What causes this to happen? Is it my wiring? How can I fix it, or should I just wait till my parts come and do the rest of the job as well as the first half?

 

[mayfly]

It's not your wiring.  It's you.

You are a really good antenna - and you pickup all sorts of EMI from around your room.  This charges you up a bit like a capacitor.  This charge your pickups, er, pickup and amplify as the 60Hz or 120Hz hum that you hear.

As soon as you ground your body, you no longer work like an antenna, and you are no longer generating EMI that the pickups pickup.  The noise will go away when you touch anything grounded, like your amp, the PA, a water faucet, etc.

 

[GoDrex]

I've always found this to be the nature of electric guitars. They buzz or hum a little. Shielding might help - though Jack claims that he did tests in a very controlled environment and found the difference to be next to nothing. When the buzz stops when you touch the bridge or strings, this means you've grounded the guitar correctly. You may be getting noise from other things in your room, like computer, monitor, lights etc. A noise gate might help if it really bothers you. I generally keep my hands on my guitar so I rarely notice the buzz.

 

[Mugician]

Yeah, I mean it's not a problem. I too rarely have my hands completely off the guitar when it's plugged in. I was just wondering if it was normal since it wasn't happening before.

The stock wiring didn't have this issue. When I put the GFS pickups in I don't remember that wiring set-up having any buzz, right up until the pickups just stopped working all together. Since I've REwired the old pickups though, it's doing it.

Hmm. Why hadn't they picked up my buzz before?

 

[blue313]

Are all the things you're touching grounded well?  If you have a meter check for continuity between the output ground and the parts. 

If they are and its still doing it when the guitar is away from you, then its normal.  The old pickups may have not been as susceptible to the hum or were noiseless in design.  Which were they again?

 

[Mugician]

It's an older Michael Kelly Patriot. I'm not sure if they've always used the SWC pickups. But they weren't humming before I replaced and reinstalled them.

 

[callaway]

Do you still have the bridge/string ground connected?

 

[Mugician]

Yes.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

The part about you being an antenna is why you wear those goofy looking grounding wristbands when working with electronics.  Well, electronics like IC's and the guts of computers and such.  You can build up enough static to fry them, and it is usually something expensive when it happens.  Funny how that works.
Patrick

 

[blue313]

BTW a ring terminal works great.  You can get them from most hardware/automotive stores or Radio Shack.  Cheap and they come in different sizes.

 

[Mugician]

I actually have a box of those. I just don't have any ideas as to how to secure it in the control cavity. I was thinking about maybe gluing it or something........

 

[blue313]

Got one that will fit over the shaft of one of the pots? 

 

[Mugician]

Yeah.. I guess I just do that... It's kind of a tight fit, I've already tried it. And my iron sucks. Oh, and I don't have a helping hand. All I have is electrical tape to hold down what ever it is I'm soldering together, it's not very effective 90% of the time.

I'll give it another shot when my parts arrive, until then, I'll just play my control-less guitar happily -  :rock-on: .

 

[exalted]

For the helping hand, I recently bought a clamp kit from my local electronics store.

I think it was 12 dollars and came with four bendable clamps, a magnifying glass, a magnet, and a base for them all that is attachable to your work surface. It's a lifesaver (as in, I no longer fear my wife killing me for asking for her help every five minutes).

 

[callaway]

If you get creative enough (and have long enough and dexterous fingers), you can get by practically anything without "helping hands". I'm talking about all sorts of stuff over 10 years of experience for me through internships, grad school, and now a very hands-on electrical engineer. I've found they usually take longer to set everything up than it would just do it.

Then again, I do have rather long fingers and have been known to hold as many as 3 separate wires in place while still holding the iron. Oh, the solder sometimes ends up being held in my mouth.

Anyway, if you're feeling adventurous, just give it a go. Necessity is the mother of invention!

 

[exalted]

I was starting to try some of that stuff, but then I remembered the solder has lead in it.

Is there a danger of lead poisoning if it comes in contact with your mouth?


Also, I wasn't even using the stand for most of the stuff. Just the loose clamps, which were heavy enough to keep the individual wires and solder in place.

 

[mayfly]

I was starting to try some of that stuff, but then I remembered the solder has lead in it.

Is there a danger of lead poisoning if it comes in contact with your mouth?

strictly speaking, only if you eat it.  Having said that, I'm sufficiently paranoid so that I even wash my hands after handling solder.

 

[exalted]

I hear you on that. The last two times I've handled it (after I realized it was indeed lead, and lead is bad  :doh: ), my hands have felt so dirty afterwards...like I can't get them clean enough.

Funny how the mind works.

 

[stubhead]

It's really, seriously worth it to hit pawnshops, garage sales, church stores etc. and pick up extra pliers/vises/c-clamps/etc. etc. Go wild, blow $5....  arty07: Pliers with a rubber band are a clamp, those little bitty vises don't actually have to be clamped to anything.... anything that has enough weight to keep stuff from running away from the soldering iron  is enough, when you're chasing your work around the table the odds of a good solder join are diminishing rapidly. :icon_tongue:

:blob7:

 

[callaway]

I barely hold the solder on the tip of my lips because I have the same fears you guys do. I also wash my hands afterwards because they always have this light feeling of grime on them after soldering.