She goes hum...

[rduke]

I finished wiring my H-S-S strat, rear rout.  When I touch any metal hardware on the guitar (volumn, tone knobs, 5-way selector etc) I get a loud hum.  I've double/triple checked my wiring against a diagram for accuracy and all appears to be in order. 

I know without a picture you don't have much to go on, but I was hoping for a "Oh yeah, that happened to me and all I did was..."  moment.  Ideas/suggestions? 

Thanks!

 

[line6man]

Are the hot and ground reversed at the output jack?

 

[mayfly]

Did you ground the bridge?

 

[rduke]

Are the hot and ground reversed at the output jack?

I did reverse these to see if it was the culprit but it still hummed.  I started my troubleshooting here because I'm using a stereo output jack wired in mono...I think.  Long tab is ground. Medium sized tab is hot, no? 

Did you ground the bridge?

In addition to the trem claw ground?

Thanks guys.

 

[line6man]

Are the hot and ground reversed at the output jack?

I did reverse these to see if it was the culprit but it still hummed.  I started my troubleshooting here because I'm using a stereo output jack wired in mono...I think.  Long tab is ground. Medium sized tab is hot, no? 

Did you ground the bridge?

In addition to the trem claw ground?

Thanks guys.

The medium length terminal is usually the ring, but the jack must be wired properly if you are getting sound, because the ring and sleeve shunt together when a mono cable is inserted.

The trem claw is the bridge ground. There is no effective way to run a ground wire to most tremolos, so the trem claw is often chosen as a ground point. The equivalent series resistance of the springs is not significant to increase the impedance to the ground potential, and the parasitic inductance and capacitance is not even worth considering, so there is no need for any fancy grounding schemes.

 

[AutoBat]

I know little about TRS connectors, but that's probably your issue. (AKA stereo jack)

 

[line6man]

I know little about TRS connectors, but that's probably your issue. (AKA stereo jack)

The jack has nothing to do with this, unless the leads are switched at the jack, to connect the ground potential to the output. A TRS jack simply has an extra terminal which shunts to the ground potential.

 

[Cagey]

I finished wiring my H-S-S strat, rear rout.  When I touch any metal hardware on the guitar (volumn, tone knobs, 5-way selector etc) I get a loud hum.  I've double/triple checked my wiring against a diagram for accuracy and all appears to be in order. 

Perhaps your diagram is NFG. It really sounds like the hot/ground is reversed.

 

[rduke]

I was thinking that too so I did reverse the hot and the ground to no avail.  Anyways, it's a moot point now as I got the 'ol desoldering pump out and undid the entire thing.  Sometimes starting out all over from scratch is the best course of action.  Of course I'll never know now what caused the hum in the first place and that's bothering the hell outta me.

 

[Cagey]

Sometimes starting out all over from scratch is the best course of action.

No doubt. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. Sometimes you can't see the forest because of the trees. Just too close.

 

[rduke]

Incidentally Cagey, I took your recommendation and used some of that shielded wiring and grounding lugs you had mentioned in a previous thread.  Good stuff!

 

[Cagey]

Cool! I'm glad that worked out for you.