Starting a Jazzcaster build and documenting the progress

[mayfly]

It looks and sounds like you’ve forgot to ground the bridge.

+1 on that.  You need to run a ground wire to the bridge.  That will fix it.

BTW, with 'traditional' telecaster pickups, they are grounded to the backing plate, which is attached to the bridge with screws / springs.  This grounds the bridge automatically.  However, with your modern pickups, I'm guessing there is no ground connection to the plate.  Therefore, you need to run a ground wire to the bridge.

 

[OV7]

It looks and sounds like you’ve forgot to ground the bridge.

I definitely did not do that.  I will do that as soon as I can.

 

[OV7]

It looks and sounds like you’ve forgot to ground the bridge.

+1 on that.  You need to run a ground wire to the bridge.  That will fix it.

BTW, with 'traditional' telecaster pickups, they are grounded to the backing plate, which is attached to the bridge with screws / springs.  This grounds the bridge automatically.  However, with your modern pickups, I'm guessing there is no ground connection to the plate.  Therefore, you need to run a ground wire to the bridge.

I know for sure that I didn't do that so I will get it taken care of.  It is odd to me that when playing through Garageband amps with that noise gate about 1/4 of the way up there is no hum but in Helix Native on the computer the humming made it pretty much unusable unless I placed a pinky on the control plate.  I'm learning all of this from scratch, though, so there are bound to be some hiccu-uh-uh-uh-ups.

 

[BigSteve22]

I know for sure that I didn't do that so I will get it taken care of.....I'm learning all of this from scratch, though, so there are bound to be some hiccu-uh-uh-uh-ups.

And on the bright side: It's easy to fix, and you're unlikely to forget it again!  :icon_thumright:

 

[OV7]

I know for sure that I didn't do that so I will get it taken care of.....I'm learning all of this from scratch, though, so there are bound to be some hiccu-uh-uh-uh-ups.

And on the bright side: It's easy to fix, and you're unlikely to forget it again!  :icon_thumright:

Yep! 

 

[OV7]

The hardest part of adding the ground wire from the volume pot to the bridge is figuring out where to solder it to on the bridge.  I ended up sandwiching some bare wire between the body and bridge.  It worked. 

 

[OV7]

After adding the ground wire it is dead quiet directly in to my Classic 20 and also with interface.  My soldering job looks pretty nasty but it worked:

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/wilsonov7/jazzcaster-4-pickup-changing[/soundcloud]

 

[rgand]

:icon_thumright: :icon_thumright:

 

[Toulouse_Tuhles]

".....The hardest part of adding the ground wire from the volume pot to the bridge is figuring out where to solder it to on the bridge.  I ended up sandwiching some bare wire between the body and bridge.  It worked. ....."You really don't have to solder it....  Its simple and effective enough to run the wire under the bridge, close to the bridge screws.  Pressure of the metal bridge against the screws will hold the wire in place and make the connection.And your adorable offspring must have a great lookin' mom.....
(ducks low)

 

[OV7]

".....The hardest part of adding the ground wire from the volume pot to the bridge is figuring out where to solder it to on the bridge.  I ended up sandwiching some bare wire between the body and bridge.  It worked. ....."You really don't have to solder it....  Its simple and effective enough to run the wire under the bridge, close to the bridge screws.  Pressure of the metal bridge against the screws will hold the wire in place and make the connection.And your adorable offspring must have a great lookin' mom.....
(ducks low)

Yep, she was a beauty.  Cancer took her young.  Thank you

 

[Toulouse_Tuhles]

My sincerest apology for the re-use of a stale old joke.  I am sorry for your loss.

 

[OV7]

My sincerest apology for the re-use of a stale old joke.  I am sorry for your loss.

Nah, it was funny to me....and true.  Thank you, though!

Well, whatever humming is still there after installing the ground wire, but the humming isn't as bad as it was.  I might have my friend the electronics wizard take a look.

 

[OV7]

A wiggle is arising:  The electronics work...MOST of the time.  I've had to open the control plate, wiggle some wires and everything will work fine.  All of the solder joints are solid.  Can the pickup wires inside of the control cavity be too long?  Can wires touching each other interfere with performance?  It is weird to me that I can take off the plate once I start having issues(mainly the bridge and middle positions will quit working), wiggle some wires, reattach the plate, and it works perfect.  There is kind of a weird wah-like sound to the middle position that I like, too. 

 

[JPOL007]

A wiggle is arising:  The electronics work...MOST of the time.  I've had to open the control plate, wiggle some wires and everything will work fine.  All of the solder joints are solid.  Can the pickup wires inside of the control cavity be too long?  Can wires touching each other interfere with performance?  It is weird to me that I can take off the plate once I start having issues(mainly the bridge and middle positions will quit working), wiggle some wires, reattach the plate, and it works perfect.  There is kind of a weird wah-like sound to the middle position that I like, too.

Have you checked your output jack? Get the wires backwards and you will get a hum. On Switchcraft jacks the hot leg is in between the insulating wafer boards Ground is the one on the surface of the insulating board. If you insert the guitar cable into the jack...hot leg is to the right side of the cable's tip with the tip pointed directly at you. Been there and done this before. Hope this is the problem...easy fix :icon_thumright:

 

[OV7]

A wiggle is arising:  The electronics work...MOST of the time.  I've had to open the control plate, wiggle some wires and everything will work fine.  All of the solder joints are solid.  Can the pickup wires inside of the control cavity be too long?  Can wires touching each other interfere with performance?  It is weird to me that I can take off the plate once I start having issues(mainly the bridge and middle positions will quit working), wiggle some wires, reattach the plate, and it works perfect.  There is kind of a weird wah-like sound to the middle position that I like, too.

Have you checked your output jack? Get the wires backwards and you will get a hum. On Switchcraft jacks the hot leg is in between the insulating wafer boards Ground is the one on the surface of the insulating board. If you insert the guitar cable into the jack...hot leg is to the right side of the cable's tip with the tip pointed directly at you. Been there and done this before. Hope this is the problem...easy fix :icon_thumright:

I got that part right!  I double checked the solder joints and they are pretty tidy and solid.  Kinda looks like a Hershey's kiss.

 

[Cagey]

Tight spaces can cause intermittent operation sometimes if you've used shielded cable and the shield touches a signal-carrying conductor, inadvertently grounding it. Also, sometimes a cap will move so the lead on the hot side touches a ground point, doing the same thing. Or, if you've used any of the Switchcraft-style switches the guts of those things are more or less exposed, so a wafer can be pushed out of the way causing inadvertent opens.

There are no voltages present anywhere in there you'd ever feel in a million years, so some pressing/squeezing of components/wires by hand while the guitar is plugged in and the guard is off will sometimes expose the cause.

 

[OV7]

Tight spaces can cause intermittent operation sometimes if you've used shielded cable and the shield touches a signal-carrying conductor, inadvertently grounding it. Also, sometimes a cap will move so the lead on the hot side touches a ground point, doing the same thing. Or, if you've used any of the Switchcraft-style switches the guts of those things are more or less exposed, so a wafer can be pushed out of the way causing inadvertent opens.

There are no voltages present anywhere in there you'd ever feel in a million years, so some pressing/squeezing of components/wires by hand while the guitar is plugged in and the guard is off will sometimes expose the cause.

That is good to know!  Thank you for that info.  I'll poke around some.

 

[zebra]

Tight spaces can cause intermittent operation sometimes if you've used shielded cable and the shield touches a signal-carrying conductor, inadvertently grounding it. Also, sometimes a cap will move so the lead on the hot side touches a ground point, doing the same thing. Or, if you've used any of the Switchcraft-style switches the guts of those things are more or less exposed, so a wafer can be pushed out of the way causing inadvertent opens.

There are no voltages present anywhere in there you'd ever feel in a million years, so some pressing/squeezing of components/wires by hand while the guitar is plugged in and the guard is off will sometimes expose the cause.

That is good to know!  Thank you for that info.  I'll poke around some.

Yeah, that's some good stuff - I have a project making all the wrong noises and none of the right ones at the moment.  Got a new multi-meter today, so that should also help!

 

[Old Яomans]

I just recently got a Warmoth Jazzcaster Swamp Ash body weighing 4.9 pounds with the traditional Telecaster pickup configuration.  I'm making a photo album on Google Photos to document the progress.  I'm painting it Apple Green for now.  I've never painted a guitar before and have no idea how to paint a guitar properly so this should be amusing

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZEcPcqdvTU5yM9xf7

color and finish is gorgeous.

 

[OV7]

I just recently got a Warmoth Jazzcaster Swamp Ash body weighing 4.9 pounds with the traditional Telecaster pickup configuration.  I'm making a photo album on Google Photos to document the progress.  I'm painting it Apple Green for now.  I've never painted a guitar before and have no idea how to paint a guitar properly so this should be amusing

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZEcPcqdvTU5yM9xf7

color and finish is gorgeous.

thanks.  it is one coat of rattle can spray from michael's so it was cheap, too