First Post, About To Cry I Had A Bad Night, Help Appreciated :)

[Gwedo]

Hi all

first post here and first of many i am sure great forum will help me loads with my disaster...sorry i mean project

I am currently putting together my first ever guitar from bits of Ebay bits here and there, basically a cheap flying V of unknown origin.

Spec is simple as it gets, 1 Volume and a Seymour Duncan Distortion Pickup thats it! my wiring skills have always been iffy but i was determined to get it right so i followed this diagram here

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/schem.../1hum_1vol.html

Now i have done this, there is one bit i am confused about thou, It is that solder point on the far left of the volume pot, should i take a wire to ground from there? as thats what i have done. If i run tap a screw driver on the pickup it registers it but i m getting background hum and very bad hum if i touch the tune o matic bridge piece with my hand, the guitar is not strung at all just a body and electrics.

I have grounded it in the tune o matic mounting hole, just wrapped it round the post and shoved it in the hole as i cant get the solder to take at all, will this work? ( i bet your laughing right about now) I can ground it to the tail piece as the wire would show, well with the current scratch plate anyway.

Sorry to babble on lol oh and the melting thing.....i left the soldering iron near my scratch plate and its melted the tip pf the flying v clean off it wasn't even that near!! i can sort that out thou, electrics on the other hand i cant lol

Cheers for any help

Gwedo

[crafty]

Sounds like you might have a ground loop. Solder all the grounds to a common point, like the left lug of the volume pot, then solder the bridge ground wire to the left lug too. So your green and bare wires, the ground from the output jack, the bridge ground wire, and the left lug of the volume should be connected together. It should fix the problem, and the way you grounded to the bridge is just fine, too.

Edited May 29, 2006 by crafty

[JoeAArthur]

Now i have done this, there is one bit i am confused about thou, It is that solder point on the far left of the volume pot, should i take a wire to ground from there? as thats what i have done. If i run tap a screw driver on the pickup it registers it but i m getting background hum and very bad hum if i touch the tune o matic bridge piece with my hand, the guitar is not strung at all just a body and electrics.

Sounds right to me. However if you are picking up hum when you touch a grounded component make sure you have the wires to the correct lug on the output jack. The ground wire should connect to the tab at the far back or inside of the jack. You should be able to see that the ground lug connects to the middle shaft portion where the hot side is usually "hidden" under a washer... at least with an open frame jack.

I have grounded it in the tune o matic mounting hole, just wrapped it round the post and shoved it in the hole as i cant get the solder to take at all, will this work? ( i bet your laughing right about now) I can ground it to the tail piece as the wire would show, well with the current scratch plate anyway.

If it's a good solid contact it should work fine. It is very difficult to solder to the posts and most do not attempt.