roswellj Posted July 3, 2007 Report Share Posted July 3, 2007 I know there are many topics on buzzing etc but I couldn't find an answer to my question so I shall ask here. I have a nasty buzz through my strat when plugged in. As soon as I touch the strings or the bridge the buzz dissapears. Three single coils, a tone and a 9 volt Active boost. Everything is wired correctly (as far as I can tell) the Jack is deffinately wired correctly. 57/62 fender single coils. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToneMonkey Posted July 3, 2007 Report Share Posted July 3, 2007 Personally I'm a bit of an electric numpty (which is funny, what with working as an Electrical Engineer), but have you checked the earth to the tremlo. On a strat style axe that I was torturing over the weekend, the earthwire went to the tremelo claw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roswellj Posted July 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2007 yeah, I even pulled the cover off and resoldered that connection. I also put it in a couple of other places on the claw and same problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
another doug Posted July 3, 2007 Report Share Posted July 3, 2007 Sounds like the bridge ground is correct; that is what it's supposed to do. Is the cavity shielded? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Sulzer Posted July 3, 2007 Report Share Posted July 3, 2007 I know there are many topics on buzzing etc but I couldn't find an answer to my question so I shall ask here. I have a nasty buzz through my strat when plugged in. As soon as I touch the strings or the bridge the buzz dissapears. Three single coils, a tone and a 9 volt Active boost. Everything is wired correctly (as far as I can tell) the Jack is deffinately wired correctly. 57/62 fender single coils. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks I agree you should try shielding. In an unshielded guitar, touching grounded strings can make you the shield (but an imperfect one) and thus reduce the hum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samba Pa Ti Posted July 3, 2007 Report Share Posted July 3, 2007 yeah, I even pulled the cover off and resoldered that connection. I also put it in a couple of other places on the claw and same problem. what about the other end ? it should be on the back of a pot, also shielding will help a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted July 3, 2007 Report Share Posted July 3, 2007 I don't know of any way to fix this problem. On another forum someone theorized that actually, your body is an antenna gathering radio noise and spewing it into your guitar, and when you touch the strings, YOU are grounded. Assuming that the strings are connected to jack ground and the guitar cable is good, the guitar is completely grounded when plugged in whether you touch the strings or not... so I don't think it's something you can fix with wiring. My solution is to keep my picking hand resting on the bridge. You're anchored for picking, and you're also ready to mute or palm mute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeAArthur Posted July 3, 2007 Report Share Posted July 3, 2007 What amp are we talking about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roswellj Posted July 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2007 The amp is a solid state Kustom 100w. It doesn't provide any noise to my EC strat, but that has lace sensors. This new striat has the more noisy 57/62 singles. Are there any tutorials on how to sheild the cavity? I have made this strat myself and Am still learning all the ropes... but hey its an experience right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
another doug Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 check this out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 Mainly echoing what's already been said, but adding a few thoughts: - When you touch the strings, you don't become ground... there's usually no potential for it, and you're not as good a conductor as the actual ground. So, as stated earlier, you become a part of the "shielding" material and cut some potential interference. - It's very normal for hum to be reduced when touching strings on a guitar with single-coils. - A guitar with single-coils usually has a high noise floor to begin with. You are boosting it with your active boost. And then boosting it again with the amp. It's no surprise to me that the hum will be almost unbearable. In high-gain situations in my particular apartment (a horror of EMI/RFI) even covered humbuckers and a well-shielded guitar don't completely cure it. If you have any fluorescent lights, dimmer switches, CRT monitors, or other sources of interference around, your single-coil guitar is going to be a near-impossible beast to tame. Try this: take your fingers off the strings/bridge to INTENTIONALLY get hum. Now pivot you and your guitar in different angles, and walk around in small circles, looking for a spot and angle at which the hum seems greatly reduced. Finding this spot is proof that your guitar is simply picking up interference. If your environment is that full of it, it's also being picked up on your cable. - Speaking of which, are you using a decent-quality shielded cable? - completely shielding your guitar as per another doug's link is about the 'best' you can hope for, assuming shielding is your weak link. There will still be access points for interference (the tops of your pickups, mainly), but it'll help a great deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Sulzer Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 Remember also that you should not expect too much from shielding. It takes care of the electric fields, but magnetic fields must be canceled by humbucker, dummy coil, etc. But the kind of hum that is reduced when you touch the strings is electric, and so you should be able to reduce it with shielding. Then you will turn up the gain some more and find out what is left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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