ByronBlack Posted January 19, 2008 Report Share Posted January 19, 2008 I just completed my wiring today (only 1 pickup so far to test it all out), it kinds of works, but my volume knob acts like a weak tone control, I've triple checked my wiring and it's all exactly as per the seymour duncan website (2 humbuckers, 1 tone, 1 volume). I havn't added my ground wire to the bridge yet, but can't see that would change the volume behaviour? Any idea's? I'm a real complete newb at this, so maybe I'm missing something! Cheers, EDIT: Fixed it, I forgot to ground the volume knob, doh! However, I still have two small issues, the first being, even though the ground wire is attached to my bridge, I still get major hum/static until I touch the bare pot or a pickup screw, I'm assuming this is a grounding issue, but where I do start in figuring this out? Secondly, I seem to get fluctuations of volume when playing, sometimes it goes up and then sometimes it goes down, I can't see any problems with the wiring as it seems to be fine overall, just an odd fluctuation that is hard to replicate, any idea's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByronBlack Posted January 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2008 Ok, I've sorted out the volume fluctuation problem - that was dodgy cable. So, just need to sort out the excessive hum/grounding issue. I've wired in all the grounds as per the wiring diagram from SDs website, and have the ground wire going from my bridge to the back of the pot with the other ground wires, is there something I'm missing? Secondly, i have the copper foil wire insulation to put in, do I put that on all sides and the bottom of the cavity, or just the sides, and should it also go in the pickup cavities? Please help an electronics donkey! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByronBlack Posted January 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 Is there really no one that can help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHowell Posted January 21, 2008 Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 Make sure all your grounds are going to one point. (read up on star grounding) If not you could have a ground loop causing your hum! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByronBlack Posted January 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 HI Keith, I've got my grounds wired up as this diagram shows: http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wirin...tic=2h_1v_1t_3w Is that going to cause a ground loop? Should I change my wiring away from what this says? Thanks for the response Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHowell Posted January 22, 2008 Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 Diagram looks fine. Make sure none of your solder joints are dry. The back of the pots are usually a problem if you dont rough them up with bit of sandpaper or a file and then use a powerful enough iron to solder. I find smearing a bit of flux on the pot before soldering is preferable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByronBlack Posted January 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 Hi keith, I re-wired some of the connections to the pots, and it seems a lot better. The only job I have left is to insulate the cavity with the copper as I still get a little hum, but the ground issue is much better so thanks for the tip. On first look, the connections seemed fine, I had no problem soldering to the pot, but one of the ground wires was a little 'dry' so I re-solderd that one and it seems to have done the trick. However, here's another minor problem. At the moment my string ground wire is actually attached to my tailpiece and is in one of the string holes so the wire is actually touching the string, I have had to do this because the hardware I have seems to have been coated with non-conductive black paint. Even when I scratch a little off on the underside it still doesn't work because the strings are also sitting on said paint inside the tailpiece, without drilling out the hole to expose the metal of the tailpiece, is there a better way to ground the strings on a tune-o-matic setup? It's probably my fault for going for a cheaper make of hardware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHowell Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 What I do is drill a hole from the control cavity into the TOM bridge post hole. I then push a piece of stranded wire with the end bared through to the post hole, then knock the post into place making sure of course that the wire pinches tightly between the wood and the post. Provided the post is conductive it works fine. You would probably have to clean the post up and remove some of the non-conductive layer otherwise, but if the whole bridge is covered in non-conductive black crap you could have a problem! Perhaps clean it off by stripping the bridge and putting all the parts in paint stripper then get the bare metal chromed somewhere. I don't know what that would cost you in your part of the world. The place around here had a minimum charge of around R50 (around 3 UK Pounds) about 10 years back so it might just pay you to buy a new TOM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByronBlack Posted January 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2008 Keith - you've probably confirmed what I originally thought, the TOM is an inferior cheaply made one with non-conductive materials, it might just be worth my while buying a better outfit, thanks for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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