chops1983 Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 Well i just wanted to ask you electronically smart fellas a quick question. Just finished my semi hollow and whilst i was playing the guitar with a fair bit of gain today i noticed the guitar buzzing just slightly when not being played, but if you touch the strings it stops. Now before you all go "you need to ground the bridge D**khead" I did! I did pull a wire out of the TOM bushing hole and pressed it in with the bushing so it rests between the timber and bridge bushing, Then the post obviously screws into this. Now im thinking that maybe this is not getting a really good ground and thats why there's a slight buzz, but i thought there could be something else going on that you electronic experts may be able to point me towards! Your help on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Cheers Chad. P.S If theres no solution thats cool. Its not really a big deal, it is like i said "real slight" but being the person i am i would like it silent and to just be able to hear the gentle hum of my fender tube amp! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marossy Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 Well i just wanted to ask you electronically smart fellas a quick question. Just finished my semi hollow and whilst i was playing the guitar with a fair bit of gain today i noticed the guitar buzzing just slightly when not being played, but if you touch the strings it stops. Now before you all go "you need to ground the bridge D**khead" I did! I did pull a wire out of the TOM bushing hole and pressed it in with the bushing so it rests between the timber and bridge bushing, Then the post obviously screws into this. Now im thinking that maybe this is not getting a really good ground and thats why there's a slight buzz, but i thought there could be something else going on that you electronic experts may be able to point me towards! Your help on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Cheers Chad. P.S If theres no solution thats cool. Its not really a big deal, it is like i said "real slight" but being the person i am i would like it silent and to just be able to hear the gentle hum of my fender tube amp! Without knowing exactly how you wired it, all I can suggest is to double check your grounding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 (edited) His grounding is fine if touching the strings makes it go away. This is just what passive pickups do, especially single coils. The fact that your body shields it when you touch the strings suggests that you might benefit from some shielding inside the guitar. Edited April 16, 2009 by Keegan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marossy Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 His grounding is fine if touching the strings makes it go away. This is just what passive pickups do, especially single coils. The fact that your body shields it when you touch the strings suggests that you might benefit from some shielding inside the guitar. I was thinking that perhaps one or more of the pot bodies and/or the pickup selector switch body are not grounded. If that is the case, grounding those and adding shielding might help with that "slight buzz". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chops1983 Posted April 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Thanks guys. I thought as much. I would take a photo of the wiring but it is wired through the p/up and f holes so it aint happening. I did however star ground everything to the vol pot so there is one central ground. I've heard this is the better way to do it rather than having multiple ground points. I may at a later date switch a few of the longer runs to sheilded core wire. Its not to big a deal really just thought i would ask. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wood is good Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 (edited) His grounding is fine if touching the strings makes it go away. Uh, no... That IS what happens when There is a ground missing, or something ground related usually. Edited April 17, 2009 by wood is good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djhollowman Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 I would venture to suggest making sure you're not playing near electrical sockets or your computer monitor, or any other source of electrical interference; obviously the high gain setting only makes it all the more noticable. DJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marossy Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 (edited) I would venture to suggest making sure you're not playing near electrical sockets or your computer monitor, or any other source of electrical interference; obviously the high gain setting only makes it all the more noticable. DJ I agree. Flourescent lighting can also cause a buzz in the system, as well as wall warts, fans, motors, etc. His grounding is fine if touching the strings makes it go away. Uh, no... That IS what happens when There is a ground missing, or something ground related usually. That is what I thought, too. When you touch the strings, and they are not grounded, YOU become the ground... Edited April 17, 2009 by Paul Marossy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Yeah, touching the strings makes you a shield, meaning that the bridge is grounded just fine and your noise is from a lack of shielding or just inherent like hum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wood is good Posted April 18, 2009 Report Share Posted April 18, 2009 Yeah, touching the strings makes you a shield, meaning that the bridge is grounded just fine and your noise is from a lack of shielding or just inherent like hum. No, thats still not true. Your spreading confusing inaccurate information. If there is a ground missing, that will cause noise, hence why the first thing everyone asks is if they have the bridge grounded. Noise from not being shielded would be the same when touching the strings as when your not. That kind of noise/buzzing is on no matter what you touch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted April 18, 2009 Report Share Posted April 18, 2009 (edited) If the bridge is grounded though, touching the strings will reduce noise. Hence the bridge is definitely grounded. If it weren't, touching the strings would have no effect at all. I would know, I've wired a guitar both ways. And yeah, I know noise from not being shielded is the same touching the strings or not. If he's only getting noise from sitting behind the guitar and not touching the strings there's nothing wrong with the wiring, there's just some kind of noise source in the room like lights or electrical wiring and if he shielded the guitar better he wouldn't even have to touch the strings to make the noise go away. If you want the noise to go away even when you're not touching the strings, make sure all electronics are surrounded on all sides with grounded shielding tape. This will also go to reduce some noise that occurs even when you ARE touching the strings. This will NOT make the hum from single coils go away or noise that the amp already made by itself go away. Effects pedals and amplifiers pick up noise from the electrical outlets they're plugged into. You can't do much about the amp except make sure it's wired with good components, shielded wire, and the transformer wires are twisted. With effects pedals you can either get a better power supply or just use batteries, as batteries are DC already and have no inherent 50/60Hz AC hum. Edited April 18, 2009 by Keegan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chops1983 Posted April 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2009 If the bridge is grounded though, touching the strings will reduce noise. Hence the bridge is definitely grounded. If it weren't, touching the strings would have no effect at all. I would know, I've wired a guitar both ways. And yeah, I know noise from not being shielded is the same touching the strings or not. If he's only getting noise from sitting behind the guitar and not touching the strings there's nothing wrong with the wiring, there's just some kind of noise source in the room like lights or electrical wiring and if he shielded the guitar better he wouldn't even have to touch the strings to make the noise go away. If you want the noise to go away even when you're not touching the strings, make sure all electronics are surrounded on all sides with grounded shielding tape. This will also go to reduce some noise that occurs even when you ARE touching the strings. This will NOT make the hum from single coils go away or noise that the amp already made by itself go away. Effects pedals and amplifiers pick up noise from the electrical outlets they're plugged into. You can't do much about the amp except make sure it's wired with good components, shielded wire, and the transformer wires are twisted. With effects pedals you can either get a better power supply or just use batteries, as batteries are DC already and have no inherent 50/60Hz AC hum. Im sorry fellas but i have to agree with KEEGAN here. My wiring is very methodical and i definately didn't miss a ground. I checked about half a dozen times as its a mission to fit all the hardware in there positions. There is however a run from the 3way toggle switch to the volume pot, probably about 200mm that i should have used shielded cable but i thought i would try normal wire first as i don't have any shielded cable at the moment. Next time i restring the guitar i will rewire that run and im confident that this should fix that very slight buzzing. I originally thought the noise was my tube amp because it sounds like a low buzz from a cranked tube amp but when i touch the strings or turn the volume down it goes, so i think we have worked it out that it is the guitar and most likely interference from a long unshielded run. Since this guitar has two humbuckers i thought it would be fine, but it does pick up a little interference and i will fix it. Thanks for all the replys lads, I can always count on PG! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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