Rockhorst Posted January 2, 2011 Report Share Posted January 2, 2011 (edited) Hi all, Today I installed a pair of humbuckers in a LTD MH superstrat, according to this diagram from Dimarzio. The diagram doesn't mention a ground wire from pot to bridge, but I've installed it anyway, as an attempt to solve the problem described below (didn't help much). One other thing is different: I did not connect a tone pot (hate 'em). So, the problem is this: pickups do function and give a nice output. However, compared to any other humbucker guitar I have (including some quite overwound ones) both pickups are way to noisy. Touching anything connected to ground (strings, volume pot) makes the noise disappear. So far, it sound like a normal grounding issue. I didn't cut the wire bundle to size, so it's quite a lot of wire cramped into the control cavity. I've (double) checked the ground connections. Strange things I notice: touching the plastic of the wire from pot to jack (with my finger in the control cavity) increases the noise. Also (and this really confuses me) touching the tone pot increases the noise greatly. This seems strange to me since the tonepot is just there for cosmetic purposes: it's NOT connected to anything in the circuit! Suggestions, anything I might be overlooking? Considering just desoldering everything and start over, with shorter wires...but I hope someone can save me the time by making a smart remark Much appreciated. Edited January 2, 2011 by Rockhorst Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted January 2, 2011 Report Share Posted January 2, 2011 Hi all, Today I installed a pair of humbuckers in a LTD MH superstrat, according to this diagram from Dimarzio. The diagram doesn't mention a ground wire from pot to bridge, but I've installed it anyway, as an attempt to solve the problem described below (didn't help much). One other thing is different: I did not connect a tone pot (hate 'em). So, the problem is this: pickups do function and give a nice output. However, compared to any other humbucker guitar I have (including some quite overwound ones) both pickups are way to noisy. Touching anything connected to ground (strings, volume pot) makes the noise disappear. So far, it sound like a normal grounding issue. I didn't cut the wire bundle to size, so it's quite a lot of wire cramped into the control cavity. I've (double) checked the ground connections. Strange things I notice: touching the plastic of the wire from pot to jack (with my finger in the control cavity) increases the noise. Also (and this really confuses me) touching the tone pot increases the noise greatly. This seems strange to me since the tonepot is just there for cosmetic purposes: it's NOT connected to anything in the circuit! Suggestions, anything I might be overlooking? Considering just desoldering everything and start over, with shorter wires...but I hope someone can save me the time by making a smart remark Much appreciated. Jack sounds like it is wired the wrong way around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borge Posted January 2, 2011 Report Share Posted January 2, 2011 nope....that'd result in increased noise when he touches the strings, quite the opposite of what's happening... I hope you have a multi meter, Trying to fault find electronics without a meter is a huge waste of time. You can get one for $10 and find 99% of faults within a few minutes without even opening the guitar up. do the tests in the third post of this thread: http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=44468 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhorst Posted January 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2011 (edited) Jack is definitely wired correctly. Got a meter, so I'll run through those checks today. Last day of my holidays, so I hope I can fix it. Edit: those reading all check out! Edited January 2, 2011 by Rockhorst Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwedishLuthier Posted January 2, 2011 Report Share Posted January 2, 2011 A couple od Q's: - Are you using DiMarzios? If not you probably need to swap color codes. - Do you have a shielding tape or conductive paint that the tone pot might touch (inside of control cavity)? If so that might explain the bussing from touching the non connected tone pot. A picture might also help... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhorst Posted January 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2011 A couple od Q's: - Are you using DiMarzios? If not you probably need to swap color codes. - Do you have a shielding tape or conductive paint that the tone pot might touch (inside of control cavity)? If so that might explain the bussing from touching the non connected tone pot. A picture might also help... Using an EVO 2 and and Air Norton, both Dimarzio. Good sounding combi by the way. No conductive paint or tape. The pot really isn't touching anything. Like I said, the insides are a bit messy due to long wires, so I'd doubt a photo might help. I did notice that touching the metal parts of the pickup switch causes the same noise as touching the tone pot. That might be a clue. If I can fix that, I'm happy, since on clean settings there really isn't that much noise (guess it was late last nigt). So can somebody help me with that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhorst Posted January 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2011 Got it (well, at least part): cavity was sprayed with (carbon?) paint. This has a resistance of a few hundreds of kOhm. Guess that's what made the connection from tonepot to circuit. Grounded the tone pot and switch to the volume pot now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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