dkijc
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Post by dkijc on Sept 2, 2008 9:32:47 GMT -5
Hey y'all, How are ya ? ;D I wanted to ask the guitar geniuses a noob question. I recently bought a squire strat too mess around with and decided to put in my 58s and 61s I purchased few months ago. (yes... i DID get the squire to put my pups cuz my silhouette special was fitted with fralin pups and did not want to mess with my EJ strat. ) I think I soldered everything correctly as I searched online and with the help of Mr_sooty, but to no avail I get a 60cycle hum with these supposedly noiseless pups. I have my pups red to the switches and green(ground) on the tone knob. I also have the tone knobs going to the ground by copper wires. (I did solder it on the volume pod, at first, but there were too much things going on that one pod so I placed it on the tone knob, which, as I mentioned before, is grounded) www.flickr.com/photos/dkijc/2820959529/in/photostream/I checked the output jack and the bridge, seems they are properly grounded. (unless there is something going on where I cannot see) I asked a DiMarzio's tech and sent me this pic: www.flickr.com/photos/dkijc/2820959553/seems like there is a grounding cable from the 5way switch... would I'm gonna try that later but would that make a difference? Thank you so much!
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Post by D2o on Sept 2, 2008 10:30:13 GMT -5
Hi dk, and WELCOME! to GN2! They'll be along sometime, and I'll see what I can do in the meantime. Your photo is great, but I can't tell everything from the one angle. I had prepared a short story and then decided to cut to the chase ... Your wiring is probably okay, but your pickup ground wires need to go to the back of the volume pot, not the tone pot. Try that and see what happens. Also, with respect to the blue and red wires between the pots: I don't know if each is a seperate wire, but you shoud run only one wire from the back of the volume pot to the back of the first tone pot to the back of the second tone pot. Before we go further, let us know if that clears up your hum issue. DD
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dkijc
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Post by dkijc on Sept 2, 2008 11:08:49 GMT -5
Hi, thanks for the welcome, kind sir =D
and, "(I did solder it on the volume pod, at first, but there were too much things going on that one pod so I placed it on the tone knob, which, as I mentioned before, is grounded) "
yes, i did have it on the volume pod when I first soldered it and it had the hum so I decided to clean things up and (hoping) the hum will go away by putting on the tone knob.. which obviously didn't (which, I already knew.. but just tried, anyway. that's what noobs do.. haha)
and regarding the red and blue??? hahahha sorry but those are just my markings for the picture, just the blue line is covering my copper wires. the red ones are there to show that it is grounded... (through the blue(copper) wire)
ps. you can click on "all sizes" on top of the picture to zoom in.. it's pretty large and you'll know what I mean by the red and the blue LINES.. not wires.. hehe
sorry for the poor illustration =p
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Post by D2o on Sept 2, 2008 12:07:08 GMT -5
You are welcome. And your photo is very good, not at all poor - it's just hard to see without shots from multiple angles, that's all. Sorry, dk, I must have missed that little detail about the volume pot before - so it was on the volume pot and still hummmed, huhhh? ... hmmm ... Nevertheless, it should still go on the volume pot, but since it hummed even with it on there there is something else afoot. Seeing as you have the guitar there, I am going to give you a link to a typical strat's wiring: www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=3s_1v_2t_5wThe switch is not the same layout as yours, so just ignore the switch part of the SeymourDuncan diagram. For now, I am going to ask you to check a few things out to see if anything has been missed. 1) While you must connect the two tone pots, it is not the capacitor that is supposed to do that. The leg of the capacitor that is connected to the outermost pot should be connected to the back of the tone pot nearest the volume pot, and you should run a seperate small piece of wire to connect the appropriate terminals of the two tone pots. 2) You have two black wires soldered on to the back of volume pot - I assume one is the tremolo/bridge ground and the other goes from the back of the pot to the output jack sleeve (ground), correct? Is the tremolo/bridge ground wire solidly attached/soldered to the tremolo/bridge? 3) In the diagram you were given, it does appear that a ground wire is required between the back of the volume pot and one of the poles of the switch, doesn't it? Better do it. 4) Have you run a jumper between the two middle terminals on the switch (again, I just can't quite make it out - not your fault). 5) There are no issues with output levels or the like, are there? 6) When you touch the strings or anything metal does the hum get louder or diminish? Sorry for all the questions, but it should help us to zero in on things. DD P.S. Thanks, I did enlarge your excellent photo, but was still unsure ... it's always easier when one can view things up close and personal, from multiple angles.
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dkijc
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Post by dkijc on Sept 2, 2008 13:03:57 GMT -5
1) While you must connect the two tone pots, it is not the capacitor that is supposed to do that. The leg of the capacitor that is connected to the outermost pot should be connected to the back of the tone pot nearest the volume pot, and you should run a seperate small piece of wire to connect the appropriate terminals of the two tone pots. Funny, it actually came like that. I thought it was strange but I guess the logic made sense... they saved a piece of jumper by just having one leg go through both tone pods... haha. So, you are saying, I should de-solder it from the outer tone and just have the capacitor stay connected on the inner tone knob? (one leg to the back of the pod and the other in the switch/pole/whatever =P) 2) You have two black wires soldered on to the back of volume pot - I assume one is the tremolo/bridge ground and the other goes from the back of the pot to the output jack sleeve (ground), correct? Is the tremolo/bridge ground wire solidly attached/soldered to the tremolo/bridge? Yes, they are properly soldered (I even made sure the hot wire went to the correct spot on the output jack... doubt fender will mess that up.. I mean squire lol) 3) In the diagram you were given, it does appear that a ground wire is required between the back of the volume pot and one of the poles of the switch, doesn't it? Better do it. It doesn't seem like from any pole.. just the body to the ground. (I took my lunch break.. went home.. did the jumper from the switch's body to the ground.. still not working.) 4) Have you run a jumper between the two middle terminals on the switch (again, I just can't quite make it out - not your fault). Yes, it is.. apparently the lens wanted to blur that part out, good. hahaha my apologies~ =D 5) There are no issues with output levels or the like, are there? Nope.. 6) When you touch the strings or anything metal does the hum get louder or diminish? When I touch any metal that is either directly or indirectly touching the guitar the hum diminishes... not fully but to a point where i'd consider noiseless. (The reason why I'm saying this is because, i have a lindy fralin's on my silhouette special and that has barely ANY noise coming out. The pickguard does seem to have shielding, though.. and weird wiring with ernie ball's patented object... lol...that's besides the point, I guess, because these pups are supposedly noiseless without any outside help, unless I read something wronge ) so...I'm comparing the two. [EDIT] DiMarzio guy got back to me saying, "Shortening the lead wires may reduce the noise"... I'm gonna give it a whirl but, is that true? by shortening the wires, it will greatly improve the suppression of the noise? ps.. I do have long wires.. I didn't cut anything from the original length... assuming that's what they gave, and that's what the pups can handle..
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Post by D2o on Sept 2, 2008 13:39:02 GMT -5
Hi dk, I am not really sure what the issue is at this point. It's not likely heightened expectations - that wouldn't explain the hum reduction when you touch metal. By the same token then, if it's a grounding issue, shielding - on it's own - won't fix it ... but ... How much time do you have on your hands? DD
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Post by D2o on Sept 2, 2008 13:42:54 GMT -5
I wouldn't do that - it does nothing that cannot be better solved by shielding, and it still doesn't explain the hum diminishing when you touch anything metal. Hang tight, dk. Those geniuses you were calling for will be along soon enough. DD
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dkijc
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Post by dkijc on Sept 2, 2008 13:59:20 GMT -5
You WERE one of those geniuses~ Thanks so much!
I'm trying to go to the tech soon.. Want to get this out of my system, as soon as possible.. I also hope HE knows what the problem is... hahaha
I'm sure you could've helped me too, but of course, without seeing it physically it's hard for me to explain, and it's hard for you to understand, etc.
I shall wait for OTHER geniuses and hopefully it will be fixed..
Funny thing is, I love the sound of this pickups and if it didn't mention of being noiseless, I wouldn't have cared for the noise.. heck my $1500+ EJ strat is a beast with the noise! BUt, gotta love them tone! =D Though it broke my financial outcome, temporarily.. >=)
Thanks, again and god bless, mate!
ps.I'll have a read at the shielding but... yes, lets see if I do have the time to do it.. haha
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Post by D2o on Sept 2, 2008 14:11:48 GMT -5
You are most gracious, dk. Sorry I haven't come up with any solution yet.
But just because I can't figure out what it is yet doesn't mean someone else won't come along and get it right - so stick around.
I suppose that, if all else fails, even if you were to simply shield the guitar and leave everything else bone stock, it will still reduce hum levels.
DD
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Post by lpf3 on Sept 2, 2008 18:16:55 GMT -5
Let me vigorously agree with that one . I've just finished my Tele mod which included shielding & some experimenting - I ended up going back to stock switching , but the shielding - yeah , well worth it . I've noticed that , I get no hum out of my amp unless I'm about 3 or 4 feet from it , even then its faint . And when recording I don't see it on the meters & don't hear it in the 'phones .
I'll reitterate what everyone's been sayin all along .
Shielding works .
-lpf3
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dkijc
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Post by dkijc on Sept 2, 2008 19:14:00 GMT -5
Thanks! It is working fine, now!!... or should I say, it's been working fine?? hmm who knows? I took it to the tech and gave it a go... no hum... with gain cranked up... I took it to other amps in the store... no hum with gain cranked... strange... the tech told me, maybe there is something going on with the outlet... or if I am close to flourescent light... Though, I didn't get any hum in the store.. I'm just bedazzled by no noise coming out of my silhouette special... but that guitar, from the beginning, was designed with no noise in mind so I think that guitar has a phantom wiring and found out that guitar also is shielded... maybe that's why there was no hum even if there was something going on inside... with that in mind.. I'll strongly have to agree, yes.. I definitely should shield my guitar. (I can't do ernie ball's special wiring, ^^; Thanks for all the time you guys put!! It seems like I struggled for nothing but I did get to talk to fine ppl and the importance of shielding~ =D god bless! I'll be hanging around~ hahaha
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Post by mr_sooty on Sept 2, 2008 19:48:35 GMT -5
Like I've said to you before, I get no hum from these pickups - but then again, I did sheild my Strat pretty well before I got them. This was an attempt to control the hum from the standard single coils that were in the guitar before, and while it helps a lot, the noise was still a problem in certain venues, so I got the Dimarzios. Obviously my guitar is still sheilded, so maybe that contributes to me not having any noise issues at all.
Glad you're feeling better about your noise level, but still, with those pickups you shouldn't really have any.
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