Weird buzzing issue

[elderer]

I apologize if this is in wrong section.

Story is kinda long so Ill just try to shorten it up.
I own Fender Standart Stratocaster.
At the moment Im stuck with this cheap Crate GT15 amp( my Tweed is away for modding) so this could also be contributing to problem.

I bought this DiMarzio Billy Corgan Prewired Pickguard. I installed it as it came here. Everything seemed to work fine at first glance and I didnt go in to deep testing.
Then I changed stock pickguard to black to have that cool tuxedo look.
So I starting testing and I noticed that Im having this really weird buzz. I wouldnt call it annoying but when not playing real hard(gentle fingerpicking) but its noticable.And its not like a typical buzz, more like typical amp hum but its gets louder and a bit harsher.


What is weird that buzz occurs ONLY when I roll on tone knobs- first knob is connected to bridge, second knob is for neck. When they are off(@1) theres no buzz, its all silent. Its almost like tone knobs with tone changing also boost up the volume of buzz.

Ive read various threads on this. Buzz occurs only in 1,3,5 positions. 2,4 cut the hum for about 70%.
And also theres small, really weak pop and I touch strings and then buzz goes away.
So I checked every possible wire on pickguard- everything seems to be wired top solid- nothing is loose, everything is shiny and clean.I multi triple checked it all- everything seems to be totally fine.
Then I checked solder point at trem claw.Its also very, very solid.
Then I checked input jack. Few days ago I noticed that its loose so I tighened it with simple twist. Afterwards I checked the wiring there and everything also seems to be fine, BUT the solder point at hot spot(white wire) looks really messy. Its all black and just doesnt look right?

Could this ouput jack be causing this buzz?
Or my crappy practice amp could be faulty of this?

[JohnH]

Hi elderer and welcome to GN2.

You know, what you describe fits in exactly with what I think most guitars do, ie it sounds normal. Most of the hum is going away in positions 2 and 4, which suggests that most of it is single coil hum. Theres always a bit of extra buzz on top, unless you are busking in a forest. That largely goes away when you ground yourself by touching the strings. Reducing the tone control also acts on these high-frequency buzzes and squashes them.

It could well be that your small practice amp has a speaker that is relatively more sensitive than your big Fender, so not while its not actually causing the issue it is revealing it more.

If it does bother you too much, you can try shielding the cavity and back of the pickguard. It should help considerably.

cheers

john

[elderer]

I see. Well anyway Im going to resolder that crappy input jack.

Everything you say seems okay and I read a lot more about this issue except for these pickups arent single coils - they are single coil sized humbuckers.

Im getting my Tweed back in few days and Im going to shield the cavity so Ill update how it went on.