Right wire for input jack??

[rahyanka]

Hello,

A few days ago I modified my strat following the rules of the quieting the beast method. I actually let somebody else do the soldering and all went well. The only thing is that I haven't noticed a significant reduction in hum.

Here's my question: is it possible that the wire connected to the jack is not the most suitable one (the second wire is wrapped around the shield of the first one and shielded itself). I've included a picture so you can see which wire was used. If my assumption is right then which wire is better and could you describe how that kind of wire looks like?

[UnklMickey]

your question is about as difficult to understand as the stuff i write. it's nice that you sent a photo, but it's really hard to get a sharp close-up on most cameras. yours obviously is no exception. can't really tell from the photo whats going on with the shield on the right side.

as best i can decipher from your question, the shielded wire you are using is the foil type, with a bare ground wire under a layer of foil. don't much care for this stuff, mainly 'cause it's clumsy to work with. stranded wire, covered by medium thick insulation, covered by woven shield, covered by another layer of insulation is the configuration of the shielded cable i typically use.

my guess is the cable you're using isn't a real issue though.

do you have a RWRP pup in your middle position?

do you typically use just one pick-up?

the reason i ask: SC pups are terribly susceptible to hum. unless you use two of them together in the right orientation they are huge in terms of hum compared with just about any poor practice you might use in your wiring 'cept maybe exchanging the hot for the ground on your output jack.

so in relation to modern strat (factory) wiring, expect to hear some improvement in the amount of hum in the B+M or N+M position with the QTB. (if your middle is RWRP). in the other positions, there is so much hum from the pups that the QTB won't seem to make a difference.

IMHO your best situation would be with a QTB and a set of stacked humbucking "SC" pups

[rahyanka]

Let me be more clear about the type of wire. From the inside out: a solid conductor, insulation, copper shield, insulation. On the picture the solid conductor is connected to the left and the copper shield is connected to the right.

Furthermore, I usually play in neck or bridge position. I'm not sure if there's a RWRP pup in middle position. All I can tell is that there's no hum when I'm in B+M or N+M position.

[UnklMickey]

allrighty then, nothing wrong with that kind of cable for inside the guitar.

your hum results are just what you expect with a RWRP in the middle. the hum is quiet when you pair the middle with the bridge or the neck. use the result of how quiet that is vs. how much hum you had before in those same positions to evaluate how much the QTB did for you.

as to when you're using neck only or bridge only, or middle only, there isn't much you can do to improve that situation with shielding. the hum from the pickup is BIG, and you don't have an out-of-phase coil to cancel it.

thats where noiseless pickups come in. another coil stacked underneath the whole assembly that cancels the hum picked up by the main coil. it's away from the strings so it doesn't cancel the signal from the strings. a bit different approach at achieving the same goal as a HB.

each noiseless pup has hum cancellation on it's own, and is not dependent on being paired with another pup.

if you want to keep your sound as close as possible to the traditional SC timbre, those are probably your best choice. the SC size humbuckers with 2 thin coils side by side, sound way different. not like a SC, but not like a full sized HB either.


good luck,

U.M.

[rahyanka]

Thanks alot - you've been a great help!