Help! I'm getting buzzed..............

So, I took that new gold humbucker and installed it in my latest build--visions of that lovely silence humbuckers are noted for.

Used a 500k pot and standard mono jack. Soldered the braided wire from the pickup and the negative side of the jack to the back of the pot. Also soldered a short lead from the right-most lug (viewed from the back) of the pot to the back of the pot.

The positive output of the pickup was soldered to the left-most lug of the pot and the positive lead from the jack to the center lug of the pot.

Popped an audio cord into the git and into my Pignose--ready for that sweet sound of a new build. Turned on the amp and.............there is was. The dreaded hum/buzz we all know.

Went back with a digital ohmmeter and checked the continuity from the braided wire to the output jack. Zero ohms, good ground. Checked from the ground lug of the pot to the back of the pot case, same thing, zero ohms. Checked from the metal body of the pickup to the back of pot, again good ground.

I even tried bypassing the pot in case it was rough or crappy internally. No change.

Grounded the strings. No change.

Tried a very short audio cable in case the 15 footer was acting as an antenna. No help.

Went to battery power on the amp and a little hum was lost. Tells me how clean a wal-wart is. Still an ugly hum persisted.

Then, quite by accident, I touched the body of the pickup with my finger. Odd.......the hum all but disappeared (maybe I'm the antenna). Having no personal pride at this point, I took a two-foot test lead and clipped it to the body of the pickup and tucked the other end into my pants (not too far down). I now had a connection from my body to the body of the pickup and there was silence at last.

Strummed, played a tune or two waiting for the hum to sneak back into my speaker. Nothing, just a nice sounding pickup. Then, I pulled the test lead from the pickup. There it was again....hum.

At this point, I'm scratching my scalp (not much hair up there these days) wondering what I missed, what I could do differently. I even pulled out my old electrical circuit tester and made sure my wall outlets were wired correctly and properly grounded.

Oh yea. I tuned out all the lights just to be sure. No help there.

Finally, I pulled out my daily-player (single wound pickup) and plugged it in. There was a slight hum, but not as loud as with the new build. just out of curiosity, I touched the pickup body with a finger.......damn! the buzz disappeared. In the several months I've been playing this one, I never noticed this.

So,what's going on? Am I going to need to wear a grounding strap on my wrist for the rest of my life?

Does anyone have any experience with a hum/buzz when everything appears to be proper wired and grounded?

Replies

Kevin Sprague (Knotlenny) March 25, 2015 at 7:25am

you could use this thread to make an excellent flow chart of how run a buzz stopping diagnosis. Most of it went way over my head. I may have to refer back. I usually just change cords, scratch my head and appeal to the CBG Gods for intercession
Scott McGilliard March 25, 2015 at 2:59am

I had the same problem with the buzz and everything seemed to be grounded. I added 2 more grounding wires for this build, one from the pot to the hard tail bridge. And another from the back side of the humbucker pickup to the back of the vol pot. With only one or the other, it didn't help much, But with both it solved the problem. I have another one with a buzz that I grounded to the strings, but still a buzz. I'm going to go back in and ground from the backside of the pickups to the pot and I think that will solve it.
- Tom T > Scott McGilliard March 25, 2015 at 6:22am
  
  Thanks Scott.
  
  I've used jumpers to add grounds before, but will give you suggestion a try. The most effective thing so far is the double-shielded cord I picked up.
gary sheldon March 21, 2015 at 7:28pm

I would suggest you temporarily move the git/amp to a different enviornment. See if the hum is caused by something in the house or room. You said that you turned off the lights. However light dimmers can be a noise source, as can flourescent lights. Even possibly from another room.
- Tom T > gary sheldon March 21, 2015 at 7:54pm
  
  Thanks Gary.
  
  I'll give it a try in the music room in the house. Nice areas with no fluorescent lights.
Bad Finger (Eric) March 20, 2015 at 12:54pm

Check to ensure you have strictly used star grounding to a single point. No double-backs or chains. No loops.
- Tom T > Bad Finger (Eric) March 20, 2015 at 1:19pm
  
  Thanks Eric.
  
  I always ground everything to the back of the pot which I pre-tin so connections are easy.
  
  I think the thicker cable is doing the trick.
Cause the Blue rat March 19, 2015 at 10:42pm

I'd say play it with the wire down your pants. If it works don't fix it... : )
- darryl kernaghan > Cause the Blue rat March 19, 2015 at 11:05pm
  
  does that constitute getting a hummer?
  - Tom T > darryl kernaghan March 20, 2015 at 7:30am
    
    Okay, Daryl.
    
    You win the quick response prize hands down. Very good..................

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