Posted by Rose Ericson on March 10, 2017 at 8:26pm
Well hello I am new to this group. I just soldered a pickup for the first time and I plugged it in and it works, wow. It is a single coil pickup and I hear a slight humm.I have double checked the ground and everything seems good. I was trying to make my first solder as easy as possible so I went from pickup to jack nothing else. Here is my question, my tail peice is metal. If I put a wire from the tail piece to the ground on the jack will this help the humm. Thanks for your help
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Your strings should be grounded as David L said and they can be subject to RF interference from fluorescent lights,computers,fans, electrical wiring and switches in your house. Non shielded wiring in your git can be a problem as well as feedback from the space in the box. Bad cables or amp problems can also cause hum.
Regardless of all that, Single coil pickups give 60 cycle hum(noise) unless you have a noiseless pickup. So you'll have some hum to put up with regardless. There are ways around that, but it's involved.
So I have grounded the strings, I have shielded the inside and guess what.....the humm is gone!!!!! BOOM You guys Rock!!! Thanks to both of you for your help!
People usually ground the strings (like you suggest) if it is a single coil pickup. Being a single coil it will still pick up mains hum from nearby electronics - eco bulbs and computers for example, but grounding the strings does help.
Replies
Your strings should be grounded as David L said and they can be subject to RF interference from fluorescent lights,computers,fans, electrical wiring and switches in your house. Non shielded wiring in your git can be a problem as well as feedback from the space in the box. Bad cables or amp problems can also cause hum.
Regardless of all that, Single coil pickups give 60 cycle hum(noise) unless you have a noiseless pickup. So you'll have some hum to put up with regardless. There are ways around that, but it's involved.
Some things you can do to prevent problems.
Line the inside of your box with aluminum tape or copper shielding tape.
Twist your + and - wires to create a shield or replace with shielded wires.
Put a piece of double sided tape across the bottom of your pickup(cheap way to help with feedback).
Get rid of hum by installing a dummy coil.(Wiring another pickup that's rwrp of the other in series and has the magnets removed)
No problem. Ask away if you need help or suggestions.
Glad to be of help.
People usually ground the strings (like you suggest) if it is a single coil pickup. Being a single coil it will still pick up mains hum from nearby electronics - eco bulbs and computers for example, but grounding the strings does help.
Regards,
David L.