Clicks when using picks (noises through the amp)

Posted by Roadkill a.k.a. John Maw on June 24, 2011 at 8:22pm

I have just strung up my first four stinger. So far is has just a humbucker pickup in it. No piezo. There are no pots for either volume or tone, just the pickup to a 1/4" jack. The strings are grounded as is a steel bar that reinforces the neck. The temporary bridge is wood, so no earthing issue there (anyway, grounding the strings should take care of that I think.

When I touch the strings with anything made out of metal (a brass slide or nickel silver finger picks) I get a click through the amp. If I use a glass slide and only my fingers I don't have any clicks. Any help would be enormously appreciated.

P.S. Just a little extra on the wiring. The green wire from the pickup goes to the live (centre contact on the jack). The black and ground to the neutral on the jack. The red and white are soldered together (which is how they came) and are insulated so as not to contact anything else.

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Tags: amp, clicks, grounding, noise, picks
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Replies

  • Roadkill a.k.a. John Maw February 29, 2012 at 2:42pm

    OK. Just in case anyone is still suffering from this problem I now have a solution (I'm sure it is only one of many solutions). Very simply don't earth the strings. I play with metal picks and sometimes a metal slide. If I play an instrument on which the strings are grounded I get clicks every time a pick or metal slide contacts the string. Remove the grounding wire and the clicks are gone. I've tried this on a couple of instruments with single coil pickups and it works.

    • jabes > Roadkill a.k.a. John Maw February 29, 2012 at 2:52pm

      huzzah! 

  • SlowHound January 3, 2012 at 8:01pm

    Success!!

    .047 capacitor did the trick.

    No more clicks.

  • SlowHound January 1, 2012 at 3:24pm

    Just talked with a friend of mine who incouraged me to add a capacitor between the postive and negative leads on my volume pot.

    Either a size .047 or .022UF to start with.

    I asked about the piezo and if he knew why, or if it might work with this problem. His thought was it would act as capacitor in its own way if ran in parallel with the pickup. He was also just waking up and made it clear he really had no idea if that was true, but that was his quick theory.

    Time to open her up.

     

     

  • Roadkill a.k.a. John Maw January 1, 2012 at 12:59pm

    OK. This is what I have found/established so far. Bear in mind that I know NOTHING about electronics (except for the fact that it exists and I know nothing - is that two things).

    The clicks happen even though the strings and other metal fittings are grounded.

    The clicks happen more with an amp connected to the mains (worst on Roland Micro Cube with transformer that on battery and happens on other mains amps).

    The clicks do happen when you touch the strings with fingers, but may be so faint as to not be heard. Using a metal slide or finger picks makes the problem much worst and may be the only reason the clicks are noticeable.

    It is nothing to do with the guitar lead, mains lead, the amp or fluorescent lighting.

    Adding one or more piezos helps (pretty much cures it) as long as they are either wired without a volume control or the volume is set all the way up.

    OK. That's it. That's all I know.

  • SlowHound January 1, 2012 at 11:57am

    Howdy all,

     

    Sorry to revisit this thread but I'm having the same issues with "click sounds".

    Single coil with one volume pot. Tried a different amps, chords and such but the problem is definitely the guitar.

    What I haven't tried is adding a piezo and or capacitor. The peizo shouldn't be an issue to add but I was curious why it would or should help (in tech terms).

    The capacitor would be another issue. Where would I place it?

    My strings are grounded from the bridge to the jack.

    Only have this issue when a metal slide's involved. It's just enough to make it an issue as I prefer using brass. No issues with glass or finger notes. No hums or ground issues outside of the metal contact clicks.

    I have another mag pup build in progress and would like to squash this little problem before moving on.

     

    Thanks.

     

     

     

     

     

  • jabes August 24, 2011 at 3:46pm
    john i'm having a similar prob with my first pup git ,hum mmmm until i touch a string no clicks tho'. will try disconnect e from bridge. good luck and thanks to all :)
  • Roadkill a.k.a. John Maw August 9, 2011 at 5:46pm

    Hi David.

    Thanks for the suggestion. I will try removing the earth as soon as I get a moment (hopefully in the next few days) and let you know.

    Thanks again for the help. All the best.

    John

    David Lloyd said:

    Hi John,

     

    The two I have to hand with piezos and magnetic pickups - one has little effect on adding the piezo (single coil with 1 piezo) and one reduces the click to some degree (1 mini humbucker 3 piezos in parallel).

     

    Out of interest have you tried it without a bridge earth as then the metal pick/metal slide will not be contacting the circuit directly when you play and touch the strings? (The trade off is how much hum you get without the earth to the strings but it maybe worth a try as the humbucker may be fine without and the piezo doesn't need it).

     

    With your current setup how feasible is it to play with the strumming hand palm touching the strings between the bridge and tailpiece?

     

    Regards,

    David

     

     

  • David L. August 9, 2011 at 6:41am

    Hi John,

     

    The two I have to hand with piezos and magnetic pickups - one has little effect on adding the piezo (single coil with 1 piezo) and one reduces the click to some degree (1 mini humbucker 3 piezos in parallel).

     

    Out of interest have you tried it without a bridge earth as then the metal pick/metal slide will not be contacting the circuit directly when you play and touch the strings? (The trade off is how much hum you get without the earth to the strings but it maybe worth a try as the humbucker may be fine without and the piezo doesn't need it).

     

    With your current setup how feasible is it to play with the strumming hand palm touching the strings between the bridge and tailpiece?

     

    Regards,

    David

     

     

  • Roadkill a.k.a. John Maw August 9, 2011 at 2:41am

    Hi David.

    Thanks for the reply.

    Yes. You are right. Touching the string (fingering) or another string does stop the click. Is there a way of using that knowledge to stop the clicking? Do you know why having the piezo in the circuit at full volume also stops the click?

This reply was deleted.