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Wiring a volume pot to a piezo pick up

I've built many guitars and wired them with just a piezo pick up. Sounds great and is easy to do, with my limited electrical skills. I tried to take my builds to the next level by wiring a volume pot over the weekend. It works but there is a slight buzz. If I touch the metal on the jack it goes away, so I need a better ground. Anyone else have this problem? How can I fix it?

Thanks

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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on February 28, 2011 at 12:33pm

Ground it like you mention. That's about it.

-WY

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Permalink Reply by Big Guy Blues (Morgan) on February 28, 2011 at 12:46pm

Ground it where?

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Permalink Reply by Big Guy Blues (Morgan) on February 28, 2011 at 1:10pm

Here's how I wired it.

Attachments:

VolumePotWiring.jpg, 33 KB

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Permalink Reply by Henry Strat-o-varius Lowman on February 28, 2011 at 1:40pm

Looks right to me. Possibly a bad solder joint.

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Permalink Reply by Big Guy Blues (Morgan) on February 28, 2011 at 1:43pm

Hmmmmmmm, I've done it on 2 guitars, same problem.

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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on February 28, 2011 at 2:19pm

Agreed with Henry. Bad solder. Been there. Done that.

- WY

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Permalink Reply by Wade on February 28, 2011 at 2:30pm

probably already know this, but a little sandpaper to rough up the surface(pots, jacks) gives better adhesion to what your soldering.

Wes "Moanin' Mule" Yates said:

Agreed with Henry. Bad solder. Been there. Done that.

- WY

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Permalink Reply by Big Guy Blues (Morgan) on February 28, 2011 at 2:38pm

I'll try that, thanks. I'll let you know what happened.

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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on February 28, 2011 at 3:44pm

You know Wade, I do that but I thought that the metal the case is made of resists solder. That or has some coating from the manufacturer to resist corrosion. I dunno. I sand it up.

Also I find that the case will absorb heat too fast and the solder won't adhere/bond well enough. Again, I dunno.

-WY

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Permalink Reply by Big Guy Blues (Morgan) on February 28, 2011 at 5:19pm

The solder is stuck on there really well, I couldn't pull it off If I wanted to.

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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on March 1, 2011 at 12:38am

Bad pot? I've had that happen by applying too much heat before. Somehow it burns it up inside. How hot is the iron and/or did you have to use excessive time soldering?

-WY