Buzz coming through the amplifer

[GeorgeK2200]

Hi,

I am wondering if someone could provide me with some help please. I am working on. TLA telecaster kit and I am getting an electrical buzz from the guitar when I plug in the amp. I can reduce the noise level by turning up the guitar volume and turning down the tone? I have checked the wiring to make sure the solder joints are ok and I have insulated any exposed earth wires. However, this has not fixed the problem.

Not sure if the pickups or control switches as supplied with the kit could have an issue?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

George

[WeirdBits]

Does the hum/buzz change when you touch the strings or the knobs/control plate? Having the hot and ground wires swapped on the output jack can cause one type of hum, so it's always good to check that.

Is it a factory wired control plate or have you upgraded some of the parts and re-wired? Have you added shielding to the control cavity? Is there a ground wire to the bridge? Does the switch position affect the hum?

Photos of the wiring often helps with diagnosing wiring gremlins.

[Simon Barden]

In addition to what Wierdy said, have you got any other guitars, especially with single coils? If so, do they exhibit the same buzz as the TLA? Just trying to exclude a common source of noise causing the buzz (like fluorescent lights or dimmer switches). Sitting too near the amp can often induce a hum. If you've only got humbuckers on other guitars, then a certain amount of noise pickup from single coils is common, but normally the level changes as you rotate the guitar (and can get to almost zero at the right angle).

Also, I wouldn't trust using the cheap guitar lead that comes with the kit, as they normally have very poor shielding. They work in a noise-free environment, but let in a lot of electrical noise if it's around. You don't need to spend a fortune on a guitar lead but anything new from say around A$20 should be OK.

[GeorgeK2200]

Hi,

This is factory wired unit as comes with the TLA kit. The lead I am using is not the one that comes with the kit. Ground wire to the bridge is in tact and I have put a meter across each component to see if they are earthed correctly.

The only thing I have noticed is that if I put the meter across from the lead jack from the earth to the live I do get a reading? May the jack is faulty?

The buzz is consistent regardless of any switching positions.

This is my second TLA kit and I did not have this issue with the previous one.

Thanks,

George

[Simon Barden]

Thanks for getting back so quickly, George.

You will always get the pickup resistance (plus the pot resistance in parallel) when you measure across the live and ground, so you should be getting somewhere in the region of a 6k to 10k ohm DC reading (depending on the pickup resistance). It's not a balanced output, so the ground is also part of the signal path, which is why you are getting a resistance reading.

Some pictures of the control cavity wiring are now definitely going to be required.

However, I'd just check that the output jack nut on the guitar is nice and tight. I've had noise issues in the past when the jack socket became loose from the jack plate. Not sure why, but it did.

[GeorgeK2200]

[

Hi and thanks for your feedback.

I have also been advised that there may be an issue with one of the solder joints (which I will recheck again) or I may need to put some shielding in the cavities. This then poses a new question, where can I get the shielding material and how is it installed and does it mean I need to install it it around both pick ups, the jack plug and also the main control panel?

Again, any help will be much appreciated.

Thanks and regards,

George

QUOTE=Simon Barden;145371]Thanks for getting back so quickly, George.

You will always get the pickup resistance (plus the pot resistance in parallel) when you measure across the live and ground, so you should be getting somewhere in the region of a 6k to 10k ohm DC reading (depending on the pickup resistance). It's not a balanced output, so the ground is also part of the signal path, which is why you are getting a resistance reading.

Some pictures of the control cavity wiring are now definitely going to be required.

However, I'd just check that the output jack nut on the guitar is nice and tight. I've had noise issues in the past when the jack socket became loose from the jack plate. Not sure why, but it did.[/QUOTE]

[GeorgeK2200]

Hi every one,

Thanks for your input to my buzzing problem. The good news is I have "Fixed" it! I was going to shield all of the cavities with copper tape however, I decided to re check all of my solder points for about the 6th time before commencing the shielding process.

What I found was that the earth wire on the input jack is made up of many FINE wire filaments and a couple of them had broken (very difficult to see) and were touching the active wire on the jack.

Thankfully the problem is solved and the guitar sounds great (at the moment).

Thanks,

George

[FrankenWashie]

Good result there George, often it's little things like that, which can create some awful problems. Good that you went through and analysed things step by step as well.

[Simon Barden]

Good news, George. It's still worth getting some copper tape and shielding the cavities because single coils will pick up electrical noise, and shielding does significantly reduce the amount picked up. The only thing to be careful of is again whiskers of wire from signal cables that end up touching the shielding and grounding out the signal. But hopefully after your inspection there aren't any more, so you should be fine.