Thu Dec 02, 2010 7:51 pm
Thu Dec 02, 2010 8:08 pm
Thu Dec 02, 2010 8:41 pm
GuitarDisciple wrote:I purchased a 2010 Legacy which I had custom ordered. Here’s how it was originally configured:
PICKUPS 2 G&L Alnico V single coil pickups, 1 Seymour Duncan JB Humbucker
BODY WOOD Alder
NECK WOOD Vintage Tinted - Hard Rock Maple with Maple Board with "soft V" neck profile
NECK RADIUS 12" (304.8mm)
NECK WIDTH AT NUT 1 5/8" (41.3mm)
FRET WIRE Medium Jumbo 6100
TUNING KEYS 16:1 ratio locking machines, sealed lubrication, adjustable knob tension
BRIDGE G&L Dual Fulcrum vibrato with chrome-plated brass saddles
CONTROLS 5 position pickup selector plus mini-toggleswitch enabling additional pickup combinations of neck+bridge or all 3 pickups together, volume, PTB system
BODY COLOR Tobacco Sunburst
OTHER 3-Ply Ivory Pickguard, Ivory Pickups & Knobs
CASE G&L Molded Hardshell
UPGRADES Locking Tuners
I absolutely love everything about the guitar except the very irritating noise coming from it.
Regardless of what amp I use or pickup I select, once my hands leave the strings, I get a lot of noise. If I place my hand across all the strings the noise goes away. If my amp is cranked, it is really annoying!
I thought that it might be a ground issue, but I double checked all the wiring and it appears to be fine. So I thought that perhaps the the stock p/u’s might be a contributing factor but even with the HB selected it is noisy!
Nevertheless, I dropped a couple of Lindy Fralin Split Blades in the neck & middle position, and as I suspected, it made no difference in the noise.
I am desperate to get rid of the noise, so I purchased copper foil, lined the entire cavity and corresponding portion of the pick guard, effectively creating a faraday shield. The noise dropped significantly, but is still not silent.
I have been playing this guitar around my home, through a Carr Mercury & Mesa Boogie LS Special; I am not under a bunch of lights or around emmisons that one would typically associate with noise - I should not be having these sort of problems…
Any suggestions would be appreciated!
Thanks!
Thu Dec 02, 2010 8:59 pm
Fri Dec 03, 2010 10:15 am
Fri Dec 03, 2010 12:13 pm
Fri Dec 03, 2010 9:45 pm
GuitarDisciple wrote:...Regardless of what amp I use or pickup I select, once my hands leave the strings, I get a lot of noise. If I place my hand across all the strings the noise goes away...
Sat Dec 04, 2010 8:16 am
Sat Dec 04, 2010 9:02 am
Sat Dec 04, 2010 9:25 am
replyman wrote:... I WANT MY GUITARS TO BE PLUG-AND-PLAY RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX!
Sat Dec 04, 2010 11:54 am
GuitarDisciple wrote:Thanks for the input, Standards Guy!!
I may try adding shielded 2-conductor wiring. Can you elaborate on what you meant when you stated: "using two conductor wire with an entirely separate shield, which I then lift at the pickup end to break ground loops" ? Are you suggesting to ground the shield and one end of one of the 2-conductor pairs, leaving only the 2nd conductor in the signal path? If so, are the two conductors within the shield a twisted pair? Just trying to understand how the second conductor may help...
Appreciate your time and input.
Thank you!
Sat Dec 04, 2010 4:32 pm
standards guy wrote:GuitarDisciple wrote:Thanks for the input, Standards Guy!!
I may try adding shielded 2-conductor wiring. Can you elaborate on what you meant when you stated: "using two conductor wire with an entirely separate shield, which I then lift at the pickup end to break ground loops" ? Are you suggesting to ground the shield and one end of one of the 2-conductor pairs, leaving only the 2nd conductor in the signal path? If so, are the two conductors within the shield a twisted pair? Just trying to understand how the second conductor may help...
Appreciate your time and input.
Thank you!
Yes. Years ago I bought a spool of Belden 8451 (Belden Corporation - Chicago, Illinois 80844 USA) from a wholesale industrial Electrical Supply house. It is a pair of stranded copper jacketed wires inside a foil shield (which also has a bare tinned stranded wire inside the jacket for grounding purposes). Plus there's a jacket overall. If they are twisted, it's pretty mild, because I've been able to pull one out of a 4-6 inch section. I use the pair as conductors spliced right at the pickup , then ground the ground shield wire to a central point (a pot), but I don't ground the pickup end with the shield. The shield is therefore effective to capture and bleed off interference, but since it is separated from the conductors allows no return path to get a ground loop flowing to that pickup(s). I usually run shielded to the output jack too, with the same scheme (lifted ground shield at the jack end, but grounded at the source end)....
Sat Dec 04, 2010 5:10 pm
Sat Dec 04, 2010 5:24 pm