Blacktop Jazzmaster noise/hum help!

[MKR]

I'm getting to the end of my rope when it comes to the hum/noise coming out of my blacktop jazzmaster. I know jazzmasters are considered noisy, but there's no way mine is giving off a normal level.

I have checked the wiring and all the ground connections appear fine. everything is in tact.

A couple specifics about my guitar are as follows: I replaced all my black plastics and pickup covers with aged white ones (so i unglued the neck pickup from its cover - can't imagine that has anything to do with it, but i'm mentioning it). Also my 3 way switch seems to be cheap and on the verge of breaking. A few times it actually came apart in half (top seperated from the bottom) when i was replacing my pickguard. I proceeded to snap the two peices back together and its held up since. I'm just wondering if the switch is playing a part in this noise because when you pull or push on the switch harder than normal then the noise/hum gets louder as well.

The noise dissapears when you use the bridge pickup - so does that rule out grounding?

Anyone else experience something like this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[stephenyi]

Sounds like it might be the switch or a faulty solder joint from the neck pickup.

I just replaced the bridge pickup in my blacktop with a Phat Cat and was getting a crackling noise when strumming. Believe it or not, it turned out to be some static that was built up. After finding some interesting info on Google, I took a bounce fabric softener sheet and wiped the entire surface of the pickguard. Your issue sounds different than mine but it might be worth a try.

[andy_tchp]

...when i was replacing my pickguard.

Is the new pickguard shielded?

[MKR]

Sounds like it might be the switch or a faulty solder joint from the neck pickup.

I just replaced the bridge pickup in my blacktop with a Phat Cat and was getting a crackling noise when strumming. Believe it or not, it turned out to be some static that was built up. After finding some interesting info on Google, I took a bounce fabric softener sheet and wiped the entire surface of the pickguard. Your issue sounds different than mine but it might be worth a try.

thanks for the replies guys.

What exaclty is a faulty solder joint? and can i do something about this (i.e. re-solder in some way)?

i replaced the switch yesterday and i don't think it improved anything. It was just as well anyways as the old switch seemed wonky and needed replacing.
My new pickguard isn't shielded other than a couple small spots around the controls. I am thinking i will shield the whole cavity and do a better job on the pickguard with some copper tape.

I am actually familiar with the dryer sheet thing. I get pretty dry winters here. This is altogether something different. Mine is constant hum. Gets worse when the treble with high treble and when there is a lot of gain.

[Gobs]

Was it always noisy on the neck pickup?

Noisier after replacing pickguard?
Noisier after replacing pickup cover?

Pics of solder joints?

[MKR]

Was it always noisy on the neck pickup?

Noisier after replacing pickguard?
Noisier after replacing pickup cover?

Pics of solder joints?

i am trying to remember if it was always this noisy and frankly i am thinking it wasn't this noisy before - there was always a bit of hum, but it just seems recently it has gotten much too noticeable. the pickguard isn't a factor for sure, but i am thinking maybe it got worse after i replaced the pickup cover.

HOw does one correct a faulty solder joint if that is the cause? should i try to melt the existing solder at the ground connection and reconnect and re-solder it?

[Gobs]

This is for a cable, but use your imagination..



You want the smooth, clean, and shiny. Dull or crusty or gloopy usually isn't a good sign.
You can try re-flowing your ground connections, if you have a solder sucker I'd get that old stuff out first, depending on how nasty it looks.

I wonder if something happened to your neck pick when you switched plastics. Do you play other single coil guitars through the same rig?

[MKR]

I wonder if something happened to your neck pick when you switched plastics. Do you play other single coil guitars through the same rig?

yeah i do. a strat and a jag and neither of those are as noisy.

what could have happened to the pickup? I just gave it a look over and everything looks nice and neat and tidy. both solder joints look fine.

this is my first JM guitar. could it be that these guitars just give off more hum that strats and jags?

[andy_tchp]

So is the new guard shielded underneath the three-way switch?

If not, the three-way isn't earthed, which won't be helping matters.

[MKR]

So is the new guard shielded underneath the three-way switch?

If not, the three-way isn't earthed, which won't be helping matters.

how is the 3 way switch not earthed? It's connected to a ground wire.

For sure the problem is not the switch. I am basically at the point of trying to figure out if the problem is the pickup or the ground related to that pickup

I am going to pick up some of those jumper cables with alligator clips from radio shack to see if i just connect the neck pickup straight to the jack what it will sound like. It should tell me if it's the pickup or not.

Also i have an extra strat pickup handy. I might connect that strat pickup in place of the neck JM pup and see if i still get bad hum.

[lboorse2]

Hang in there -- you'll get it sorted.

[Gobs]

some pics of your solder connections would help.

[MKR]

some pics of your solder connections would help.

ya i am going to tackle this guitar tomorrow and i will take some pictures.

Hopefully at the very least i'll be able to identify if the pup is the problem.

[MKR]

i disconnected the ground wire from the switch and the guitar is actually quieter now (this was how it was wired when i got it). This is good, although the switch is not connected to any ground and the guitar still hums a bit more than it ought to (although not as bad as before).

So here's a general question:
Is the switch supposed to be connected by a ground wire?
If yes where is that wire supposed to be coming from?


I think i am close to solving this. any help would be great.

[lboorse2]

On a typical 3-way switch there should be 4 tabs: 2 to the pickups (1 each), 1 to the Volume pot, one to ground.

Ground is ground. Eventually that should be to the trem or bridge. Basically, you eventually want that ground path to go through the strings to your hands. If you have some kind of metal shielding on the pick guard, or black shielding paint in the cavity, you can ground to there, as long as it also touches the bridge/trem somewhere.

If the noise got quieter when you removed the switch ground, something isn't grounded correctly, or there's a hot wire somewhere touching ground. I'd trace each component, starting with the switch onward down the line. Check to make sure the connections to each pickup are correct (including the humbucker), and the connection to the volume pot is correct. I know you already checked for this, but make sure none of the wire covering has worn or stripped along the path of each wire and no open wires or solder joints are touching that shouldn't be.

Worst-case scenario -- rip it all out and rewire according to a known good diagram with new wiring and fresh solder (might as well replace the pots while you're at it to rule out either of those being faulty).