-
Something must be wrong. I have an A-150 and it is dead quiet. I am actually amazed how quiet it is for being a single coil. It acts as though it is noiseless. I think others brought it up but I think the bridge might not be grounded properly.
Originally Posted by Razorbill
BTW, I think these are great guitars that fly under the radar for people looking at similar guitars.
-
04-07-2022 06:32 PM
-
People often call any kind of noise “hum”. But hum means a 60 Hz or 120 Hz tone. Other noise sources such as dimmers, LEDs, fluorescents, neon (are they still out there?), and wall warts have a higher frequency content that sounds more buzzy—so I call that “buzz” to distinguish from “hum”. Which type of noise do you hear?
-
Thanks everyone for suggestions. The Humdebugger has helped considerably. On the “normal” setting there is an acceptable hum for a single coil and the “strong” setting is silent. I tried to listen for a change in tone (some reviews mentioned a chorus or robotic effect) and I can’t notice a difference.
Now that I know a single coil can work in this guitar I will probably swap the DeArmond 1000 for the 1100. Some other owners mentioned they are quieter/less sensitive to background noise/string tapping and a noticeable improvement overall. When I get that done I’ll have my luthier properly check that everything is grounded properly too.
Kirk is right, it is closer to a buzz. It gets worse when I point the guitar towards fluorescent lights/a power strip etc. I am probably in the worst room in the house EMI-wise, but it’s the only space in the house I can play in. It’s a worst case scenario. A dimmer switch smart bulb, 4x fluorescent uvb reptile bulbs, 5x thermostatic dimmer controllers for the reptile heating, and three power strips all in a small room.
-
The first thing I would do is get rid of the reptiles.
-
Hey!
Just an update if people were curious. I had my luthier swap the DeArmond 1000 for the 1100 and check the grounding. It played fine in his shop. He said to try it at home and, if the buzz was still an issue, he could solder a wire from the pickup to the tailpiece to completely ground it in a similar way to when I touch the strings.
Tried it when I got home and had the same issue with hum as the 1000. Curious thing is I purchased a NUX Mighty Plug for quiet practice the other day and the hum is almost non-existent with it plugged in + headphones.
I wonder if a wireless system plugged into my amp would have the same effect? Would that point to an issue with dirty power or poor grounding on the guitar?
-
You could check the effect of this easily enough yourself. Originally Posted by Razorbill
From what I understand the PU's earth terminal should also be connected to the tailpiece, meaning the final installation wouldn't require an actual wire running over the top but could use a short in or under the PU.
-
It sounds like faulty wiring in your house. It's unfortunately not uncommon in older houses, or even in newer houses built in new subdivisions, because of carelessness by the construction crews, under pressure to work quickly. It could also be just electromagnetic interference from something else, even overhead powerlines.
The ground wire in the guitar needn't go to the pickup, it normally goes to the volume control case, which is connected to the pickup ground side, completing the circuit. If you're using a thumbwheel, it goes to the ground connection on that. A wireless system could well be quieter, but not necessarily. It depends on exactly what is causing the interference/noise. If the strings are not grounded, that's the first thing you should try. It's necessary.
-
If a wireless fixes it then it points to dirty power, ground loop, or at least problem outside the guitar Originally Posted by Razorbill
-
I really wasn't thinking when I posted the above. Most endpin jacks can be, and often are, wired so as to ground the tailpiece by having the exterior of the jack grounded, and contact with the tailpiece through the nut and washers holding it in place grounds the tailpiece. I have two 1100 pickups wired that way. There is no separate wire going to the tailpiece, just the one coaxial cable, but the strings are grounded to the pickup. It's easy enough to check with an ohmmeter.
-
Maybe it's humming because it doesn't know the lyrics? That's what I do.
-
ROTFL Originally Posted by ronjazz
Probably more like the kind of humming that I produce because I don't know how to sing
-
Ne changez pas de métier (literal trans.) Originally Posted by ronjazz
-
Originally Posted by Razorbill
I managed to silence a poorly wired guitar by using a radio link before going on to cure it properly. The way it works is that both the player and the guitar pick up an interfering voltage from the surrounding electric field of wiring and appliances. This puts a voltage on the guitar with respect to ground. This voltage drives a current to ground via the guitar wiring and the outer shield of the lead to the amp.
Current flowing causes differences in the interfering voltage at different points across and inside the guitar because the wood of the guitar is a poor conductor. This results in the electric field at the jack tip and other exposed points not being the same as that at the jack sleeve. This difference is the cause of the hum. In bad cases, some of the current in the cable shield will couple into the cable core as another source of hum.
A radio link breaks the ground connection to the amp so there is no path to ground from the guitar and so no current. The whole guitar floats with the interference voltage but it doesn't matter because the signal that goes into the transmitter plug is the difference between the live and the ground on the guitar. Without the ground reference from the lead, this voltage difference will be minimal.
This hum has no connection to the magnetic hum picked up from transformers and such although the two are endlessly confused in discussion.
This interference coupling is via the capacitance between the interfering source and the player and the guitar. These capacitances are small but the interfering voltages are very large.
Wiring the strings to the jack sleeve connection is a ploy to ground the player so that the current from the interference that he picks up goes as directly as possible to ground without being coupled to and passing through the guitar where it would create the internal electric fields to be picked up by the jack tip.
In the case of the guitar I mentioned, I finally cured it completely by making sure that any part of the live side such as the jack socket or the selector switch was surrounded by copper shielding so it was not exposed to the electric fields within the guitar.
-
Have you tried different instrument cables and a different amp to confirm a shielding or grounding issue in one of them isn’t contributing to the problem?
Do you have the problem with other guitars?
Are you using a modern amp with a 3-wire grounded plug?
Is your house wiring 3-wire grounded? You can buy a grounded outlet tester for about $6 to confirm that it’s grounded (although there are some issues that can fool the cheap devices).
Experiments like these can give you clues.
-
I'll add if it wasn't mentioned previously. Are you plugging into a circuit that includes a device with a motor like a refrigerator? That will likely cause issues if you are.
Reply With Quote
Jimmy Smith at Newport ('72) Kenny Burrell on guitar
Today, 03:31 PM in The Players