Amp buzz w/ Telecaster... Any solutions?

[roscoenyc]

my telecasters have Fralin pickups in them. (glad you liked that guitar Joel)

I have the neck pickup "Reverse Wound" by Fralin.
Means that when I'm in the middle position I get hum cancelling.

Most of the hum cancelling pickups that I've tried don't have the full range of the single coils (Less highs mostly)

Another option is just to let that shit wail and then use something like the Waves Restoration de-noise software on it afterwards.

Little things like good cables and finding your null point can help also. I'll do almost anything to fly the single coil flag.

Oh, NOW i get it. Thanks Roscoe and Justin. Thats what I needed to know.

BTW, Roscoe, I think you could play a 2X4 with strings on it and I would be into it. You really made those couple of songs happen for thoe people I was in with, which they were incredibly, incredibly greatful. That was a super nice thing to do, man.

****ah, thanks he said from Mainz, Germany. my pleasure. Love to hear the stuff when its all done.

[Jim Williams]

I cant believe no one mentioned this yet. On a lot of older guitars that used to belong to guitarist/vocalists you will see electrical modifications. "Back in da day" getting shocked like hell when your lips touched the mic was alot more common. Especially when using ungrounded tube amps. The "fix" was often to cut the wire from the bridge. It will still make a sound without the wire connected, but it also isnt as well shielded. So you get a lot more hum than common. Check under the pickguard/bridge to make sure that wire is still there before you go out and spend a benjamin (or two) on some Fralins. I have fixed at least half a dozen axes with this "mod".

This solution was used by Gibson in the 80's for Les Pauls. No string ground but the entire wiring cavity was encased in a metal cover from the rear. They also had a metal can around the pickup switch.

This won't work with Fenders unless that noise is tolerable. The better solution is to connect that string ground via a .02 uf capacitor. This blocks any 60 hz and it's 120, 183 and 150 hz harmonics but becomes conductive above 500 hz via the high pass function. This will filter the buzz but will not shock you. If anything, the player might feel a but of tingling as the guitarist next to him without that cap is shocked across the room.

[kayagum]

You could try this: http://www.bossus.com/gear/productdetai ... ductId=151

I own one, and it works surprisingly well. It's basically a souped-up gate pedal. I use it on my Strat- it's quite a hum generator.

[lysander]

My sure cure for recording single coil instruments in situations where a low noise floor is a necessity?

Have the player swivel in his/her chair until you find a spot where the hum disappears. Try it. Just rotate your torso. Unless you're in a building, with really sucky wiring, you will find a spot where the noise essentially vanishes.

+1 on this. Doesn't cost a cent, and won't mess with the fantastic tone you'll get out of that guitar/amp combo.

[RefD]

My sure cure for recording single coil instruments in situations where a low noise floor is a necessity?

Have the player swivel in his/her chair until you find a spot where the hum disappears. Try it. Just rotate your torso. Unless you're in a building, with really sucky wiring, you will find a spot where the noise essentially vanishes.

+1 on this. Doesn't cost a cent, and won't mess with the fantastic tone you'll get out of that guitar/amp combo.

amen again!

[Recycled_Brains]

You could try this: http://www.bossus.com/gear/productdetai ... ductId=151

I own one, and it works surprisingly well. It's basically a souped-up gate pedal. I use it on my Strat- it's quite a hum generator.

i have one of those. not what i would look to for this particular thing.

-ryan

[Recycled_Brains]

The better solution is to connect that string ground via a .02 uf capacitor. This blocks any 60 hz and it's 120, 183 and 150 hz harmonics but becomes conductive above 500 hz via the high pass function.

could you elaborate on this a bit? over my head. high-pass function? string ground? .02 uf cap? etc.


thanks

-ryan

[ashcat_lt]

Basically, it's supposed to mean that the low frequency AC leakage current won't be allowed to pass from the amp to your strings via the bridge ground, but most of the (higher frequency) noise generated by your body will flow to ground via the strings.

Go to wiki and look up capacitors to find out why.

[Recycled_Brains]

Basically, it's supposed to mean that the low frequency AC leakage current won't be allowed to pass from the amp to your strings via the bridge ground, but most of the (higher frequency) noise generated by your body will flow to ground via the strings.

Go to wiki and look up capacitors to find out why.

Makes sense. where are the string and bridge grounds, and what am i looking for to indentify them? where would i attach the capacitor?

i REALLY appreciate all your attention to this ashcat. and everyone else as well. i'm learning a lot here.


-ryan

[calaverasgrandes]

string ground is the bridge ground. Thats what I was refering to in my post. I just didnt refer to it as such.

[ashcat_lt]

more specifically, the strings are metal and contact the metal bridge which is connected by wire to the rest of the circuit, probably at the back of the volume pot.

The easy place to put the protection cap is to cut that wire at some point inside the control cavity and then wire it between the the two halves of the wire.

The best place to put it is between all the other metal stuff on your guitar and the amplifier. That means removing all the wires that connect to the pickups (with the exception of the bare wire coming from the neck pickups cover) and jack from the back of the volume pot. Also make sure the tone cap (hanging off the middle lug of the tone pot) isn't connected to the back of a pot. Now solder all those things you just disconnected together. Solder the protection cap between this new wad of solder and the back of the volume pot. Insulate your new wad of solder. To be safe, make sure the capacitor has a high enough voltage rating to where it can handle the huge amounts of voltage that could sit on the ground side of the jack if a tube amp were to fail catastrophically. And don't touch your jackplate or metal plugs...

[Recycled_Brains]

more specifically, the strings are metal and contact the metal bridge which is connected by wire to the rest of the circuit, probably at the back of the volume pot.

The easy place to put the protection cap is to cut that wire at some point inside the control cavity and then wire it between the the two halves of the wire.

The best place to put it is between all the other metal stuff on your guitar and the amplifier. That means removing all the wires that connect to the pickups (with the exception of the bare wire coming from the neck pickups cover) and jack from the back of the volume pot. Also make sure the tone cap (hanging off the middle lug of the tone pot) isn't connected to the back of a pot. Now solder all those things you just disconnected together. Solder the protection cap between this new wad of solder and the back of the volume pot. Insulate your new wad of solder. To be safe, make sure the capacitor has a high enough voltage rating to where it can handle the huge amounts of voltage that could sit on the ground side of the jack if a tube amp were to fail catastrophically. And don't touch your jackplate or metal plugs...

thanks again. i think if i decide to add the capacitor, i'll stick with the first (easier) method, allowing me to touch my jackplate (what would mother think!?) and metal plugs.

-ryan

[Jim Williams]

If you use plastic knobs and a plastic switch cover, that will insulate you from the system ground. For a Tele, that means plastic knobs, not the metal knurled ones. That's if you fiddle with the controls while sticking a mic in your mouth. If not, just the string and bridge ground will do fine.
Shocking most major guitar makers don't do this, one fat lawsuit or OSHA complaint and they will! All for a 5 cent cap. Humans as grounding rods is not good design.

[Recycled_Brains]

If you use plastic knobs and a plastic switch cover, that will insulate you from the system ground. For a Tele, that means plastic knobs, not the metal knurled ones. That's if you fiddle with the controls while sticking a mic in your mouth. If not, just the string and bridge ground will do fine.

my pickguard is metal too. does this rule apply when using the cap btwn the two halves of the bridge grounding wire, or only when doing the more elaborate set-up?

Shocking most major guitar makers don't do this, one fat lawsuit or OSHA complaint and they will! All for a 5 cent cap. Humans as grounding rods is not good design.

the club that i do FOH work for has pretty lousy wiring, and sometimes when someone's playing a strat or tele through any kind of old(er) tube amp, they call me over and ask me why they're getting shocked when they touch the mic. i always feel bad.

usually i just tell them, "then don't put your lips on the mic". haha. they're gross anyway.

-ryan

[ashcat_lt]

thanks again. i think if i decide to add the capacitor, i'll stick with the first (easier) method, allowing me to touch my jackplate (what would mother think!?) and metal plugs.

-ryan

No, see, after the cap is added in the "more elaborate" set up the jackplate and metal plugs are the only parts left that are metal and not isolate from the amp's ground via the cap. If you just isolate the bridge then everything else metal but the strings/bridge will be potential shock hazards as well. It may be possible to isolate the jack itself from the plate by way of rubber bushings or plastic washers or using one of those plastic jacks. Then you could touch the jackplate without worry, but the plug itself is impossible to isolate, being plugged into the amp on the other end.

The AC leakage voltages that we all know and love are often annoying, occassionally painful, but only rarely actually dangerous. The real worry comes from the relatively small chance that a particular capacitor inside one of those old tube amps will blow shorted and lay the DC heater voltage from the tubes across the amp ground (and, by way of the cable, everything else metal on your axe). If you happened to be touching both your guitar and something else that is connected to ground - like playing barefoot on concrete, swallowing a 58, pointing out the proper fret on your bassist's guitar... - in the brief flash before the fuse (which, of course, you don't have wrapped in foil ) blows, you could very well die!

For the thing with your club follow this link. Then insist the club owner have a professional come in and fix the wiring! Might not think it's worth it now, but when somebody gets hurt it could well be opening under new management shortly...