Buzz goes away when touching control plate?

I just completed my first partscaster last night: Les-Gretch-Caster (http://tinyurl.com/4ksau9). Details are in the main forum here: First partscaster (http://www.tdpri.com/forum/telecaster-discussion-forum/120767-first-partscaster-project.html#post1400819).

It sounds really great, but I'm getting a very slight buzz through the amp that goes away when I touch the control plate. It's a semi-hollow body, so there's not a traditional "cavity" to shield for the controls, but it's wired per the schematics I've got. I'll double check all my wiring, solder joints, and grounding again.

Any tips or hints?

Thanks!

Chris

Chris,

Nice guitar, first of all. One thought... not sure what's going on with your grounds, but if you eventually decide you need to shield the stuff under the control plate somehow, you could install a "can" the way Les Pauls used to be done.

All the controls in the old LPs were enclosed in stamped metal shields.

Given that your controls run in a straight line, it ought to be simple enough to fab a little enclosure for the pots & switch.

you could try shielding the pickup cavitys... but it is normal for the slight buzzing to go away when hardware is touched. You should get worried when the buzzing increases when the hardware is touched...

Thanks for the tips. As it sits now, there is no shielding in the body or routs. The TV Jones pickups are shielded and the ground (-) and shield wires are grounded to the volume pot case.

I do not have the bridge grounded to anything (not sure how I would do that anyway), but touching the strings doesn't have any effect on the noise level of the guitar. I'll have to try touching the pickup covers and see what that does - it should have the same effect as touching the control plate or knobs if it's all tied together properly via grounds I would expect.

Chris

the bridge should be grounded... On hardtail bridges this is usually done by drilling a small hole through to a cavity, and with a wire fed through to the main grounding point (usually the back of a pot). On the bridge end, the back of the bridge is scuffed up with some fine abrasive, and then the stripped end of the wire is left under this and held in place by the pressure of the bridge when it is screwed down.

On a tele you do not have to worry about this, as the ground to the bridge pickup is connected to the bridgeplate and strings by the screws holding the pickup in place.

For the first time, I did the paint-the-cavities with shielding paint thing, and to my surprise, it worked great. I knew all my grounds were good, so this and
some peel-n-stick shielding tape from AllParts behind the pickguard, got rid of the same condition you describe.

I noticed that there was a funny small indentation in the bridge area (covered by the bridge) while assembling. I'm wondering if that was the hole (filled in with finish) to run a bridge ground wire????

Guess I'll have to pull off the bridge and have a look-see......

Chris

You should get worried when the buzzing increases when the hardware is touched...

switch the wires on the jack...

Well, indeed, the "mystery hole" was just what I thought - a spot to run a ground wire from the bridge. I ran my drill through it to remove the finish accumulation and grounded the bridge to the controls. 90% of the hum is gone, so I'm a happy camper!

Thanks for the help!

Chris