Baja Grounding... No answer?

After reading thread after Baja thread on this site, I finally joined to ask some advice from those that know, so forgive me if I have missed something...

I have a grounding issue with my Baja. I touch the bridge / strings and it goes. I installed a piece of electrical wire to sit under the bridge, soldered to the tone pot.... and still the buzzing is there. It's not single coil buzzing, it's a grounding fault (very aware of the difference) Add distortion and it's magnified. If I touch the bridge very lightly it's still there, but the bigger the contact area from my finger / hand then it vanishes. The wire is insufficient to ground the guitar, but I can't think of alternatives.

What's the best way of eliminating this? it's driving me nuts...

Barry

Try a little foot long piece of wire with alligator clips at each end. Clip one to the bridge and touch the other to the control plate. If it goes away, your first ground wire isn't grounding, may have to relocate. If it doesn't, it'll be your amp or outlet. Fluorescent lighting, dimmers, fans, etc. Cellphones apparently also cause this, apparently. Troubleshooting time...

It's weird as I have six other electrics, two with single coils / P90s. Neither exhibit this problem so it has to be the guitar... It's brand new. I can't think what else I can do if the guitar won't ground using a soldered wire from bridge to tone / volume pot...

Thanks for the quick reply

It's weird as I have six other electrics, two with single coils / P90s. Neither exhibit this problem so it has to be the guitar...

You'd be surprised at how some guitars exhibit a problem that others don't. There's a good chance it's the guitar, but don't be afraid to look elsewhere for the solution.

What's happening here is that your body is acting as a collector for stray RF interference, and your pickups are, well, picking it up. It goes away because you're grounding yourself when you touch the strings or the bridge, and all that interference is going to ground.

The solution is probably to install shielding. Before you do that, use a multimeter and check for continuity between every metal part on the guitar and the jack ground

It's definitely the guitar. I used an uninterruptible power supply, the amp, guitar, nothing else. I shut the entire house down too. Even though I was using the UPS I made sure there was no interference from anything electrical (phones, computers etc) ...it's still there... Touch the bridge lightly and the grounding reduces... Add more fingers and it goes entirely.

What should I do about this? Is there any links advice to offer regarding shielding? I've never done this before... There is also horrendous static coming from the pick plate. I can almost pop the speakers when it discharges.

Thanks for any replies in advance.

Ps realised my g&L Fullerton Strat is just as bad. My Tokai SG Special and both Tokai Reborn Les Paul's are perfect, no earthing faults at all.

Your Tokais probably have humbuckers ?
This site has lots of info about sheilding a Tele.
http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/shielding/tele.php

Cheers for the info, I came across this last night coincidentally. Les Paul's are both humbuckers but they both coil tap as i installed BKPickups.The SG is stock P90s. All these guitars exhibit no trace of the grounding issues the Strat and Tele do. Touch metal hardware / strings / tuners on both Strat and Tele and a noticeable drop occurs. It's a different type of clicky static buzzing from single coil hum.

I'm concerned I'm going to do all this work and be heading down the wrong road here. Should I just get a tech to chase this?

Clicky static? Could well be your pickguard that gets static. You could try to wipe it with some soap water gently and listen for changes. I have had cracks, clicks and pop due to static pickguard. If possible a sound clip might help to diagnos the problem.

Why not try what voodoostation recommended. Maybe try running another wire from the bridge to a different location. It could be a bad solder joint. Look for any issues with the existing wiring.

I got rid of the 90 percent of the buzzing on my tele with single coils by the following:

A. lined the pickup and control cavities with copper shielding with electrically conductive shielding (tape or sheet).

B. rather than use a ground wire for the bridge I just let the copper shield fold over the back edge by 1/4" so it made contact with the bridge.

c. applied shielding to the back side of the pickguard and allowed it to contact a piece of the copper shield from the control cavity for electrical connection. NOTE: because the hole between control cavity and the neck pickup was barely large enough to get the two pickup wires through and I was now using a 4-way switch which required the neck pickup cover to be disconnected from the pickup's ground wire I had to fold a piece of shielding over the top of the neck pickup cavity to contact the pick guard shield for complete grounding of the neck pickup cavity.

d. made sure to have only ONE common ground point for ALL grounds (i.e. back of a pot).

I know it sounds like a lot but it is not that bad. Just take it one step at a time, take your time and you WILL BE REWARDED.

One last thought. My original reason for putting shielding on the back of the pickguard was to get rid of static electrical crackle and pop when fingers touched the pickguard during the cold of this last winter. 100 percent effective.

Shield the guitar.

Therein lies the answers.

The noise goes away when you touch it on just about any fender guitar with single coils. Crackles can be static on the pickguard or an intermittent ground connection. Both issues will be addressed during the shielding process.

I got rid of the 90 percent of the buzzing on my tele with single coils by the following:

A. lined the pickup and control cavities with copper shielding with electrically conductive shielding (tape or sheet).

B. rather than use a ground wire for the bridge I just let the copper shield fold over the back edge by 1/4" so it made contact with the bridge.

c. applied shielding to the back side of the pickguard and allowed it to contact a piece of the copper shield from the control cavity for electrical connection. NOTE: because the hole between control cavity and the neck pickup was barely large enough to get the two pickup wires through and I was now using a 4-way switch which required the neck pickup cover to be disconnected from the pickup's ground wire I had to fold a piece of shielding over the top of the neck pickup cavity to contact the pick guard shield for complete grounding of the neck pickup cavity.

d. made sure to have only ONE common ground point for ALL grounds (i.e. back of a pot).

I know it sounds like a lot but it is not that bad. Just take it one step at a time, take your time and you WILL BE REWARDED.

One last thought. My original reason for putting shielding on the back of the pickguard was to get rid of static electrical crackle and pop when fingers touched the pickguard during the cold of this last winter. 100 percent effective.

I did exactly as Bubbalou did on my recently completed build - even shielding the input cavity (ensuring the live was protected) and took an earth wire from th ebridge even though teh shielding contacted with it

I used it last Sunday at rehearshals for the first time - lots of flourescent bulbs about - and no hum at all - quieter than my Les Paul

In theory - according to some - you lose a bit of top end but I didn't notice it and I'd rather that than hum

I'm going to shield all me guitars as the twem ones seem to be the worse

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-technical/273086-my-baja-needs-shielding-seriously.html

A fellow by the name of Jefrs seems to think this about "twisted pair wiring". It may be worth a shot, and even if it only helps a bit-it may be enough. Also, I know wiring in old homes can contribute to this...do you have hum with other hot single coil guitars?
Your Baja need twisted-pair wiring, seriously!

Shielding seems to work better left-pond for some reason. Suggest they have a noisier earthing system. Shielding can operate as a great big aerial for you guitar, then your pickups which are absolutely great at detecting emf stick out of the front, bloody brilliant for receiving taxi radio.

My Baja was received with the pickup and jack wires separated, twiddling them together cured it. You should unsolder the hot wire and twiddle it loosely around the cold. Twisted-pair wiring is hum-cancelling. It works.

For grounding, suggest you use a "star-earth" system with just one common point - the back of the vol pot.

Thanks for all the replies and help, I am going to try shielding the cavities tomorrow. After soldering a wire to the jack socket earth and touching all metal parts with the wire, I could not get the hum to stop, so I am trying shielding next. I'll let you know how I get on.

Friendly and helpful place here :)

Thanks for all the replies and help, I am going to try shielding the cavities tomorrow. After soldering a wire to the jack socket earth and touching all metal parts with the wire, I could not get the hum to stop, so I am trying shielding next. I'll let you know how I get on.

Friendly and helpful place here :)

Look forward to your findings, I am particularly interested in if there is any reduction in hum....