Single Coils with Distortion NOISE

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HNB
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Re: Single Coils with Distortion NOISE

Post by HNB » Sun Sep 24, 2017 10:33 am

Christopher
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Re: Single Coils with Distortion NOISE

Post by HNB » Sun Sep 24, 2017 11:06 am

Christopher
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Re: Single Coils with Distortion NOISE

Post by Larry Mal » Sun Sep 24, 2017 11:07 am

Wow! That's dreadful. I would do a lot to get rid of that.
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Re: Single Coils with Distortion NOISE

Post by andy_tchp » Sun Sep 24, 2017 1:38 pm

Yikes. What else in your environment might be contributing? Any large power supplies, fluorescent lights, or light 'dimmer' dials nearby?

Can you try the amp plugged into a different outlet in a different part of the house?
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David McComb, 1987.

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Re: Single Coils with Distortion NOISE

Post by HNB » Sun Sep 24, 2017 2:25 pm

If I have the guitar unplugged, the amp is quiet. So are the pedals. The noise happens when I plug in single coil pickups. They must be picking up noise from the environment.
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Re: Single Coils with Distortion NOISE

Post by Larry Mal » Sun Sep 24, 2017 4:12 pm

Hmm. What is this guitar, exactly? What are the pickups?

And when you say this guitar is shielded, what exactly does that mean? You did the shielding yourself?
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Re: Single Coils with Distortion NOISE

Post by HNB » Sun Sep 24, 2017 4:56 pm

Shielded on the back of the pickguard. I got some copper tape to do the guts. It has conductive adhesive so it should be easy to install. The pickups aren't marked, but have cloth leads and flat pole pieces. This is before I rewired it to more stock. (I removed the push pull and that dummy coil.)

Image20170913_191108 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr
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Re: Single Coils with Distortion NOISE

Post by Larry Mal » Sun Sep 24, 2017 5:49 pm

HNB wrote:Shielded on the back of the pickguard. I got some copper tape to do the guts. It has conductive adhesive so it should be easy to install. The pickups aren't marked, but have cloth leads and flat pole pieces. This is before I rewired it to more stock. (I removed the push pull and that dummy coil.)

Image20170913_191108 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr
Well, that shielding can certainly be improved on, that's for sure. Still, I'll think that it's nothing catastrophic that I'm looking at there.

It might be a good idea to to a continuity test when you are all good and done, or maybe even before, to see if that shielding on the back of the pick guard is actually going to ground. I'd bet that it is, for the most part, though.

A cheap multimeter will work just fine, just make sure that all your components are running to ground (the ground wire should be on the rear of your Strat attached to the tremolo unit).

http://en-us.fluke.com/training/trainin ... meter.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Regardless, those cavities in there are absolutely bare, so putting down copper tape is a great idea. That'll get you your Faraday cage, right now, your guitar has some shielding from the top but your components are wide open from the rear and sides, right? You also don't have any shielding on the output jack cavity other than the metal plate (which is pretty good).

Your wires and components look passable but cheap, maybe it's time to upgrade them as well while you are at it. Get some better caps and pots in there. When I actually go through that kind of trouble, I use shielded wire between the electronic components even when I know I have the cavities shielded anyway- if I can solder in unshielded wire, I can solder in shielded wire:

http://www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/Wire_ ... vered-Wire" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It doesn't cost much more. Maybe an aluminum pickguard:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... DsEALw_wcB" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Why not? If you've done all of that, then you've done all the shielding possible and maybe more than necessary.

I keep missing what the pickups are, though? Not ceramic? Those are pretty much noisy.

But like I say, it's natural to place the blame on your guitar. And it does seem like your guitar is at fault from the sound clips, that being said, a lot of distortion pedals also act as compressors even when they don't say that they are, and they also act like EQs even when they don't tell you that they are. It's quite possible that the noise is always there with your guitar, it's just that your distortion pedals are boosting the overall volume, compressing the sound, and even possibly exaggerating the bandwidth that the noise is naturally occurring at. I don't actually know this, but I am putting it out there as a possibility to help you eliminate variables.

Some of your problem seems to be that you don't know exactly where your noise is occurring. You make a strong case for it being the guitar, and I would certainly shield the shit out of your guitar but I do that to every guitar, it's just a good idea. But I could probably also in my mind make a case for it possibly being your pedals, your amp, and your electricity, as well as your environment.

You won't know until you start eliminating variables.
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Re: Single Coils with Distortion NOISE

Post by Larry Mal » Sun Sep 24, 2017 5:51 pm

Oh, and I see that you already have a power line conditioner, sorry I had missed that.
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Re: Single Coils with Distortion NOISE

Post by HNB » Sun Sep 24, 2017 6:28 pm

The pots are all cts currently with a ceramic capacitor I believe. I will post better pics when I shield the cavities. The guard is grounded. I can tell because the hum quiets when I touch the switch screws that are grounded via that shielding. :) I am sure doing the cavities will help out some. Pickups aren't ceramic.
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Re: Single Coils with Distortion NOISE

Post by Larry Mal » Sun Sep 24, 2017 7:02 pm

Anything here sound familiar?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSxXra9UN-0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I would still use a multimeter for this.

Edit: I don't think I'm helping here. I'm missing some simple things you've already said, I'm probably not giving good advice at this point. Sorry, brother. I tried sort of anyway.
Back in those days, everyone knew that if you were talking about Destiny's Child, you were talking about Beyonce, LaTavia, LeToya, and Larry.

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Re: Single Coils with Distortion NOISE

Post by HNB » Mon Sep 25, 2017 8:58 am

LOL No worries. I know my grounds are connected correctly because noise is quieter when I touch any metal part. (Not louder like the video linked.) I think it is just shielding needed combined with single coils tending to pick up noise from around the guitar.
Christopher
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Re: Single Coils with Distortion NOISE

Post by Embenny » Mon Sep 25, 2017 9:21 am

HNB wrote:LOL No worries. I know my grounds are connected correctly because noise is quieter when I touch any metal part. (Not louder like the video linked.) I think it is just shielding needed combined with single coils tending to pick up noise from around the guitar.
I wish I had something constructive to add...that noise sounds so much louder than anything I have dealt with in the past. "Shield the guitar and then see what happens" seems to be the only advice I can think of at this point.
The artist formerly known as mbene085.

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Re: Single Coils with Distortion NOISE

Post by HNB » Sat Sep 30, 2017 7:24 pm

Got shielding paint and went to work. (Also got a cream strat in trade and figured I would do it also at the same time.)

I picked it up from omniecomm on eBay and it was a great kit. Came with sandpaper, conductive copper tape, paint, a brush, and color pictures. Here are before and after pictures. I still need to do two more coats. One coat each day.

Image20170930_194645 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Image20170930_201517 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Image20170930_194651 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Image20170930_201511 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr
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Re: Single Coils with Distortion NOISE

Post by HNB » Mon Oct 02, 2017 7:48 am

I got the copper foil pieces added to help make sure the shielding is grounded. Then I did coat number two of the shielding paint. Should just need one more coat tonight to have that done.

Image2017-10-01_08-54-43 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Image2017-10-01_08-55-00 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Image2017-10-01_05-42-44 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Image2017-10-01_05-42-15 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr
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