VM Squire Jazzmaster Noise issue

[Head To Wall]

Hey, new to the forum, and the single coils in general. I bought this guitar because I've always loved the look and feel of the JM, and just wanted an affordable option to have kicking around the house, my Les Paul is my normal workhorse. I know this guitar is known to be noisy in the bridge and in the neck, but it seems to be unbearable, like if i'm palm muting you can hear the noise. I opened it up yesterday to see if possible there was a grounding issue, and from my understanding is the wire that is going in towards the bridge is the ground and that was snug so everything seems to be okay. I noticed the lack of shielding on the pickguard (obviously the painted shielding). Is this just life with single coils, or did I get with with a super dud with this one?

I know there's a 1000 similar threads but i wasn't sure which one to being to the top, so excuse me if this is poor board etiquette.

Would loading this thing with copper help, or should i just bit the bullet throw something quieter in the bridge and call it a day?

pictures below:

[mackerelmint]

That's just single coils. The cavity is already well shielded, but some copper tape behind the guard will do a lot. Just make sure it's grounded one way or another. I dunno if there's enough slack in the pickup leads to do this, but if you can twist them up and solder them back into place, that can help as well.

My JM is totally noiseless after doing those two things.

Good luck.

[Head To Wall]

That's just single coils. The cavity is already well shielded, but some copper tape behind the guard will do a lot. Just make sure it's grounded one way or another. I dunno if there's enough slack in the pickup leads to do this, but if you can twist them up and solder them back into place, that can help as well.

My JM is totally noiseless after doing those two things.

Good luck.

Thanks for the tip, I'm going to give that a shot for sure because i love the guitar but its driving me to the point where I might trade it some something else.

[stringmaster]

I had to put some copper tape on the underside of the pickguard on my VM JM due to the static "pop" I was getting--did the trick.

[Head To Wall]

If i did the copper on pickguard, as long as it touched other parts that are already shielded, I shouldn't have to run another ground wire right?

[mackerelmint]

Right. And make sure you get the stuff with conductive adhesive, or cut a little extra and fold it over so each piece has copper touching copper.

[Head To Wall]

Over the weekend I shielded the whole pickguard and it made no real difference . I have the roll of shielding so i guess the next move is the whole cavity. a buddy of mine who is a professional touring guitar tech mentioned shielding the inside of the actual pickup covers, has anyone heard of doing this?

[mackerelmint]

The shielding paint that's in there is plenty effective. Did you make sure that the pickguard shielding is making contact with the rest of the shielding?

[Head To Wall]

The shielding paint that's in there is plenty effective. Did you make sure that the pickguard shielding is making contact with the rest of the shielding?

Yea, all connected. My only other thought is that the power in my apartment is super dirty and that i'm damned either way

[mackerelmint]

Yeah, that was gonna be my next suggestion, that your electricity is dirty. Do you have dimmers on any lights? That's one of the worst culprits. Maybe try playing it somewhere else and see if things improve.

[Head To Wall]

Yeah, that was gonna be my next suggestion, that your electricity is dirty. Do you have dimmers on any lights? That's one of the worst culprits. Maybe try playing it somewhere else and see if things improve.

pretty much the only spot in my apartment not on a dimmer is the kitchen! i'm gonna take it over to a friends place and see if i have any luck there. Thanks!

[Head To Wall]

The noise is much more manageable now. Still there but nothing out of the ordinary. I'm probably going to invest in a noise suppressor anyway