Is this pickup wiring right? Getting crackling...

[alphadog808]

Hey guys,
Hoping I could get some insight on this from the wiring gurus. I have been using this diagram..
on both a San Dimas and another Charvel.



It works, but I notice that when in single coil mode on the neck OR bridge, I get a constant crackling sound. Not 60hz related, I believe. If I keep it in single coil mode but my toggle in the middle position(both neck and bridge both on), it's quiet. If I keep the pickups in humbucker mode, it's quiet in both neck or bridge mode.


So...with all that said, is this wiring wrong? I would thought maybe it was the pickups, but I did the same wiring on 2 different guitars and both exhibit the same issue.


What worries me is I believe I'm doing a SPLIT COIL, but I just noticed this diagram says it's for COIL TAP. Not sure if that might be why...?

[84sups]

I was under the impression coil tap and coil split was the same thing. Someone correct me if I'm wrong

And I read in your schematic the coil is being split so the humbuckers are single coils, coil tapping is basically taking the signal from a single coil before the end of the coiled wires(don't know how the hell it would be accomplished) to lower pickup output.

http://www.fender.com/news/coil-splitting-and-coil-tapping/

[Chad]

Coil tap & coil split are not the same thing. It can be confusing because people (even manufacturers) often interchange the two terms when they are actually talking about coil splitting.

The difference: a coil split grounds out one coil, so that the other coil is the only one active/audible. i.e. the pickup is "split" into two parts and one part disabled.

A coil tap is where you tap into the wind within ONE coil. For example, if a pickup has 10,000 winds, you might "tap" into the coil at the half-way point (around the 5,000 wind mark). So you could have a switch that goes between all 10,000 winds or 5,000 winds. Not really a very common thing.

Looking at that diagram, it may work, but the bottom pickup is different than I normally do it. This is what I do:

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=2h_1v_3w_pp

With that said, are you running a noise gate? In split mode, the pickup will be noisier, which could cause the gate to kick in moreso than when in humbucking mode. Depending on the gate settings, it can sound like a sputtering sound when the gate is turning on and off rapidly.

[straycat]

Crackling is usually caused by a cold solder connection or a bare wire is touching something it shouldn't causing intermittent signal disturbance.
Maybe you don't have a solid ground going on.
I had this problem last night working on a customers strat.
I split the humbucker and was getting power to both coils when one should be off completely.
Found a hair line strand off a pick up ground lead wire running too close the connection on the split switch.Fixed the problem.

[alphadog808]

Thanks for the reply guys. I'm not quite sure what's going on. At one point, the crackle went away...then it came back. So I tried one of my single coil teles and it was making the same crackle...so I'm assuming that single coils make that crackle...note, it goes away depending how I face the guitar. If I put the guitar perpendicular to the amp, the crackle goes away.

This is without a noise suppressor, btw.

Thanks!

[84sups]

Try a different cable, if one of the connections is loose inside the plug it'll crackle like that and eventually just go out

[JACKSONFREAK]

They shouldn't crackle. 60 cycle hum yes but not crackle. Crackle just to clarify is an intermittent static sounding noise.
Im confused by the hot wire going from the bridge pickup to the3 way then to the push pull. Duncans diagram shows both of the lugs on the pot side of the switch connected together and grounded. Then the rest of the wires like you show in this diagram.

[alphadog808]

The crackle is almost like the sound of eggs frying...sorta. It's definitely not the cable as I've used different cables and it's not that kinda crackle... I kinda think the wiring is ok as the crackle goes away depending how I face the guitar away the amp. If the wiring was bad, wouldn't it be bad all the time?

[alphadog808]

Im confused by the hot wire going from the bridge pickup to the3 way then to the push pull. Duncans diagram shows both of the lugs on the pot side of the switch connected together and grounded. Then the rest of the wires like you show in this diagram.

I'm confused too, you're right, the wiring is the same except for that. Hmm. I'm not smart enough to know why they differ...

[jdr94]

could the toggle be bad? if its only in one position it could be the switch causing the snap crackle n pop.

edit- or the switch pot

[84sups]

So it happens on all your guitars and you've changed the cord so what amp do you have? Is it tube? A bad capacitor or a bad tube can make a lot of noise and issues

[JACKSONFREAK]

Try the seymour duncan diagram and see if it goes away. Ive tried a few diagrams from guitar electronics amd they didnt work correctly. So I used the duncan ones and they wwork every time.

[jdr94]

oh i missed the last couple posts. have you recently moved the amp to a different spot. maybe something in the field. i know i cant set my tube amps near any flourocent lights(im sure i spelled that wong lol)

[alphadog808]

could the toggle be bad? if its only in one position it could be the switch causing the snap crackle n pop.

edit- or the switch pot

It's probably not the toggle or pot as it happens on two of my guitars. I have tried it on my modded blues jr. New caps, new tubes. I'l try it on another amp, but it's solid state and has a built in noise suppressor, so who knows.

Jacksonfreak, when you said your wiring didn't work, how did it not work? I mean, my guitar sounds GREAT with the single coils, it's just that dang crackle...

[JACKSONFREAK]

The straight forward digrms work ok. But when i need a an tricky diagram following the wiring exactly and something doesnt work. Either no sound or excessivean hum. Or sound in some positions nd not in others. It varies depending on the diagram.