HELP! First time wiring... what did I do wrong?

[mhalsey]

Tryin to finish up my DK2. Got my Lil' 59 today and put her in.. no problem; finished installing new pots, switch, and jack a couple of days ago.. Put the trem back on, strung 'er up and started to tune. I'm getting buzz/hum big time no matter what position the switch is in. I haven't put the cavity cover back on yet nor the knobs. The buzz/hum diminishes almost 100% when I touch either pot shaft. Do I have a bad ground? Pls help!!!!

[Model 88]

Re: HELP! First time wiring... what did I do wrong?

Had the same problem would touch the strings and it got quite.Make sure you have good solder joints.I ran a ground from pot to pot like the Duncan diagram said.I also ran a small piece of wire from the post to the top of the pot on each one.Make sure the switch is grounded to the pots or body ground also.And check to see if the main ground is tight(the one with the screw).

[mhalsey]

Re: HELP! First time wiring... what did I do wrong?

It's quiet til I touch the strings. The body ground is just some flimsy piece of metal where the extra grounds underneath the old pups conected to it. I have the tone pot grounded to the trem claw, the bridge pup grounded on top of the tone, and the lil 59 grounded to the vol pot. The vol pot is grounded to that flimsy piece of metal. Should I run a jumper between pots? How do I ground the switch; run it from one of the empty posts to say, on top of a pot?

[Model 88]

Re: HELP! First time wiring... what did I do wrong?

There was no ground in the control cavity?.There should have been it usallly is painted with a conductive shielding paint.

If you look at http://www.seymourduncan.com/website...l_1tone_5w.htm diagram you see each post goes to ground.What I did was I ran a wire between each pot were it should go to ground.Then took a wire and went from each ground post to the top of the pot.I then took all the ground wires and ran them to one pot and then one wire to the side of the control cavity.

[Newc]

Re: HELP! First time wiring... what did I do wrong?

You should have a ground going from your output jack to one pot, from there to the switch ground (should be one of the tabs in the middle, opposite of your pickup/switch wires), from there to the claw, and back to the other pot, then to the tab that is screwed into the wood.

All metal parts should be connected by a ground wire.
Also make sure your split wires are soldered together properly and taped. If they touch anything when you stuff the wires back in, it'll give you buzz or shunt to ground.
Make sure that when you stuff the wires back in that none of the exposed wires are touching each other or anything they're not supposed to.

It amazes me how the Ontario route is larger than the SD route, but has less useable work space compared to an SD route [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[mhalsey]

Re: HELP! First time wiring... what did I do wrong?

See, the schematic doesn't show the switch itself being grounded. Where on the switch is the ground again? Is it one of the posts (there's 4 of them)on the opposite side of the switch from where the vol pot and pups are wired?

I may need to get another vol pot anyway (I may have fried it). I removed a ground from on top of it and found another ground point that eliminated the buzz/hum but now the pot doesn't work right. Live and learn, I guess. I think I'll take everything out and start over by laying down all the grounds first (based on your advice) and THEN wiring in the pups. The order in which I did everything seemed kinda screwy anyway. All part of learning.

And you're right, Newc. Looking at the space I have to work in compared to the pic of LPC's SD Jackson, sheeesh! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] All kinds of room in that cavity.

[Model 88]

Re: HELP! First time wiring... what did I do wrong?

On my SL1 there is a little area near one of the screws.You should have the same style if not the same switch.It is on the side closest to the head stock and should be on side near the pots.

I just wired everything to one pot as it was easier.You can then wire tie all the wires together for a much cleaner looking job.Instead of it looking like spaghetti.[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]