Buzz through amp.....PART 2

Setup, repair and restoration of Rickenbacker Instruments

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revolver
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Buzz through amp.....PART 2

Post by revolver »

Hello,

This is my first post. I'm experiencing a similar problem as Tod Clare did awhile back.

I purchased a 360 about a year ago, and have only recently statred playing with a band again at high volumes.

Like Tod's problem, I'm getting really bad buzz from the guitar especially with a distortion pedal on.

I generally play with the bridge pu with the neck pu volume turned off so that I can a) do the old Pete Townsend pu selector thingy and b) switch it to the neck position in between songs so there's no feedback, noise etc.

Here's where I'm confused, I also have an SG, and when I flip to the neck pu with the volume turned down it's dead silent, no signal to the amp at all.

But with the Ric it buzzes like crazy unless I touch the strings or tailpiece, then it stops.

I thought I might have a grounding problem. I took it to two different guitar techs and they said there's nothing wrong with the guitar, that's just a single coil thing that I'm not used to.

I opened up the Ric and had a look at the electronics and the ground wire isn't loose and seems to be tightly attached to the guitar (the bridge I guess, it disappears into the body).

It just seems odd to me that with the volume turned down, signal is still getting through to the amp.

Is this just a ricky wiring thing?

Thanks
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rictified
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Post by rictified »

My basses all do that too, there is a thread here somewhere about it, it is in the way they are wired. I just always keep my hand on the basses, is an old habit.
spencer

Post by spencer »

I was recording in a studio and I think I was using my 335 (ES) and I had to ground myself to the guitar via a piece of wire connected to the bridge, the other end to my arm.
It's a great guitar, nothing wrong with it.
That makes me think it's not just a single coil thing, because the 335 has humbuckers.
rictified
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Post by rictified »

Yeah I did the same with a couple of 4001's and was going to suggest shielding then I thought the same thing as you, Miguel
Spencer,
If you're getting a lot of buzz from a guitar with humbuckers something is wrong somewhere with the grounding, was it an old amp with a polarity switch thrown the wrong way with a two prong plug perhaps? Bad cord? You might want to check to make sure the grounding is intact on that guitar. You shouldn't get any hum or buzz from humbuckers.
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