Pickup hum through amplifier
Moderators: rickenbrother, ajish4
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Justin_Howley
Pickup hum through amplifier
Hi. I have a 1997 Ric 330 with the high gain pick-ups. I play out of a Mesa-Boogie dc-3 35 watt combo. Whenever I play out of the amp with my Ric, it always hums like theres a ground problem. Is this common with Rics? I use two of my Tele's through the amp and it is crystal clean with no hummming. Is there any kind of shielding I can do to my Ric to stop it? Thanks.
Do you have the Rick-O-Sound jack set up or is it just mono /standard?
Because of the semi hollow body ,you do not have the ability to shield the way that you can with a Fender.The Fender has a defined cavity,the Rick ...where do you stop?
Other ideas are this ,and I to own Mesa amps and Fender amps .This 60 cycle hum is "normal".
but first ,what pickups do you have in the Tele's?
Are they stock single coils or Duncans?
More info please.
Because of the semi hollow body ,you do not have the ability to shield the way that you can with a Fender.The Fender has a defined cavity,the Rick ...where do you stop?
Other ideas are this ,and I to own Mesa amps and Fender amps .This 60 cycle hum is "normal".
but first ,what pickups do you have in the Tele's?
Are they stock single coils or Duncans?
More info please.
So you too want yours "ALAPWOB"?!?!
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justin
Hey Mark...The Tele's p-ups are dimarzio, one being a humbucker super distortion ( I know there's almost no hum with that one) and a standard single coil replacement in the other tele. The single coil hardly produces a noise at all. I'm just concerned about recording with my Ric. My 330 has the mono output. I love it but when I kick in my rat pedal it gets a little too buzzy.
Go to a hardware store and get a roll of aluminum tape .You will find it in the ducting area.Not DUCT tape !
They use it to seal ducting and it works great for shielding.
Put some of that on the bottom side of the teardrop guard.
Any wire that is not a ground/earth wire and it is over 2inches long(51mm) you could change that wire out to a piece of shielded cable.You must not create a ground/earth loop.
Only connect the shielding on one end,Cut off the shield on the other end and put some shrink tubing over the end with just the hot wire sticking out. Keep the hot wire sticking out only 1/8" to 1/4" .That will help.
The other thing is this .If the shielded cable on the pickups is NOT braided,then find some 22gauge braided shielded cable with single conductor.And change that .When I was there ,it was always braided shield.
The last toasters that I installed ,they were also braided.So I doubt that is the problem.
Now the tough one to do.The cavity.Where do you stop?!!!?
They use it to seal ducting and it works great for shielding.
Put some of that on the bottom side of the teardrop guard.
Any wire that is not a ground/earth wire and it is over 2inches long(51mm) you could change that wire out to a piece of shielded cable.You must not create a ground/earth loop.
Only connect the shielding on one end,Cut off the shield on the other end and put some shrink tubing over the end with just the hot wire sticking out. Keep the hot wire sticking out only 1/8" to 1/4" .That will help.
The other thing is this .If the shielded cable on the pickups is NOT braided,then find some 22gauge braided shielded cable with single conductor.And change that .When I was there ,it was always braided shield.
The last toasters that I installed ,they were also braided.So I doubt that is the problem.
Now the tough one to do.The cavity.Where do you stop?!!!?
So you too want yours "ALAPWOB"?!?!
You will need a volt/ohm meter for this .
Cut a strip of the tape 1/4"wide and 12" long.This will be tough to install and you will want to make two of these.
Remove the guards and starting on the face,inside the area that the guard covers,lay down one end over by the area that is near the jack.Smooth it down and wrap it around under the top ,back to the side wall ,down to the back and lay it under the bracing area.
Do another piece just like that one but near the neck pickup volume control.Lay that in.
Now the fun part.You need to cut two pieces of the tape so that it forms an oval and can be installed inside the body near the side.Do that piece first.Smooth it down as you go .Try to make it appear as though it was part of the wood.You may need to use a tool to do this .The end of a wooden spoon works really well.
Now cut another piece to fit in along the first piece.This should give you a metal "BOX" to shield as much 60 cycle hum as can be removed.When you screw down the guards,the two strips will touch the tape on the back of the guard and as they are grounded by the pots,you have in effect a metal can inside the cavity.This is the best that you can do .The only other ideas that you could do are ,ferrite beads,and reverse winding one of the pickups.
Cut a strip of the tape 1/4"wide and 12" long.This will be tough to install and you will want to make two of these.
Remove the guards and starting on the face,inside the area that the guard covers,lay down one end over by the area that is near the jack.Smooth it down and wrap it around under the top ,back to the side wall ,down to the back and lay it under the bracing area.
Do another piece just like that one but near the neck pickup volume control.Lay that in.
Now the fun part.You need to cut two pieces of the tape so that it forms an oval and can be installed inside the body near the side.Do that piece first.Smooth it down as you go .Try to make it appear as though it was part of the wood.You may need to use a tool to do this .The end of a wooden spoon works really well.
Now cut another piece to fit in along the first piece.This should give you a metal "BOX" to shield as much 60 cycle hum as can be removed.When you screw down the guards,the two strips will touch the tape on the back of the guard and as they are grounded by the pots,you have in effect a metal can inside the cavity.This is the best that you can do .The only other ideas that you could do are ,ferrite beads,and reverse winding one of the pickups.
So you too want yours "ALAPWOB"?!?!
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Justin