Crackly guitar electrics

nutbox

Hi there,
Just putting a guitar together and rewired the electrics because they were crackling and after 3 lots of pots it is still crackling.
It's not so much when you turn a pot but when your just sitting there thinking of what to play.
As I said I have change the pots and the cap and the wire and it still happens.
I know the lead is fine because it doesn't do it on any other guitar.
Please help I don't have much hair to pull out lol.
Cheers dazz

OilCityPickups

Okay ... my approach is to eliminate one thing at a time ... to start with the lead and output socket. hook the pickups one at a time to the jack directly to eliminate them from the equation. Check your bridge earth ... check all your solder joints ... trust nothing. I trust no jack sockets bar switchcraft by the way.

nutbox

I have checked continuity with a meter at the bridge and It seems to be OK.
Maybe it is the jack socket.
When you say connect each pickup straight to socket how would I go about that?
Cheers dazz

OilCityPickups

I use a couple of bits of odd wire to temporarily 'bridge the gap' and solder directly.

nutbox

Ok I shall commence fault finding tomorrow if I get time. Thanks for the help

ICBM

Does it have a plastic pickguard when your other guitars don't?

nutbox

No buddy

ICBM

I wondered if it was pickguard static.

Is there anything different about the finishing, shielding, or anything like that?

I would suspect a DC leak from your amp, but if it doesn't do it with the other guitars it's not that either.

nutbox

I must admit the originally thereally was emg in there but now there are some Wilkinson pickups in there , plus one of the pickup cavities doesn't have any shielding paint in it.
So that could be the problem.
It's all common sense when someone points things out to you ain't it lol.
Thank you for all the suggestions, I shall take a look at the weekend and see if I can solve this problem.
Cheers dazz

OilCityPickups

Wouldn't expect crackling from lack of shielding ... 

Another thing to try ... and I try anything once ... is taking your guitar and amp to a mates house and trying it there ... I used to live in a flat where all sorts of weird stuff was going on with interference and mains induced noise ... but again ... if this is the only guitar that does it ... maybe not ... Oh, I'd try it with another amp and lead too.

nutbox

Cool I take a look

olafgarten

nutbox said:

I must admit the originally thereally was emg in there but now there are some Wilkinson pickups in there , plus one of the pickup cavities doesn't have any shielding paint in it.
So that could be the problem.
It's all common sense when someone points things out to you ain't it lol.
Thank you for all the suggestions, I shall take a look at the weekend and see if I can solve this problem.
Cheers dazz

If it had EMG's in it before, were all the other electronics replaced aswell? Is it possible that the battery is still connected to the circuit?

nutbox

No buddy all new stuff inside

ICBM

What electrics do your other guitars have?

nutbox

All passive pick up

ICBM

A puzzle!

At this point where logic fails it may be worth trying to eliminate all possibilities - start with just one pickup connected directly to the jack, as TheGuitarWeasel said.

nutbox

Well I have tried new wire all round ,I painted the unpainted pickup cavity,tried a different jack which didn't solve the problem,so I took everything out and left the pickups in and wired them straight to the jack and it still done it on both but I couldn't figure out whether it was the bridge earth that I connected and disconnected to see if it made a difference .but there still seemed to be a crackly in both guises. I think it might be the pickups but I just need to try a different jack to be sure it ain't that . Cheers dazz

ICBM

I think it's ghosts.

Or mice.

nutbox

Gremlins

nutbox

Well I ripped everything out again and put some different pickups and new pots and wiring,the only thing that stayed are the switch ,jack plug and bridge earth lead,and still it crackles. Please help,how would I change the bridge earth wire? Cheers dazz

nutbox

Could I be over cooking the pots because each new ones do sound scratchy after wiring them up?