Frustrating Pickup Installation Day! Help!

timmysoft

I've spent most of today trying (and failing) to do a very simple installation, so i'm resorting to the forum for help!

 All i'm trying to do is put a Seymour JB into my Levinson, but i'm getting a whole heap of buzz. I've tried two different pots, two different jack sockets, i even tried swapping out the pickup for one i know is quiet and then that one buzzed too!

 The layout i'm going for is just one JB, Volume Pot, Output. Its the simplest wiring ever and i've done it to about 15 other strats over the past 20 years, but this bastard won't stop buzzing! I'm not a novice with an iron, but this has really frustrated me, i've spent 8 hours on it today!

 Suggestions.

Note: its not my amp or leads, tested those with another guitar and they're fine, but something in this guitar is being very weird, is there something i'm missing?

ICBM

Do you have a bridge ground wire?

Is the jack socket wired the right way round?

Are all the grounds connected to the volume pot?

timmysoft

yeah, i've got all those things @ICBM , The only thing i'm doing differently to my usual is that i'm using CTS pots instead of alphas. 

ICBM

Did you bend the ground terminal back onto the pot body? Sometimes that can cause the rivetting to come loose on a CTS. If you did, try squeezing the terminal hard onto the track board with a pair of narrow-nose pliers.

You would usually spot this because the volume control doesn't go all the way down to zero though. What happens when you turn it right down - does the buzz stop?

What happens if you touch the back of the pot while not touching the strings - more buzz, or less?

timmysoft

Yeah i've bent the terminal onto the body, CTS do feel a bit flimsy in comparison to alphas! 

whatever i touch is less buzz, the buzz does stop if i turn the guitar volume all the way off.

ICBM

So at least you have the jack wired right...

The buzz is from earlier than the volume pot if turning it down stops it, and isn't the ground terminal either. If it gets quieter when you touch the strings the bridge ground is ok.

At this point it has to be the pickup or lack of shielding overall.

Bridgehouse

Could it be a cold solder somewhere?

RandallFlagg

If you have one try a different pickup to rule out the rest of the circuit

timmysoft

RandallFlagg said:

If you have one try a different pickup to rule out the rest of the circuit

i did try another pickup, but got the same buzzing. I think i'm just going to buy a new pot and new wire and jack socket and rewire the whole thing again.

RandallFlagg

timmysoft said:

RandallFlagg said:

If you have one try a different pickup to rule out the rest of the circuit

i did try another pickup, but got the same buzzing. I think i'm just going to buy a new pot and new wire and jack socket and rewire the whole thing again.

Damn, that's bloody annoying! I'm glad I can't solder.

Veganic

Pickup -> jack or even direct to cable if you have a broke one.