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Wiring and Burstbucker 3 question


elessar820

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I posted this in the pickup forum too...

 

I just got a new Les Paul BFG, I love the guitar... not too big of a kill switch fan, so I was going to wire it with a 2 volume, 2 tone 3 way set up. I didn't have the right size shaft for my extra tone pot, so I figured I'd wire it back up and leave it as is. After I got it all working again, it seems like a ground isn't connected right. With distortion, the guitar buzzes a lot and if I touch the strings, bridge or selector switch it stops, but not the kill switch has no effect. The kill switch buzzes the same way when shut off, it's not silent unless I touch something else. All of my grounds are solidly soldered, so my question is, am I missing something or since the Burstbucker 3 isn't wax potted and the PAF is a single coil, are the pickups just that noisy? I've rewired many guitars using Seymour Duncans (first time using Gibson pickups) and the only pickup that ever buzzed like this was a Pearly Gates. Thanks.

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No, the pot is fine, both volumes and the tone work just fine. I double checked my wiring and checked it again and it's correct. I checked all my grounding and everything is grounded, actually the only things that were disconnected were the 3 way switch and the kill switch, but it still sounds like something isn't grounded.

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Real good move, dude. I think the burstbucker 3 is not potted. I have one and I love it, a finished one, a guitar of the week and a black one. Maybe I can snap a photo of the wiring for-ya sometime but first you did connect the outside braided wire on the pickup lead to ground on the back side of the pots right?

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Side note, I'm sorry in advance. A member of this board already re-wired a BFG to the

classic 2 volume 2 tone one 3 way switch and no kill switch. I don't remember their name.

Even though the newly located 3 way toggle switch's hole is larger then it's neighboring

potentiometer holes, I think the solution was a larger washer.

 

Maybe once cudamax2343 uploads the picture you'll find your solution.

 

Good luck.

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I have two BB3's. One in my BFG and another in my Epi. I've had no such problem. You have a grounding issue, no question. Re check EVERYTHING. Then check again. I had that problem when I wired my strat....I thought I checked everything but the 5 way switch was not grounded correctly. Make sure nothing came lose when you were moving things.

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Here-ya go. Photo's of my 2007 BFG guitar of the week les paul's control cavity.000_4104.jpg000_4103.jpg000_4102.jpg Next time you take some photo's of your **** before you start hacking up a brand new gibson=p~ And remember get those solder joints good, it may work but it won't sound like it should, If ain't done right. Let me know If you need photo's of the Kill switch cavity.

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i had the same problem, bad grounding even though i copied the wire schemtiic right, i never found out what the problem was, but make sure its nothing with the toggleswitch , that was what the problem was on mine i think

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Thanks cudamax. Mine is exactly the same way, except for a few different colors of wire that I wound up replacing because they were short and harder to reconnect. Everything is solid, the only thing I can think of is maybe the plate under the bridge pickup needs to be grounded too? I'm going to try that after work.

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I ohm all my grounds to ensure the read 0 ohms to check for a good ground. Here is what I do:

 

I ohm tailpiece stud (one closest to the cavity) to the back of the pot the grounding wire is connected to (remember to touch the pot casing but not solder). Then touch pot casing -to- pot casing of all 4 pots. The each volume pot casing to selector switch ground lug. Then finally selector switch ground lug to output jack ground lug. Remember to touch clean surfaces and not any solder. They should all read 0 ohms. If they all read 0 ohms then the grounds are good.

 

Now this is for a Les Paul with 2 volume and 2 tone pots but you get the idea.

 

Heop this helps in checking your grounds.

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Thanks for the advice with the multimeter Tom. Everything tested at 0 My idea to ground the plate under the bridge pickup didn't work and I fixed a few cold solder joints and changed some more of the wiring, some got burned. Now it has quieted down alot, but not completely and the kill switch still isn't fully shutting off the guitar. I know the Burstbucker and P90 hum, but it still goes away when I touch the bridge, strings or tuners. I'm guessing maybe it's the selector or kill switch?

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After cleaning off all of the old solder from the pots and rewiring the guitar completely it still had a ground hum. A local tech told me to shield it. Now most of the ground hum is gone after shielding the control and pickup cavities. It's still there but my other guitars have a bit of a hum, so it's tolerable now. I did rewire it to a 2 volume, 2 tone 3way switch configuration. It sounds great, but the Burstbucker 3 is a noisy pickup huh?.

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I'm using new cables, Planet Waves Custom Pro. My other guitars have a slight hum to them too, so I'm not sweating it too much anymore. I did wire my switch wrong at first, I have a feeling that it may be a problem. If I touch the hot connecting from the switch to the jack, it's very noisy. I'm going to get new ones because of that and it's too big for the cavity, it's not letting the cover plate screw in flat.

 

It's definitely grounded to the bridge. I replaced that wire as well. I'm sorry to keep this thread going, but it's so damn frustrating. I'm halfway there now, it's just I can't get that last little bit to go away.

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Hey 820. Just a little note for-ya. My 07 studio guitar of the week BFG when plugged into an amp with the gain all the way up and volume in any position with the pickup selector on the burstbucker and the kill switch off, The damn thing hum's. Just a little bit and when I touch the strings it goes a way. It's never been touched or modified and it has done that since I got it. Sorry man I would I didn't tell you earlier but just noticed it.

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Thanks cuda, I just put the new switch and jack in and wired it with a braided wire. It's perfect now. Still the slight hum, but it's hardly noticeable. The p-90 is a lot quieter now too due to the shielding. Damn, I wish I would have just left it alone considering all of the headaches I got from this. I wired it up as a 2 volume, 2 tone and 3 way switch set up, I was going to put it back to stock but I noticed that one of the terminals on the kill switch had broken off. Sadly, I've rewired almost every guitar I've had, usually pickup swaps nad adding push/pulls or mini switches and even complete rewiring for projects and never had this type of problem. Anyway, it works great and sounds better than my Strat or SZ. Thanks for your help guys. If you are in Ocean County NJ, go to Toms River Music, they helped me out a lot to get this back in working order.

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Sadly' date=' I've rewired almost every guitar I've had, usually pickup swaps nad adding push/pulls or mini switches and even complete rewiring for projects and never had this type of problem.[/quote']

 

Something similar happened to me when I swapped the pickups and pots on my Studio.

 

I'd done it numerous times on my own and friend's guitars. The first time I try on a

Gibson and I couldn't get it right. I had to fight the electrical gremlins.

 

Glad you hung in there 'til you were happy.

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