Updated Sherry

[wrvond]

I just finished updating all the electrics in my Sherry. I replaced the four 500 ohm pots with CTS brand 500 ohm tone and 300 ohm volume pots. Put in a Switch Craft three way switch and jack. I used shielded wire for all the hot leads, but regular 22 AWG stranded wire for grounds. I used .022 mF orange drop caps, and wired everything 50's style. I also replaced the 3.3K ohm Kent Armstrong licensed pups with 12K and 17K pups from a new Epiphone Les Paul.

Everything works exactly as I hoped it would, except for a bit of hum that quiets when I touch metal (strings, bridge, or jack). I know this is indicative of an open ground, but I triple checked all my solder joints before shoving everything in the hole.

So now I'm wondering, is this normal, and I just didn't hear it before putting in the higher gain components? Or is there something else? Is this hum only caused by an open, regardless of how adamant I am I soldered everything perfectly?

Thoughts are appreciated.

Here's some pics:

 

Old pups:

 

 

New pups:

[wrvond]

Old stuff:

 

New stuff:

 

Finished:

[Bender 4 Life]

some of the solder joints look mighty cold......especially on the ground to the 3-way switch.

 

may have to try re-soldering, and do it hot.....HOT

 

I may be way off here, .....but I solder at temps that make other members cringe & draw into the fetal position......

[Not-Too-Late]

some of the solder joints look mighty cold......especially on the ground to the 3-way switch.

 

may have to try re-soldering, and do it hot.....HOT

 

I may be way off here, .....but I solder at temps that make other members cringe & draw into the fetal position......

 

That was my first thought looking at those solder joints, but I wonder if that is the reason for the hum. I'm no expert here, but aren't those new pups double single coils? From past experience playing older Tele's, they had a tendency to hum. Like I said, I'm no expert here, and I don't know anything about those new pups of yours. Just an observation from the pictures that's all.

 

Cheers

Wayne

[cunningham26]

A cold solder on a ground wire would certainly be the first place I'd check

[wrvond]

some of the solder joints look mighty cold......especially on the ground to the 3-way switch.

 

may have to try re-soldering, and do it hot.....HOT

 

I may be way off here, .....but I solder at temps that make other members cringe & draw into the fetal position......

 

 

I don't disagree with you, but the solder joints you are looking at are on all the electrics I removed from the guitar. The pics are of "old stuff" and the "new stuff".

I was way too busy wiring and soldering to take pictures during the install, I'm afraid. But, as a micro-miniature electronics technician in the military for a quarter century, I'm pretty confident in my ability to solder.

I used a freshly ground and tinned 40 watt iron on this job, but I'll admit I'd rather have used a 60W. It does a much better job on the pots as long as you don't sit on it too long.

 

I don't know anything at all about the pups. Other than I was told they came out of a brand new Epi LP, and I metered them at 12K and 17K ohms. I have no idea what model they came out of. Admittedly, I am a Strat guy primarily with a fondness for Lace sensors, so I'm very weak in the pup knowledge department.

I've got a new Gretsch 5622T-CB coming in a few weeks, so will be better able to take this one back apart and go through the wiring again.

 

Thanks, guys.

[Not-Too-Late]

I don't disagree with you, but the solder joints you are looking at are on all the electrics I removed from the guitar. The pics are of "old stuff" and the "new stuff".

I was way too busy wiring and soldering to take pictures during the install, I'm afraid. But, as a micro-miniature electronics technician in the military for a quarter century, I'm pretty confident in my ability to solder.

I used a freshly ground and tinned 40 watt iron on this job, but I'll admit I'd rather have used a 60W. It does a much better job on the pots as long as you don't sit on it too long.

 

I don't know anything at all about the pups. Other than I was told they came out of a brand new Epi LP, and I metered them at 12K and 17K ohms. I have no idea what model they came out of. Admittedly, I am a Strat guy primarily with a fondness for Lace sensors, so I'm very weak in the pup knowledge department.

I've got a new Gretsch 5622T-CB coming in a few weeks, so will be better able to take this one back apart and go through the wiring again.

 

Thanks, guys.

 

Perhaps I'm grasping at straws here, but you mentioned that you wired it 50's style. Many, many years ago , I had a blonde 57 tele. She was a beauty, but had a slight tendency to hum depending on the settings. I'm trying to put this together, not being an experst by any means - 50's style wiring with double single coil pups. Just trying to be a nosy sleuth.

[wrvond]

Well, I think I found the solution.

 

I was suddenly finding it difficult to play at all, because you could very easily hear a note (or at least a sound) created whenever I touched a string.

Then I realized that I have a guitar that is now much "hotter" than it used to be. We're talking pups with 9 and 14K ohms more resistance, and volume pots that are 300K ohms, versus 500K. When I turned the volume pots down from 10 to 5 and the amp from 6 to 3, the hum went away entirely and the sound became nice and clear.

In other words, I can't use the same settings with the newer hotter stuff that I could with the old stuff.

 

It was my understanding that 300K pots in the volume would allow more treble through, but I didn't think about it allowing more gain at the same setting. That is to say, all else being equal, a 300K ohm pot at "5" is going to be louder than a 500K ohm pot at "5" due to the lower circuit resistance.

 

Anyway, even with everything turned down, it is still plenty loud.

[Bender 4 Life]

I don't disagree with you, but the solder joints you are looking at are on all the electrics I removed from the guitar. The pics are of "old stuff" and the "new stuff".

I was way too busy wiring and soldering to take pictures during the install, I'm afraid. But, as a micro-miniature electronics technician in the military for a quarter century, I'm pretty confident in my ability to solder.

I used a freshly ground and tinned 40 watt iron on this job, but I'll admit I'd rather have used a 60W. It does a much better job on the pots as long as you don't sit on it too long.

 

I don't know anything at all about the pups. Other than I was told they came out of a brand new Epi LP, and I metered them at 12K and 17K ohms. I have no idea what model they came out of. Admittedly, I am a Strat guy primarily with a fondness for Lace sensors, so I'm very weak in the pup knowledge department.

I've got a new Gretsch 5622T-CB coming in a few weeks, so will be better able to take this one back apart and go through the wiring again.

 

Thanks, guys.

 

oops, my bad.....thought I was looking at "install" soldering.....