Buzzing noise when not touching metal parts after installing nickel covers on 57 and 57 plus zebra humbuckers

[EnriAn]

I am new here. I am having issues with my  Gibson Les Paul Classic/2016.  About two weeks ago I decided that I wanted chrome/nickel covers for my 57 and 57 plus zebra humbuckers. I bought both from Gibson. I installed them making sure not to pull any wires or doing something I wasn't supposed to. I put regular waxed inside of both covers. I also put tape on my  humbuckers (only on the black part of them). I put the covers on with normal pressure. Then I used clamps to make sure the covers were touching the ground of both of my humbuckers. I solder them making sure I didn't burn anything and then I put them back in my guitar. Despite the change of tone in both of them ( I don't mind) I am having a buzzing noise when I am not touching any metal parts. I didn't have this problem before installing the covers. I tried my amp with another guitar and there is no noise. I also tried turning everything off in my music room but the noise is still there. 

 

I appreciate your help!

[Sgt. Pepper]

2 minutes ago, EnriAn said:

I am new here. I am having issues with my  Gibson Les Paul Classic/2016.  About two weeks ago I decided that I wanted chrome/nickel covers for my 57 and 57 plus zebra humbuckers. I bought both from Gibson. I installed them making sure not to pull any wires or doing something I wasn't supposed to. I put regular waxed inside of both covers. I also put tape on my  humbuckers (only on the black part of them). I put the covers on with normal pressure. Then I used clamps to make sure the covers were touching the ground of both of my humbuckers. I solder them making sure I didn't burn anything and then I put them back in my guitar. Despite the change of tone in both of them ( I don't mind) I am having a buzzing noise when I am not touching any metal parts. I didn't have this problem before installing the covers. I tried my amp with another guitar and there is no noise. I also tried turning everything off in my music room but the noise is still there. 

 

I appreciate your help!

You must have disturbed something. Sound like a bad ground.

Edited March 1, 2021 by Sgt. Pepper

[EnriAn]

1 minute ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

You must have disturbed something. Sound like a bad grounding issue.

That's what I think but I can'f find the root of the problem. I also removed the covers but I have the same problem. The noise increases when I use distortion or overdrive but it goes away once I touch the strings or other metal parts. 

[Sgt. Pepper]

1 minute ago, EnriAn said:

That's what I think but I can'f find the root of the problem. I also removed the covers but I have the same problem. The noise increases when I use distortion or overdrive but it goes away once I touch the strings or other metal parts. 

If the buzzing goes away when you touch metal you are making the ground. Gotta get in there an look or ohm it out if you have a meter.

[EnriAn]

2 minutes ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

If the buzzing goes away when you touch metal you are making the ground. Gotta get in there an look or ohm it out if you have a meter.

I already checked that but everything seems to be fine

[Sgt. Pepper]

Just now, EnriAn said:

I already checked that but everything seems to be fine

It didn't do it before and it does now. I've spend hours tracking down a ground issue when I played electric. Stuff with common grounds are a pain. I'm an electrician and hate stuff like that. At least you know its on the guitar and most assuredly what happened when you did the pup stuff.

[EnriAn]

58 minutes ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

It didn't do it before and it does now. I've spend hours tracking down a ground issue when I played electric. Stuff with common grounds are a pain. I'm an electrician and hate stuff like that. At least you know its on the guitar and most assuredly what happened when you did the pup stuff.

I just want to find the solution. 

[Sgt. Pepper]

28 minutes ago, EnriAn said:

I just want to find the solution. 

No kidding, but its more than likely self inflicted. You gotta undo stuff and check what you did. It worked before and not after. It s called troubleshooting, and it can be a simple find or not. 

[rct]

Most of the time, on most guitars, if the buzz goes away when you touch the metal, it is the bridge not grounded properly.

Sarge up there mentioned metering and ground checking, to which you said:

"I already checked that but everything seems to be fine".

For grounding a guitar, "seems to be fine" just doesn't cut it.  Meter the grounds, listen for the beep, look at the screen, see a low number, below .5 hopefully on the bridge and bridge screws and pots and stuff.  Pots can be higher number, .8 or .9 for them is usually fine.  No seems about it, it is properly well grounded or it isn't.  It buzzes a little to a medium to a whole bunch or it doesn't buzz at all.  Guitars should not buzz and require your hands to stop the buzzing.

After it is metered well, plug it in with no strings on it and turn it up for silence.  It should be the same white noise of the amp with the guitar turned all the way down as it is with the guitar turned all the way up.   Once it is silent with no strings on it yer done.

rct

[EnriAn]

15 hours ago, rct said:

Most of the time, on most guitars, if the buzz goes away when you touch the metal, it is the bridge not grounded properly.

Sarge up there mentioned metering and ground checking, to which you said:

"I already checked that but everything seems to be fine".

For grounding a guitar, "seems to be fine" just doesn't cut it.  Meter the grounds, listen for the beep, look at the screen, see a low number, below .5 hopefully on the bridge and bridge screws and pots and stuff.  Pots can be higher number, .8 or .9 for them is usually fine.  No seems about it, it is properly well grounded or it isn't.  It buzzes a little to a medium to a whole bunch or it doesn't buzz at all.  Guitars should not buzz and require your hands to stop the buzzing.

After it is metered well, plug it in with no strings on it and turn it up for silence.  It should be the same white noise of the amp with the guitar turned all the way down as it is with the guitar turned all the way up.   Once it is silent with no strings on it yer done.

rct

Awesome! Thanks for your response. I will follow what you said here. I have also noticed that the bridge ground wire was/is shielded with copper. As you can see in the picture below, is pealing in some parts. Do you think this can be the issue? 

[EnriAn]

[Dub-T-123]

It’s a single conductor copper wire there’s no shielding on it. If the guitar is strung up there should be continuity between the strings and ground. You can flop one probe into the output jack and let it rest on the sleeve and touch the other probe to the strings

[EnriAn]

2 minutes ago, Dub-T-123 said:

It’s a single conductor copper wire there’s no shielding on it. If the guitar is strung up there should be continuity between the strings and ground. You can flop one probe into the output jack and let it rest on the sleeve and touch the other probe to the strings

I'll try that. Thanks!

[kidblast]

what solved this for me was adding a ground connection from the existing ground (that was set at the bridge post) to all four pots.

Edited March 3, 2021 by kidblast

[EnriAn]

38 minutes ago, kidblast said:

what solved this for me was adding a ground connection from the existing ground (that was set at the bridge post) to all four pots.

Would you mind sharing pictures?

Thanks!

[Sgt. Pepper]

Have you taken an ohm-meter (I have a Fluke multi-meter) and checked continuity from the bridge to the outside of the pots. The same from the metal of the jack to the bridge and the pots? And also the that ground wire on the PC board. You should have continuity any where there is bare metal to other places that have bare metal. I am an electrician and I can get technical with you or do it in layman's terms cause I do not know you level of electrical knowledge.

Edited March 3, 2021 by Sgt. Pepper

[EnriAn]

1 hour ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

Have you taken an ohm-meter (I have a Fluke multi-meter) and checked continuity from the bridge to the outside of the pots. The same from the metal of the jack to the bridge and the pots? And also the that ground wire on the PC board. You should continuity any where there is bare metal to other places that have bare metal. I am an electrician and I can get technical with you or do it in layman's terms cause I do not know you level of electrical knowledge.

I have a friend who's an electrician. He's stopping by tomorrow to check my guitar. I'll show him what you said here. Hopefully he will find the problem. Thanks!!!

[Sgt. Pepper]

11 minutes ago, EnriAn said:

I have a friend who's an electrician. He's stopping by tomorrow to check my guitar. I'll show him what you said here. Hopefully he will find the problem. Thanks!!!

I had one of those PC boards in a SG, or maybe it was a LP, one or the other, and I ripped it out and wired it like a normal guitar.

Edited March 3, 2021 by Sgt. Pepper

[EnriAn]

4 minutes ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

I had one of those PC boards in a SG, or maybe it was a LP, one or the other, and I ripped it out and wired it like a normal guitar.

That's what someone else told to do. I'll give it a try to see if it can be fixed. If not, I'll take it apart. 

[Sgt. Pepper]

Just now, EnriAn said:

That's what someone else told to do. I'll give it a try to see if it can be fixed. If not, I'll take it apart. 

Almost anything can be fixed, you have to know what you are doing. I don't do plumbing and auto repair cause that is not what I am good at. I call the pros in when I have those kind of issues.

[NighthawkChris]

The nicest part IMHO about hand-wired as opposed to the PCB - which saves Gibson time and money - is that when one thing goes wrong - a pot, cap, etc - you aren’t troubleshooting a board you have no idea what is connected to what generally speaking. It’s a b!tch to even replace a pot I’ll bet on that PCB. Now it isn’t going to sound different if the components are identical and connections are the same, but again much easier for you to maintain. Replacing pickups when you don’t have that PCB is much easier for many more people. The level of troubleshooting knowledge needed isn’t as complicated. Not that this is an extremely complicated thing, but if you know jack about electronics, it’s sort of daunting. I’m not saying to do one thing or the other, just sharing facts that that PCB is for Gibsons advantage not yours. 

[kidblast]

2 hours ago, EnriAn said:

Would you mind sharing pictures?

Thanks!

Pic wouldn't really help in your case.

Mine is all old school..  it's a 2002 Standard.

just have a piece of wire attached to all pots, then soldered to ground

[mihcmac]

Pickups are very microphonically sensitive, by adding metal covers the metal mass close to the strings has been increased, possibly increasing their sensitivity.

Any weak ground could possibly cause problems. Since your pots are connected to a circuitboard and grounded through it. You could check it by removing the CB with the pots and input jack, then closely inspect any loose connections on the CB. 

    things that might help...

Make sure the buzzing stops when you touch the strings, if not the ground wire going from the CB to bridge is bad.

Soldering a ground wire running to the case of each of the pots and bridge ground wire could help.

Add shielding to the control cavity.

Most pickups will buzz a little and some more than others, depending on conditions. If you continue to have trouble you may want to take it to a good tech.

LP wiring logic flow...... Pickup to Vol Pot with Tone Pot attached (Pots grounded with Bridge wire), then from Vol Pot long cable to 3-Way Switch, then long cable from 3-Way to output Jack.

Typical old school LP wiring without CB..

Edited March 4, 2021 by mihcmac

[EnriAn]

42 minutes ago, mihcmac said:

Pickups are very microphonically sensitive, by adding metal covers the metal mass close to the strings has been increased, possibly increasing their sensitivity.

Any weak ground could possibly cause problems. Since your pots are connected to a circuitboard and grounded through it. You could check it by removing the CB with the pots and input jack, then closely inspect any loose connections on the CB. 

    things that might help...

Make sure the buzzing stops when you touch the strings, if not the ground wire going from the CB to bridge is bad.

Soldering a ground wire running to the case of each of the pots and bridge ground wire could help.

Add shielding to the control cavity.

Most pickups will buzz a little and some more than others, depending on conditions. If you continue to have trouble you may want to take it to a good tech.

LP wiring logic flow...... Pickup to Vol Pot with Tone Pot attached (Pots grounded with Bridge wire), then from Vol Pot long cable to 3-Way Switch, then long cable from 3-Way to output Jack.

Typical old school LP wiring without CB..

Thank you so much for your answer,  mihcmac. I think I know what's going on. I agree with you  about  the sensibility of humbuckers getting increased  after installing metal covers on them. I think that's what happened to my humbuckers.  I also took my guitar  to Guitar Center today. They technician plugged in and there it was... total silence... I couldn't believe it!  He said that I might have wiring issues at my house or EMI. I will call a friend of my who's an electrician to check the wiring. 

[rct]

1 hour ago, mihcmac said:

Most pickups will buzz a little and some more than others, depending on conditions. If you continue to have trouble you may want to take it to a good tech.

Mine don't, never have, not for grounding.  Buzzing guitars is not normal, not in my life, even singles can be made silent as far as grounding goes.  Send me your guitars and I'll make them silent for you.

rct