hermitoclees Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Hello, I am having a ground type buzzing in my epi explorer. I had a tech go through and he followed the ground everywhere, cleaned up some connections and everything is as it should be. BUT ITS STILL BUZZING! The only ground contact he could not get to is the bridge/tailpiece ground because it's inside the body under the press fit gromet things, however when I touch the bridge the buzzing stops, so theoretically it is grounded correctly otherwise the buzz would persist even when I touched it. I need ideas and HELP! ...its driving me crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animalfarm Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 You have become ONE with the Ground. Get a cheap Harbor Freight digital Multi-meter ($2.99), set it to lowest resistance value on scale. With guitar UNPLUGGED remove back cover plate over knobs. Touch one lead to the bridge in front of git, touch other lead to where the thin wire from bridge terminates to check for good connection. If good, should read very close to Zero ohms (harbor frt meter is cheap, may not 'zackly give you Zero). If resistance shows very high or "infinity/no change", wire IS broken. After that, put one lead on ground lug for plug-in jack, then touch metal case on each pot one at a time looking for same results, to verify all are connected to ground. If any pot reads infinity, no ground, may be cruddy solder joint , or may be wire broken inside insulation going from that pot to the next grounding point. Pot-to Pot checks are good to do also... "Hermitoclees" is a cool name, where did it come from? AND, you MUST post an appropriate avatar to go with it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hermitoclees Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 Thanks! Okay, I'll do your test style (or have my tech do it). I read somewhere that the bridge ground is not actually soldered but pressed in with the gromet, true? Now, replacing a length of wire that is exposed is no biggie (if it's broken inside the insulation) but if (hypothetically) the bridge ground is broken, how do I replace it without destroying my guitar? and I made up Hermitoclees. I am a hermit. ...that's why I got good at guitar, no leaving the house + no friends = great player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animalfarm Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 In hindsight, a way to check the bridge gound would be to touch a wire on the bridge, then on the back of one of the pots (git plugged in), see if buzzing goes away... Regarding pulling and replacing the press-in bushings...I'll have to defer to those with more experience in this area. I've heard stories of WOOD coming out with the bushing(s) when pulled. Anyone know how? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hermitoclees Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 "touch a wire on the bridge, then on the back of one of the pots (git plugged in), see if buzzing goes away..." that makes sense " WOOD coming out with the bushing" that's what I picture happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hermitoclees Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 any more ideas out there?:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Old or newer House (wiring)? I live in an old house (2 prong wiring), and things Buzz, that sound like what you're describing, too..(doesn't matter which guitar) here, where they don't in a newer "Three pronged socket" (grounded) wired house. I live with it! I'm old, too...so, I don't know which will go first, the house...or me?! LOL! CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hermitoclees Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 Well, using the same amp & cable, all of my other guitars sound fine. It's only the explorer that buzzes. I think ot's a 2004 guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricochet Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Hello' date=' I am having a ground type buzzing in my epi explorer. I had a tech go through and he followed the ground everywhere, cleaned up some connections and everything is as it should be. BUT ITS STILL BUZZING! [/quote'] If this "tech" knows what he's doing the problem should be easy to determine. Since the wiring itself seems fine I'd start with wiring the pickups direct to output. This should tell you whether it's the PU or the pots by simple deduction. Keep doing that till you find the offending culprit. Sure the PU-switch is OK? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KYSohn Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 I had a very similar experience, but with a Fender. The guitar was Fender Tele Deluxe Re-issue with 2 Fender's version of humbuckers. And that thing buzzed like crazy even with a moderate gain, and the buzzing was gone when I touched any metal parts. (It had humbucker PUPs, so it was supposed to be quiet---) BUT it was the ONLY guitar that gave me this buzzing problem. Using the same amp and same cable and same setup, my other guitars were dead quiet. Took it to a local tech. But when he plugged it into a couple of amps there, it was dead quiet. Took it back home, it was buzzing. The tech could not figure out what was going on... Being so frustrated, I even did complete re-wiring, changed pots, caps, wires, 3-way switch---. NOTHING worked!!! So I figured that for some odd reason, this guitar was interacting my particular amp (Peavey Ultra 212 all-tube) in a certain way that generated the buzz... And eventually, I got tired of dealing with the buzzing and sold it, got me an Epi Zakk Wylde Custom LP instead... Now I am much much happier~!!! But still, I have no idea why that particular guitar was buzzing like that... Hope you will find the cause of the problem... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricochet Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 I had a very similar experience' date=' but with a Fender. [/quote'] KY. You'd think it was possessed... Just wondering. Did you ever try and change the pickups? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KYSohn Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 KY. You'd think it was possessed...Just wondering. Did you ever try and change the pickups? Haha, yes, it was quite possible that it was possessed!!! But no, I did not try a different PUPs. That Fender's humbuckers were larger than normal humbuckers and I didn't want to shell out over $100 for a set of new Fender PUPs... Then---, hearing your question---, I had a couple of regular humbuckers in my drawer that I could try by simply hooking them up in place of the stock PUPs... Man, why did I think of it??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hermitoclees Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 If this "tech" knows what he's doing the problem should be easy to determine. Since the wiring itself seems fine I'd start with wiring the pickups direct to output. This should tell you whether it's the PU or the pots by simple deduction. Keep doing that till you find the offending culprit. Sure the PU-switch is OK? Yeah I was thinking about the techs qualifications after he couldnt figure it out. ....I maybe should have mentioned that I had the bridge PU replaced. Yes, by the same person. I think he knows what he's doing, but maybe not? The ground buzz started when the new pickup was installed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hermitoclees Posted February 25, 2009 Author Share Posted February 25, 2009 OK! new development and questions. I was messing around with the guitar (about to smash it) when the ground buzz finally expressed itself in an identifiable manor. Now when I touch the bridge with my fingers the buzz continues, as opposed to touching any other metal part and the buzzing stops. This means (correct me if I'm wrong) that the ground wire to the bridge is out/broken. ...which also is the most suck-ey place for the ground wire to fail because of it's press fit nature. SO, can anybody advise me on an effective way to repair the bridge ground without pulling the bushings (and probably mangling my instrument)? Any thoughts are appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron G Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Real simple: It's apparently the tech's fault. Make him fix it. Period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostindesert Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 ''The ground buzz started when the new pickup was installed''. That could be the problem, a faulty pickup or he got the wiring wrong. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hermitoclees Posted February 25, 2009 Author Share Posted February 25, 2009 Real simple: It's apparently the techs fault. Make him fix it. Period. well yes' date=' and at no charge. He wants to make it right, that's not the prob. I was just looking for insight on the typical "fix it " in this type of situation. That could be the problem, a faulty pickup or he got the wiring wrong. this was checked already, but it was also the FIRST thing I thought was the prob. Now that the bridge is non-grounded I just need some education on how to fix this type of problem ... before I take it up there this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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