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NGD blues...
The problem is with my new M Musi "T" type guitar with single coil pickups. With the amp turned on and guitar plugged in, the amp is humming very loud. If I touch anywhere that's metal on the body of the guitar the noise is greatly diminished. However, it I touch the 1/4" male jack on the cable end where it's plugged into the guitar, the noise is completely eliminated. On Sweetwaters web site there is page with samples of types of noises one might be dealing with (https://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/ar ... z-and-hum/). Mine definitely sounds like the "Single Coil Pickup Hum". I have several other single coil guitars but none of them have that type of issue. It sounds like may be some sort of grounding issue? If it is an easy fix, I don't mind tackling it. However if it is going to take to much effort to find and repair it, I'll just send it back for an exchange. I guess my question would be, is there an obvious place to start looking for the problem?

Thanks, in advance.
Steve0

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“To know, and not to do, is not to know”

If the hum is that bad, I'd suspect a grounding problem, too. I would take a multimeter and see if the "ashtray" bridge plate has continuity to ground. Leave your cable plugged into the guitar and disconnect it at the amp end, then use the sleeve of the cable plug as the ground point for one meter probe and the ashtray for the other. If the guitar is properly wired, there should be continuity between them. But generally the ground contact is just a wire soldered to the back of one of the pots, with the other end stripped of ~1/2" of insulation and then sandwiched between the ashtray and the guitar body so that it makes contact with the underside of the plate. But sometimes that contact isn't being made for some reason.

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“My favorite programming language is SOLDER” - Bob Pease (RIP)

My Website * My Musical Gear * My DIY Pedals: Pg.1 - Pg.2

Also a good idea to look inside the control cavity and make sure that you don't have a loose ground wire in there.

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“My favorite programming language is SOLDER” - Bob Pease (RIP)

My Website * My Musical Gear * My DIY Pedals: Pg.1 - Pg.2

"Hey Siri, set a timer for ten minutes"

That's about how long I would muck around trying to find and cure a broken ground connection in a brand new guitar before shipping it back, unless I was really attached to the specific instrument. No, it's not hard to fix… but don't let it take over your whole afternoon.

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Scott

My band, Austin Hollow

...unless you're like DVM and actually ENJOY this kind of ****!!

_________________
“My favorite programming language is SOLDER” - Bob Pease (RIP)

My Website * My Musical Gear * My DIY Pedals: Pg.1 - Pg.2

I too, actually do enjoy this kind of "****!"

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“To know, and not to do, is not to know”

I checked and the ashtray is grounded. Not through a stripped and tinned wire but through the pickup itself. I pulled out the controls and removed the pick guard for access to the neck pickup. Everything looks okay to me. I am attaching a few pictures to see if there is something I am missing.

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“To know, and not to do, is not to know”

Yeah, I don't see anything amiss with the wiring. Not exactly sure how to interpret this statement:


Could you elaborate?

That sure looks like very poor coverage of the neck cavity with (I assume?) shielding paint. Does the control cavity look like that, too? I would assume that you haven't lifted the base plate to look at the bridge cavity?

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“My favorite programming language is SOLDER” - Bob Pease (RIP)

My Website * My Musical Gear * My DIY Pedals: Pg.1 - Pg.2

There is no psychical wire that gets sandwiched between the body and the ashtray.

_________________
“To know, and not to do, is not to know”

Here is a picture of the bridge cavity.
The shielding paint that they used, they used VERY sparingly.

Update: I put everything back together and strung it up with a new set of strings and the hum is no longer present. It is functioning as it is supposed to.
I was hoping to find something definitive. I hate when things "miraculously" cure themselves...

So I guess for now I am going to label it *Solved* (by a higher power).

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“To know, and not to do, is not to know”

I'm guessing that something that wasn't making contact before is doing so now that you put it back together, probably a bit tighter than it came to you. Hopefully, that contact persists!!

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“My favorite programming language is SOLDER” - Bob Pease (RIP)

My Website * My Musical Gear * My DIY Pedals: Pg.1 - Pg.2

I'm going to keep my fingers crossed.... they do have a 30 day return policy.
I wouldn't return it, I'd exchange it for another one. I'm having to much fun with this one!

Thanks again for your assistance!

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“To know, and not to do, is not to know”

Update on NGD Blues...

I performed suggested possible fixes for this very noisy (hiss not dB's) guitar and I am happy to that it is 100% quiet.
I applied 2 coats of shielding paint and added a ground wire from the volume pot to the bridge.
Thanks again to that chimed in to make this a now Great NGD!!

-=Steve0

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“To know, and not to do, is not to know”

Woohoo!! Great to hear you fixed it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Pedal building is like the opposite of sex. All the fun stuff happens before you get in the box.

Love happy endings!

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Everyone likes sausage. Nobody wants to see how it's made.

Smart upgrades, well done!

_________________
“My favorite programming language is SOLDER” - Bob Pease (RIP)

My Website * My Musical Gear * My DIY Pedals: Pg.1 - Pg.2

I've had nothing but happy endings in forum... What? Wait, that didn't come out right!

_________________
“To know, and not to do, is not to know”

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Pedal building is like the opposite of sex. All the fun stuff happens before you get in the box.