WGD build, Adamas picks and a crackle

[tcsned]

hahah this thing almost took me a year, and cost me my appendix in the process (yea i know it had nothing to do with the guitar, but i still have to blame something)

just take your time, you only have one shot to get it all right.

yeah I'm hoping that it takes long enough for my wife to forget that she said she would take the next guitar I brought home at knock me over the head with it

[erock]

hahah this thing almost took me a year, and cost me my appendix in the process (yea i know it had nothing to do with the guitar, but i still have to blame something)

just take your time, you only have one shot to get it all right.

yeah I'm hoping that it takes long enough for my wife to forget that she said she would take the next guitar I brought home at knock me over the head with it

that sounds about right. your wife, and my wife should be friends.

[tcsned]

that sounds about right. your wife, and my wife should be friends.

just what they need a little mutual encouragement

[strumminsix]

No, you should introduce your wives to wives of crack addicts or meth heads or gambling addicts.

Then your occasional GAS will seem like nothing!

[tcsned]

No, you should introduce your wives to wives of crack addicts or meth heads or gambling addicts.

Then your occasional GAS will seem like nothing!

lol - you have a point there, it's all a matter of perspective and context

[lunasparks]

+1 on the Adamas pick electric crackle. Happens to me with my strat when I'm not holding down the offending string or playing -- doesn't even have to be near the pickup to happen.

[erock]

Ok i think I may have figured out part of my problem on this, and am asking for any help to see if my theory may be sound. I didn't shield the cavity of the guitar, and used shielded cable on the long runs carrying the main signal to and fro the buffer, and the various jacks etc etc.

now here is where i think my problem is. I connected both ends of the shielded cable to ground, and think i created a few ground loops in doing so. (i also have some weird humming that doesn't seem quite right). so should I disconnect one side of the shield? If so, is there any theory as to which side it is better to disconnect? or does it matter?

does any of this make any sense?

[waldo041]

makes sense, as you may be creating a ground loop also with the graphite pick!

you should incorporate jerry's style of ground buss to eliminate the possibility of ground loops.

peace,
waldo

[erock]

makes sense, as you may be creating a ground loop also with the graphite pick!

you should incorporate jerry's style of ground buss to eliminate the possibility of ground loops.

peace,
waldo

are you talking the thick piece of copper from the vol pot to the output?

have it


i'm really thinking it might be because i have both ends of the shielding attached to ground

[waldo041]

are you talking the thick piece of copper from the vol pot to the output?

have it

yes that's it!

unfortunately you need to rip all that electronics out and shield that cavity! that is if you haven't done that already, as you talk of shielding, i have to ask, what shielding are you referring to?

peace,
waldo

[waldo041]

AHHH ~

your talking about the wire shielding! that is correct only one side needs to be grounded, but dude all those cavities need copper paint or foil shielding!!!

peace,
waldo

[erock]

AHHH ~

your talking about the wire shielding! that is correct only one side needs to be grounded, but dude all those cavities need copper paint or foil shielding!!!

peace,
waldo

I'm gonna try it without shielding, i'll clip some ends and see what happens. i'm trying not to have to shield if possible, but eh i'll do it if i have too (is there a shucks modicon?)

I am presently using an EMG pa-2 modded to try to save some funds and get the sucker together, but I do have plans down the road to get a UGB from you, so if this doesn't fix it, then after I get the UGB i'll shield and re-write the tone post for that.


i am really hoping i don't have to take everything out. oh here's a good question about that though. if i would do that, would I have to un wire the pickups to get good shielding around the holes the wires are coming into the cavity from? or could I just loosen everything and shield around that way?

[waldo041]

since it's all pretty much top loaded, all you should have to do is unscrew the jacks, pots, 5 way and switches, and it should all pull away. then you should be able to shielded it provided the pickup wires allow for the room to pull it all aside.

and unless you ground all that stuff, the pots, and switches etc..., your gonna want to shield it all. you WILL find a venue that will create rf interference and 60 cycle hum, that's inevitable. it's also most likely the crackle you hear already. you have to remember that while you have shielding on those input/output wires, the rest of that cavity is susceptible to that rf interference and 60 cycle hum as you have nothing to block it from getting to the 5 way, pots or switches or all the UNshielded wire in there.

peace,
waldo

[erock]

at the moment the only things that aren't grounded are the switches (5 way and the 4 DPDT, well 2 DPDT and 2 DP3T switches to be fair) I'm gonna snip on end of the shielded cable tonight, and see if it cleans it up. I still think there is something odd about the picks though. I did try touching the strings with a coin, and although I did get one tiny crackle, it wasn't as sustained nor predictable as using the adamas pick. Perhaps while I'm in the basement tonight, i'll take an ohm meter to a pick and see if i can pick up anything on this, I could not get continuity when I tried last time.

i'll report back my findings

[waldo041]

the adamas picks are not entirely graphite, if they were they wouldn't melt with a lighter. it's a blend regular pick material with graphite in them. what i think is happening may be a ground loop, as you touching that pick to the strings, if it indeed is conductive, would then be creating another path to ground just as your fingerboard hand does.

i cannot express the importance of shielding that cavity, that may very well be your problem.

peace,
waldo