is the nailbomb noisy?

[disowned]

I installed it but it's too noisy....where is the fault?

Thanks tommy

[Afghan Dave]

9 times outta 10 - Earthing problem...

Check all your earths and voila it usually does the trick.

[Steve-Mr Pig 2U]

No the Nailbomb Isn't noisy. Check all of your earth points.

[Tim]

If you're experiencing noise chances are you haven't connected the screened cable properly.
Black and screen must be soldered to ground, usually the back of one of the pots, red to hot(usually the pot tag or spmetimes the switch) and green and white stay soldered together for your coil splits...........if you don't use splits tape these two out of the way.

[gingataff]

Hello all.
I've had a problem with a noisy Nailbomb in a HSS with Irish Tours. It's fine played clean but I really notice it with high amp gain or with my DS1 and its certainly annoying. I've rewired it without any improvement and position 4 SS in series is nicely quiet even though the NB still hums. There is one thing though......

If you're experiencing noise chances are you haven't connected the screened cable properly.
Black and screen must be soldered to ground, usually the back of one of the pots, red to hot(usually the pot tag or spmetimes the switch) and green and white stay soldered together for your coil splits...........if you don't use splits tape these two out of the way.

I've soldered the black to hot on the switch and the red to ground. :oops:  Could this be the root of my problem? Surely its just a case of which coil I'm splitting in position 2?

Any advice appreciated!
Andy
PS I presume the ITs going mental with a DS1 on full gain is normal? I've always been a 'bucker guy.

[PhilKing]

did you still solder the screen wire to ground?

[gingataff]

did you still solder the screen wire to ground?

Yes, red and screen are grounded to the volume pot along with all other grounds (actually the singles are grounded to the tone and then this is grounded to the volume, I presume thats ok too) black to hot and the green & white together on the split side of the switch next to the switch ground tag.
I wired it this way as I was hoping to get the screw coil close to the bridge split with the middle single coil in position 2.

Should I swap over the black and red?

Andy.

[Steve-Mr Pig 2U]

Swap over the Black and the red. The Nailbomb shouldn't be noisy. Have you checked over all of the ground points in the guitar? Are you using alot of distortion?

[HJM]

The black and red are interchangeable on four conductor, and will allow you to split as you wanted. My guess is a bad earth. Double check the jack socket and main ground wire, I'd be tempted to replace the wire with a new one. You'll need a powerful iron to get a good earth on the back of the pot 100w works great, but anything over 40w is OK for this. Anything less you find that the solder is hard to melt because the pot is acting as a heatsink taking all of the heat from the iron!

Good luck - my Nailbomb doesn't have any problems, some of the Nailbomb clip that Tim did had a JCM800 at full gain, with a TS9 AND a Beano treble booster on at the same time....wasn't noisy!

[gingataff]

It is with high gain that I get this hum but I never noticed it with previous pups and my Ibanez Jem doesnt have any problems. The earths all seem fine to me, nothing loose and shiny solder. As I said, the 2 singles in series are fine. Maybe I'll have to try again.

One other thing, there's what looks like the hook-up wire poking up between the two open coils on the treble side of the pup. It makes it a tight fit in the mounting ring, is this anything to be concerned with?

Andy.

[gingataff]

I've swapped the red and black over, hated the sound on position 2, swapped it back again, rewired the grounds, melted the NBs cable with the soldering iron, cursed loudly. Everything still works and still hums.

I'm planning a fret dress in February so I'll get the tech to check the grounding then. I'll let you know how it goes.

Andy

[_tom_]

I've swapped the red and black over, hated the sound on position 2, swapped it back again, rewired the grounds, melted the NBs cable with the soldering iron, cursed loudly. Everything still works and still hums.

I'm planning a fret dress in February so I'll get the tech to check the grounding then. I'll let you know how it goes.

Andy

haha I melted the outers of wires no end of times when I was trying to fix my strat  :lol:

[Steve-Mr Pig 2U]

If it is a tight fit in the pickup hole it may be pressing onto one of the coils causing it to short out. We have this problem sometimes with manufacturers not routing the hole to the correct spec's. Do you have a multimeter?

[gingataff]

I have a metal mounting ring (all the platic ones seem to be angled but my setup is very straight) and there's obviously no give in it and filing it would spoil its shiny black looks, it is quite tight on the treble side where I presume the lead off wires run from the coils.
If a short is being caused would releasing the pressure fix it or is it permanent damage?
I don't have a multimeter but if I knew what to look for I'm sure I could get a tech to help me.

Andy

[Steve-Mr Pig 2U]

It should have a DC reading of around 16K, If one of the coils is shorting out it will be around the 8K mark.