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Author Topic: seemingly impossible to resolve issues with Nailbomb  (Read 6420 times)

mongey

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Re: seemingly impossible to resolve issues with Nailbomb
« Reply #15 on: June 01, 2012, 06:31:48 AM »
I'm no expert in unusual l scale instruments but is it possble that the neck scale length for 36 frets is just generating allot of noise that gain is amplifing ? seems to be beyond what a guitar pick up is designed for.I would expect that kind of range to need active pick ups , but again I have no real knowledege .but am intrested in the answer


I'd never heard of a 36 fret guitar so just googled it. damn. thats allot of frets and 7 strings at that .
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BigB

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Re: seemingly impossible to resolve issues with Nailbomb
« Reply #16 on: June 01, 2012, 07:55:08 PM »
I'm no expert in unusual l scale instruments but is it possble that the neck scale length for 36 frets is just generating allot of noise that gain is amplifing ?

Simple answer : no. or more exactly: no acoustical / mechanical problem - whatever the string / neck scale length - would cause such issue.
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FELINEGUITARS

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Re: seemingly impossible to resolve issues with Nailbomb
« Reply #17 on: June 01, 2012, 11:17:13 PM »
Are the pickup and control cavities properly screened?
I use a Nickel screening paint that works very well on the guitars I make

If you were local to me I would say bring it over and let me troubleshoot it for you.
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Gibson 1964

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Re: seemingly impossible to resolve issues with Nailbomb
« Reply #18 on: June 02, 2012, 12:16:16 AM »
I am going to suggest something moderately insane.

Remove the pickup, wire it directly to a jack, plug that jack into an amp set for distortion. You will have removed all major variables to the pickup to determine if the pickup is the culprit.

If pickup direct to jack makes the noise with gain, there is your culprit. If not, you can safely say the pickup is not the culprit.

Myself, I would check over all bridge components to make sure you are grounding right. A broken ground can be any number of things. I have seen a bridge wire even, properly connected at both ends and since the insulation was fine looking, you'd have never known the wire inside was broken.

I might even replace the bridge ground wire on principle and make sure everything was soldered dead right, no cold joints.
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AndyR

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Re: seemingly impossible to resolve issues with Nailbomb
« Reply #19 on: June 02, 2012, 09:52:09 AM »
I'm still interested that the original post seems to imply that this noise is NOT present on a clean amp.

I know that gain increases the effect of buzzes and hums, but I would still expect to be able hear them through a clean amp. I would not expect to be able to say the following if I had an electrics issue of some sort in the guitar itself:

"Now, the pickup sounds just fine clean, both full hum and coil tapped. Just rolling the tone knob off and on between tapped and hb is like toggling between pickup combos with a single coil and humbucked guitar. Sounds great."

The other thing I'm wondering is how the pickup has been hooked up. Now, I haven't had a humbucker with 4 wires for multiple configurations for many years, so I'm no expert, but I do remember that you get strange effects if you don't get the hook-ups quite right (especially if it's a covered pickup? can't remember). Anyway, I read a lot on here that the BKP colour scheme for wiring is different than some big manufacturers use - is it possible the tech is not aware of this? (I doubt it, if he's already used BKPs)

I don't know though, I'm just chucking out the questions I'd have in my head if the problem was mine.
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ZymoticPlague

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Re: seemingly impossible to resolve issues with Nailbomb
« Reply #20 on: June 14, 2012, 04:42:28 AM »
the one thing missing in this whole equation, though, is the bridge cavity is NOT painted with conductive shielding paint. i'm gonna see if i can slather a bit o' that on and see what happens!

Philly Q

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Re: seemingly impossible to resolve issues with Nailbomb
« Reply #21 on: June 14, 2012, 08:35:12 AM »
the one thing missing in this whole equation, though, is the bridge cavity is NOT painted with conductive shielding paint. i'm gonna see if i can slather a bit o' that on and see what happens!

Make sure you connect it to ground, though, or it won't do anything!
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Alex

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Re: seemingly impossible to resolve issues with Nailbomb
« Reply #22 on: June 14, 2012, 09:39:19 AM »
It sounds to more like something is broken, a cable, soldering joint, or a pot.

A) Touch parts with your fingers and see if the hum goes away while touching them (you act as an additional ground)
B) Cut the pickup cable off a little bit (just .5 cm) and resolder it.
C) Hook the pickup up straight to the output jack (no toggle switches/pots) and see it the problem stays the same.

I had problems like this before. Basically, if it sounds wrong to your ears there is something wrong with the wiring. It's as easy as that, don't trust the way it "looks", trust your "ears". I had to replace some parts on one of my guitar and on another I simply rewired everything new and then it worked. Don't ask me what was really wrong in that case.
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darkbluemurder

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Re: seemingly impossible to resolve issues with Nailbomb
« Reply #23 on: June 14, 2012, 10:55:10 AM »
OHHHH...and I should mention that the sound is literally 2x louder and worse sounding when coil tapped.

This comment has me confused a bit. By "sound" do you mean the noise or is the signal level lower in full humbucking mode than in single coil mode? And if so, is this also the case when the amp is set clean?

Sorry to hear that you have such trouble with the guitar and pickup.

Cheers Stephan

Twinfan

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Re: seemingly impossible to resolve issues with Nailbomb
« Reply #24 on: June 14, 2012, 11:31:39 AM »
Definitely sounds like a grounding issue to me.

another little anomaly: after resecuring the ground wire to the tremol-no, i noticed there are scratchy noises (like with the volume) when a metal item like an allen wrench is even just lightly rubbed across any metal.

Has your tech somehow got the metal parts of your guitar connected to the pickup "hot"?  That would explain the scratching coming through the amp, and the volume pot, like if you do it on the pickup slugs/screws of a correctly working guitar.  I'd check for wires that are touching in places that they shouldn't, such as the pickup leads and the tone capacitor legs.

Other than that, the direct-to-output-jack test is always a good one to eliminate pickup issues  :D