Weird Grounding Issue Help, Please

[megaup987]

Hi!

I have a set of Miracle Man pickups (open coil). They're wired to a 3 way blade switch and to a single volume pot. The guitar is shielded with copper tape and is very very quiet. However, when I touch the pickup even if I touch just the plastic bobbin and not the metal parts, I get a lot of hum. If I touch the bobbin (touch plastic only) and the strings at the same time, all is quiet. Now the weird thing is, if I touch the screw bobbin, it is noisier than the slug bobbin. But if I touch screw bobbin on the treble side, I don't get the noise. The wiring otherwise is working fine.
I have another guitar with Aftermaths and I am getting similar results, though quieter.

The problem may have been there for a wile, I just noticed it last night.

Any suggestions where I should start looking. I does seem like a grounding issue, but where in particular to look for?

[Dave Sloven]

Please forgive me if this comes across the wrong way, but you are aware that your fingers generate a hum, right?  Same if you touch a screwdriver to the pickups, you should get a hum.

Even if you take the guitar cable out of the output jack and touch the end, you will get a loud noise.

If it does not make a hum when you are not touching the pickups then all is well!

[megaup987]

I agree and I know that if you touch the pickup screws you generate hum. The weird thing is, I'm not touching any metal parts, just the plastic bobbin. If I touch metal (strings, bridge, etc) and the plastic bobbin, all is quiet. And what's even weirder is that if i touch the treble side of the bobbin, I don't get any noise.

I just never notices this phenomenon before. Ever...

I guess I can always put a bit of electrical tape over pickups... Dimebag style (though he did it for a different reason).

[Dave Sloven]

It's possibly static electricity, which can be caused by a number of environmental factors