jag earthing question...

[benwalker]

quick one -

come to the conclusion that my jag is a bit more buzzy than it should be - as in, if i touch the metal control plates, it makes less noise etc..

I found a wiring diagram, that shows what a jag is meant to be, and i've noticed that mine doesn't have an earth wire on the output jack. on the diag, it shows jack-earth should be soldered to the plate, but mine doesn't look as if anything has ever been wired to the jack socket, besides the hot output...

is this a flaw? worth soldering something to it? anyone else had the same issue?

[Ninja Mike 808]

Ya know I saw this same thing on my Mustang, and I am yet to try it out. I doubt that it'll hurt anything (but I am not positive), maybe jus try it out. Or plug it in, play it, and while it's plugged in, try wiring it up, or at least, touching wire to it. Do not be close to the speaker, tho...

[robert(original)]

the plates are grounded, thats why there is no ground on the jack, its already grounded thru the plate.
you can add a ground wire but it won't make a difference.
whats your setup?

[benwalker]

the plates are grounded, thats why there is no ground on the jack, its already grounded thru the plate.
you can add a ground wire but it won't make a difference.
whats your setup?

intriguing.

will try out a few things minus pedals, lightning storms etc - see if i can't get some of this nailed...

EDIT - there wasn't actually a lightning storm, but you get the idea..

[robert(original)]

do you use a tube amp?
i noticed that one of the guitarists in sirens was having ALOT of buzzing issues, and it was really just becuz he had a tube amp next to the back of the wall. which on the other side contained the fuse box.
once we moved it away from the wall(16 inchs or so)
it sounded clean and quiet.

[benwalker]

yep, 2x12 deville.

might just be the building - will try it when i'm next in the rehearsal room and post back. think this post was more a case of "there's no earth wire off my jack socket - wtf??"

[robert(original)]

thats common tho.
i noticed in my j.s. first, then my 96 jaguar,
and then again in a 79 strat and a 78(or so) tele delux.
and when i asked a fellow named ray(electricalt genuis)
he basically said that the only reason fender used all those copper plates and ground wire crap was cuz leo thought it was better that way(as with his experience with radios and what not)

[euan]

Also, it is possible by touching the strings you are actually grounding yourself and thats why the buzzing stops.

[Ninja Mike 808]

There's many reasons for hum issues...

A common reason, is that you have electronics plugged in on different circuits. Basically, 2 rooms (or even parts of 1 room) might be wired differently, so when you have your amp plugged into this one socket, and your pedals plugged in somewhere else, then the problem may arise. The solution is to put them on the same circuit, or "lift the ground" via a power conditioner.

I've also heard that balanced cables too close to unbalanced cables may cause hum.

I've also heard that any odd cables being next to others may cause hum.

Honestly, tho, I think the old guitars were designed this way, I mean, not in a good way, but jus weirdly... Mike might know better, tho.

[analogsystem]

Every wire in your guitar, amp and pedal chain wants to be a hum antenna! I find that my set-up varies a lot from room to room and also where I have my amp and pedalboard seems to make a big difference. Get really good cables if you have lots of pedals. Put those little metal covers over your preamp tubes. shield your guitar. Turn off fluorescent lights, x-mas lights, or fans, all of which seem to hate guitar pickups (even humbuckers).

I've also found that plugged into a cranked amp, even humbucking guitars produce a slight hum when you are not touching a metal part. This is normal and as long as there isn't a "pop" when you touch or let go of the strings, you are probably ok.

That said, if the hum when you let go of your strings is a problem when recording here's a cool trick: take an extra high e string and make a loop at one end by putting the string through the ball end. Put it around your wrist like a SLIPKNOT MOTHER FUCKER. tie the other end to a tuning peg so you are always attached! I've had to do this recording with unruly old guitars when there was no time to check ground issues in the studio. It looks dumb but works!

[TheBurbz]

quick one -

come to the conclusion that my jag is a bit more buzzy than it should be - as in, if i touch the metal control plates, it makes less noise etc..

I found a wiring diagram, that shows what a jag is meant to be, and i've noticed that mine doesn't have an earth wire on the output jack. on the diag, it shows jack-earth should be soldered to the plate, but mine doesn't look as if anything has ever been wired to the jack socket, besides the hot output...

is this a flaw? worth soldering something to it? anyone else had the same issue?

I noticed the same thing with my Mustang, the hum was ridiculous. I added copper lining to the routes and ground wires as instructed by Aug and it worked a treat. My Jaguar has no such problems though, it's as quiet as a mouse!

[Mages]

That said, if the hum when you let go of your strings is a problem when recording here's a cool trick: take an extra high e string and make a loop at one end by putting the string through the ball end. Put it around your wrist like a SLIPKNOT MOTHER FUCKER MOTHER FUCKER. tie the other end to a tuning peg so you are always attached! I've had to do this recording with unruly old guitars when there was no time to check ground issues in the studio. It looks dumb but works!

or I guess you could use a grounding strap: