Tele guys...Seymour Duncan JD problem..help!

[Aaron Cheney]

Just installed a JD in my American Series tele. Had a few problems. Here's the chain of events: I knew going in that it wouldn't match with the Fender neck p/u, so before I even installed it I switched the ground wire on the backplate from the black wire to the yellow. I had a hard time getting the new solder to stick to the brass plate. In fact I never got it to really stay put, but I know the wire is making contact with it.

Then I installed it with the black as the live wire and yellow as ground. Put everything back together and it sounds great...but here's the deal: if I let go of the strings and bridge so nothing is grounded and i touch the pole pieces on the pickup it hums like mad. It's not a little hum...it's a LOT. If I then touch the bridge or stings the humming stops. I also noticed that in the middle position it hum cancels, which the stock pickups never did...they hummed just the same in all three positions.

I don't think it's a bad pickup. I'm having this exact same problem with a set of Dimarzio Area pickups I just put in a strat. Could all these problems possibly be my crappy Radio Shack soldering iron maybe not getting hot enough or something?

I am totally puzzled and stumped by this. Can anybody help??

Thanks,
A

 

[Steelguy]

Aaron, I put A Jerry Donahue in the bridge position of my American Standard Tele a few years ago and I haven't had any problems with it as far as noise other than what one would expect from a single coil pickup. Without opening up my tele to double check the connections it is pretty much universally excepted that the black wire is always treated as ground and the other be it white, yellow or other is considered hot. As I recall I added a separate wire to the brass plate at the base of the JD pick-up to add it to the grounding chain in addition to the copper foil I added to the routed cavities. Try reversing your +/- connections and see if it helps in reducing the hum. Also if you are uncomfortable with your soldering skills check your connections with a volt ohm meter to double check that your ground connections have continuity. A good solder joint should look bright and shiny as opposed to "dull and lumpy?" looking. Good Luck, If you don't have any luck please repost and we'll pursue if further.

 

[Anfontan]

Just installed a JD in my American Series tele. Had a few problems. Here's the chain of events: I knew going in that it wouldn't match with the Fender neck p/u, so before I even installed it I switched the ground wire on the backplate from the black wire to the yellow. I had a hard time getting the new solder to stick to the brass plate. In fact I never got it to really stay put, but I know the wire is making contact with it.*


Then I installed it with the black as the live wire and yellow as ground. Put everything back together and it sounds great...but here's the deal: if I let go of the strings and bridge so nothing is grounded and i touch the pole pieces on the pickup it hums like mad. It's not a little hum...it's a LOT. If I then touch the bridge or stings the humming stops. I also noticed that in the middle position it hum cancels, which the stock pickups never did...they hummed just the same in all three positions.**


I don't think it's a bad pickup. I'm having this exact same problem with a set of Dimarzio Area pickups I just put in a strat. Could all these problems possibly be my crappy Radio Shack soldering iron maybe not getting hot enough or something?***



I am totally puzzled and stumped by this. Can anybody help??

Thanks,
A

*Are you using a flux with the solder to tin the brass plate? That will help to make a good solder joint. You have screwed up the polarity switching the two leads-thats for sure!!!

**Because YOU are the ground in the system, if you get near a microphone it will surely Light you up! Be forewarned!

***I use a crappy Radio Shack 30 watt soldering iron and it does fine, I've done quite a few Tele mods on my own lately with it.



Use the flux on the brass plate and switch those wire back to the way they should be!

 

[Steelguy]

As Anfontan stated

I use a crappy Radio Shack 30 watt soldering iron and it does fine, I've done quite a few Tele mods on my own lately with it

Yep, it's usually a soldering iron that's too hot that will make a bad solder joint as opposed to one that is too cold. And yes I hope you are using an electronic grade of solder that has the rosin combined with it. A "plumbing" solder from a hardware store just won't stick to the connections.