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Topic: Bad RF Hum in Fender D8 |
Benjamin Franz
From:
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Posted 21 Dec 2009 4:08 am |
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Hi all,
I'm wondering if anyone has experience with really bad RF hum in a fender deluxe 8 lap steel. It's really quite apparent, and as good as renders the instrument useless for recording. Could it possibly be an earthing problem that is exaggerating the effect?
cheers,
Ben |
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Rich Hlaves
From:
Wildomar, California, USA
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Posted 21 Dec 2009 9:53 am
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Ben,
Is this a Stringmaster style Deluxe 8 or an earlier boxcar or trapiziod pickup 8 string?
Has anyone worked on it lately? Polarity at the output jack reversed?
RH |
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Benjamin Franz
From:
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Posted 21 Dec 2009 2:10 pm
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| Hi Rich, I think it's a later model with two single coil pickups. I'm not that hip to electronics, but I'll take it apart and have a look over the next few days. Need to swap the volume and tone controls around anyway for easier boo-wah action. |
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Benjamin Franz
From:
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Posted 21 Dec 2009 2:12 pm
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| Oh, and no one's worked on it since I bought it in March. I've only just started using it amplified, which is why I've only just noticed the buzz. |
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Rich Hlaves
From:
Wildomar, California, USA
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Posted 21 Dec 2009 3:27 pm
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Ok, It's wired like a stringmaster. With the blend pot set to humbucker mode (under the bridge cover if so equipped)it should be quiet as a church mouse. Cleaning the grounds from the pots and jack to the control plate might do the trick. Fender relied on these physical connections (bolting them down)and did not groung the control plate with a wire, just the bolting in of the controls and jack.
It will make a normal hum/buzz with the blend pot set to single coil just like a Strat or Tele. You may find something when you open it up. If the noise goes away when you turn the guitar 90 degrees like a six string it may be a normal condition. Shielding the pickup and control cavities might help.
RH |
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Benjamin Franz
From:
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Posted 21 Dec 2009 5:57 pm
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| Great, thanks Rich. I'll check it out. |
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Blake Hawkins
From:
Florida
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Posted 21 Dec 2009 8:26 pm
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Rich, You pointed out a real problem with the way
Fender wired and wires their instruments.
I've had the "loose control-loud hum" on both
my Tele and my Bass. Both purchased new.
I added the ground wire, connecting the pots, jack
and pickups all together.
Now, no more hum and it will not happen again
even if the pots get loose. |
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Rich Hlaves
From:
Wildomar, California, USA
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Posted 22 Dec 2009 8:12 am
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Unless it's a vintage instrument that the owner doesn't want "messed" with, I agree, a ground wire is a good idea.
I have added it to several of my guitars & Fender steels. |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 22 Dec 2009 11:44 am
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| I bought a bunch of alligator clip jumper wires from Radio Shack about 25 years ago. They're very handy for finding out what causes problems like this. Connect one end to the gound lug of the output jack, and start pokin' around with the other end with the guitar plugged in and hummin' a tune. Connect different parts together, etc., etc.. |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Rich Hlaves
From:
Wildomar, California, USA
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Posted 23 Dec 2009 5:45 pm
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b0b,
Yeah, I think he meant 60 cycle hum but I didn't want to go there. Some steels do make good radio antennas me thinks!
RH |
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