I have a Vintage Hot Rod '57 and when I plug him in my amp, the amp starts to make a buzzing/humming sound. It can't be the amp, because when I plug in my other electric the sound is clear. The cable is also ok. I'v switched cables, but the buzzing stayed.

When I have the volume turned down from my Strat you don't hear it and when I gradually turn it up it starts to buzz/hum at volume 7/8, not to mention what happens at 10 .

When I put my fingers over the snares the buzzing stops, or when I put my finger on the metal jack of the Strat it also stops.

Can somebody please tell me what the problems is?
Can something be wrong with the pickups??

And if it really is a technical thing, please explain to me clearly (without abbrevations ) what I have to do, coz I ain't a tech freak .

Thanks for the help!!!

Sounds like the earth/ground wire has come loose. Fist check it at the tremolo spring claw, if thats ok check it where it connects to the base of the volume pot.
If its on the tremclaw it must need resoldering onto the volume put. If its off the tremclaw, strip 15mm of the plastic so the wire is bare and tie it around the trem spring for a quick fix. If your happy to solder just solder it back onto the claw.

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Tx Nikininja for your reply!

I checked the tremolo spring claw by removing the backplate. The black wire was ok: firmly connected to the spring claw by a big dot of solder.

Ok, so if the wire is loose from the volume pot, what's the best way to tackle that? I mean, the only time I removed the screws from the pickguard, was to remove the plastic layer from the pickguard .

So how do I do this?
1) I assume I can't do this without removing the strings?
If so, can I remove ALL the strings at once, without disturbing the
balance of the tremolo system?
2) I can unscrew all the screws from the pickguard, but then?
How do I remove the 3 knobs?
3) If I'm right the 3 pickups, are they fixed to the pickguard? Can I lift up
the pickguard when I have unscrewed it? Or is there more?

As you can see I have to so this step by step, coz I don't want to ruin my guitar or damage it . Your help will be appreciated.

Tx!!!!

Realize also that if you're using single-coil pickups those pickups emit a noticeable humming sound. It's inherent in the pickups.

57 hotrods have scns, so no 60cycle hum.


Candyapple, you wont disturb the trem balance without mucking around loosening the springs in the trem claw cavity. The absolute easiest way to get the strings off without having all the floating trem retune woes is.-
1 get some playing cards.
2 insert them between the body and the underside of the tremplate. Put enough in so's the tremplate cant lower to sit flat on the body.
3 take the strings off.
Your tremplate will press into the playingcards and therefore go down a bit, but its nowhere near as tiresome as getting a regular trem back to concert pitch on retune.

For pickguard removal follow what this guy says, he's pretty much the wiring master.
http://www.seymourduncan.com/movie/Strat_High/330/250

In truth you may want to question if your happy to get inside what is a expensive guitar. Would you be happy soldering in there? Without meaning to cause offence it sounds like your not too experienced at guitar wiring. Maybe you'd be better mucking around with a cheapie. As you undoubtedly know them hotrods have a very thin fragile finish.

If you do want to get in it, i have the wiring diagram. It wasnt on this site last time i looked. Click the email button below the penguins, mail me and i'll send it to you. However i think you may be better off paying a repair person to sort this one out.

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Been back to the shop today and we checked the wiring. Nothing wrong at first sight: high quality, sturdy wiring which were firmly soldered to the pots. There were 2 black and 1 white one (one black from the spring claw) and the other black + the white one were attached to the volume pot. Only 1 white wire was loose and it had no solder at the end so the guy didn't know why the cable wasn't cut of or shielded. I said that maybe the metal end of the wire touched the volume pot which could be cause of the humming sounds. He shielded the wire and we put everything back in place + new strings.

We also checked (again) the sring claw and the input jack = ok.

After that we plugged the guitar back in the amp.....problem was still there.
The guy suspected the DiMarzio bridge pickup is broken and he also tapped with his finger on the body: dunno if I'm saying this right, but the guitar was "mircophonic", so somehere he picks up a signal and boosts it, just like you tap with your finger on a mic to see if it's on. Weird.

As my guitar still has warranty he's send now to Fender and they will look at it. Everything is gonna be ok!

Btw, now I've seen how to remove the pickguard = piece of cake!

Tx for your help Nikininja!!

Candyapple

If the white wire is from the dimarzio it has to be conneted to the black wire of that pickup and covered over (i use heatshrink tube). The green and bare wire solder to the back of the pot, the red wire connects to the pickups selector.

If you email me i'd be more than happy to pass the wiring diagram on. Its not available from this site anymore.

nikininja@ntlworld.com

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