Ok, while I've had new pickups installed in several guitars of mine on various occasions, this is the first time I've done it myself. I installed a set of CS '54 Strat pickups. I had Vintage Noiseless pickups in there and I took them out, and installed the CS '54's without messing with the ground wire or the pots or anything that was already wired that wasn't directly attached to the VN pickups. So I get them installed (first time I've soldered anything since high school), and I put strings on her and there's a pretty bad buzz.

Now, keep in mind that I have an AVRI '57 Strat and a CS Time Machine '56 Strat. The '57 RI has the '57/'62's and the '56 has CS '50's pickups (probably CS '54's). I A/B'ed both these guitars with the new pickups and while both the others had a bit of buzz (common, I know), they weren't at loud as the new pickups. The buzzing stops when I touch the screws that attach the 5 way switch to the pickguard, but not when I touch the strings. It's not unbearable buzzing, but it is noticeably louder than the buzz I get from the other two guitars.

So lay it on me. Shielding? Ground wire? Any idea what the problem may be?

If the buzz doesn't stop when you touch the strings, then the ground wire to the bridge/trem assembly is either missing or disconnected.

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Bill

If it dont stop when you touch the strings then the bridge ground should be fine. What I would do is double check to see if any of the grond wire came off or broke even if you didnt touch it and you can use a meter too. Did you ground all the ground wires to the same pot?

I didn't do any of that stuff. I had a set of Vintage Noiseless pickups installed a couple years ago and got my usual tech/luthier to do it. I just got a soldering gun for Christmas and was eager to try and learn how to change a set pickups myself. I ordered the CS '54's and when I took the VN's out, all I did was un-solder (de-solder?) the wires running from the pickups to the volume pot and the 5 way switch. I didn't mess with any grounds or anything going to the tone pot. To be honest, I didn't pay much attention to it either.

I can tell you this though.....there is one black wire coming from the body of the guitar (probably from the bridge plate I'm guessing, certainly not from the jack because those two are accounted for) and it's been cut off. It's not attached to anything. Now I didn't do it, and it was like that when I opened it up so I can only assume the guy that installed the VN's did it but since the guitar had been working perfectly fine, I assumed he had his reasons. Would there be any reason that he wouldn't need that wire from the bridge plate when the Noiseless pickups were installed but I would need it now with regular single coils?

1. What pot values do you have, normally vn pickups use
A 50k vol pot and 500k to 1 Meg tone or all the way around.
Those pickups come with a set of pots.
Your tech maybe installed them using 250k pots initially.
2. Take pictures of the wiring.
3. You could start over, get a vintage wiring diagram for an
Avri 57 strat from the switch to pots to jack.
Buy 250k pots, I'm guessing also, you may have a cold
Solder on the ground

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"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present."

oogway, kungfu panda 2008

That wire needs to be grounded. Solder it to the top of your volume pot. He probably just forgot to.

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Like I said, the ground wire to the bridge is disconnected. This proves it. If the guy that installed the VNs previously cut the bridge ground wire, he was an idiot. Because of the lower noise level of the VN pickups he probably thought the bridge ground wasn't needed. He was wrong. The ground wire is attached to the trem claw in the back of the guitar and connects to the rest of the ground wires. Connect the bridge ground wire back up and check everthing to make sure all the other solder joints are solid. Your problem should go away.

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Bill

Do you really talk about soldering gun or pencil soldering iron ?
NEVER use soldering gun in electric guitar, like the Weller soldering gun. The magnetic field of the gun can damage the pickups.
There may be a soldering gun with no magnetic field. But I do not know.


Sure you have a ground missing

Strong words for a man you don't know. Maybe he didn't cut it, maybe he had it soldered and it just broke but it didn't appear that way to me. It looked like it had been cut. Thanks for your, and everybody else's feedback though. It's much appreciated.

You were right but I was wrong about him cutting the ground wire. I initially didn't see anyplace where the ground wire had been soldered and it appeared to have been cut but upon further inspection, I found a spot where the wire had simply broken where it had been soldered. Might have happened when I took the pickguard off. But anyway, I soldered it back to the pot and everything's good now. The buzzing is much quieter and there's no static in the switch or tone pot or anything. I dunno how long it will last (my soldering skills aren't great and it sure doesn't "look" as good as stuff my luthier has done) but it's good for now. So thanks for the input.

As for the actual soldering gun, somebody mentioned that I shouldn't use an actual "gun" but a pen. I don't have a pen but I know what that is. It's what my luthier uses. Will the gun damage my pickups and should I invest in a pen?

Glad it works now.

I have a 25 watt Weller pen for wires and such, and a 40 watt Weller pen for heavier stuff like soldering to pots and other things that require more heat. Cheap and easy to find on line.

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Bill

cool. Thanks.

You're welcome.

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Bill