Anyone here mod guitars? Wierd ground issue

[LaceSensor]

Hi all

Just incase anyone here messes with guitars

I have a Squier Paranormal telecaster thinline with the jazzmaster pickups
I swapped the stock units out for Pure Vintage 65s and replaced the switch, and pots (CTS)
Also I added copper shielding tape all around

Now the issue I get is when I have it plugged in when I touch any metal work, it creates a static "pop" type sound
To me this is a grounding issue but I cannot figure it out
Ive had the guitar apart 3 times, rewired it, changed the switch

The only thing I havent done is change the pots again which I could. process of elimination I guess
Im loathed to beleive the pickups are "bad" inherently but I guess that could be a thing

Note, Ive tried other amp, cables etc.

Any ideas?

[madbean]

Did you try checking for ground continuity between pots and the bridge hardware?

I wonder if the new pickups might be microphonic somehow.

[LaceSensor]

Did you try checking for ground continuity between pots and the bridge hardware?

I wonder if the new pickups might be microphonic somehow.

Yes I replaced the bridge ground. There is continuity

Ive also just removed the pots (wired the hot directly to the output) and its doing the same, annoyingly

its so wierd.

[LaceSensor]

after taking everything apart and re-doing everything I can only conclude there must have been an earth loop somewhere.
Ive added another ground between the pots and the "body" (being copper foil shielded...)

Annoyingly it was even doing it with just one pickup, straight to the out jack with the bridge ground earthed at the output jack too. Super wierd.

[gordo]

There's this weird thing that happens to some tele's and it's nicknamed black-guard disease.  Has something to do with the old style guard building up static.  When I built one I troubleshot it till I was half crazy (well, ok, half more crazy) and the only thing that fixed it was removing the cover to the neck pickup.  Ironically the neck pickup sounds so much better that I'd recommend it anyway but I never got resolution beyond that.  This was with a really nice set of Seymour Duncan pickups and all top shelf pots/switch/jack.

[madbean]

There's this weird thing that happens to some tele's and it's nicknamed black-guard disease.  Has something to do with the old style guard building up static.  When I built one I troubleshot it till I was half crazy (well, ok, half more crazy) and the only thing that fixed it was removing the cover to the neck pickup.  Ironically the neck pickup sounds so much better that I'd recommend it anyway but I never got resolution beyond that.  This was with a really nice set of Seymour Duncan pickups and all top shelf pots/switch/jack.

My buddy Graham has a custom shop Tele with a highly microphonic bridge pickup and it is a frigging rock and roll machine. It's so on the edge of being out of control with fuzz and distortion I don't think he'll ever get that pup fixed 😆

[LaceSensor]

Note, it occured with the stock pickups too, as I put one back in to rule that out. So I dont think it was a pickup microphonic issue.

Super wierd....

[lars]

To get a better idea of what you're dealing with, is this pretty much the guitar you have? (I realize there are several color options).

If it is, then the pickguard really has no bearing on grounding or shielding, so that's irrelevant, and the control cavity doesn't have the typical telecaster metal panel that the pots and switch are mounted to. I'm guessing the wiring/grounding is more like a Les Paul than a typical Tele. That changes things, and is a key piece to know before moving forward.

[LaceSensor]

To get a better idea of what you're dealing with, is this pretty much the guitar you have? (I realize there are several color options).

If it is, then the pickguard really has no bearing on grounding or shielding, so that's irrelevant, and the control cavity doesn't have the typical telecaster metal panel that the pots and switch are mounted to. I'm guessing the wiring/grounding is more like a Les Paul than a typical Tele. That changes things, and is a key piece to know before moving forward.

thats the exact model down to the colour, yes.

[Aentons]

So are you saying that you wired two different sets of pickups straight to the output jack and the popping still happens with both sets? If that's the case, it doesn't seem like the issue is in the guitar at all.

[LaceSensor]

So are you saying that you wired two different sets of pickups straight to the output jack and the popping still happens with both sets? If that's the case, it doesn't seem like the issue is in the guitar at all.

well, theyre in the guitar and I did resolve it with a body grounding solution, so I think it was in the guitar so to speak.

[gordo]

Lovely guitar and glad you got it sorted out!

[Aentons]

So are you saying that you wired two different sets of pickups straight to the output jack and the popping still happens with both sets? If that's the case, it doesn't seem like the issue is in the guitar at all.

well, theyre in the guitar and I did resolve it with a body grounding solution, so I think it was in the guitar so to speak.

Ok, sorry, I did not realize you resolved it.

[LaceSensor]

pretty interesting right here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQU85rklIgQ

[lars]

thats the exact model down to the colour, yes.

Glad you got it sorted out. Grounding issues in guitars are bizarre and fraught with gremlins that don't follow the "rules".