DGT ground hum issue

[whatthejeez]

Hi there,
I'm getting a ground related hum from my DGT with the volume up. The only way I can make it go away is to touch either of the pickup covers or the little round knurled ring that holds the pickup selector switch in place. Cutting the tone control back lessens the noise, but no amount of my poking around in the control cavities seem to bear fruit. Has anyone here had this problem? Thanks.

 

[LCblues1987]

I've got the same issue on my 01 Singlecut. I put 57/08s in it when they first came out.. Its probably going to make a trip to the PTC soon, anyway.

 

[Shawn@PRS]

Hi there,
I'm getting a ground related hum from my DGT with the volume up. The only way I can make it go away is to touch either of the pickup covers or the little round knurled ring that holds the pickup selector switch in place. Cutting the tone control back lessens the noise, but no amount of my poking around in the control cavities seem to bear fruit. Has anyone here had this problem? Thanks.

Can you post a detailed photo of the electronics cavity?

 

[whatthejeez]

Can you post a detailed photo of the electronics cavity?

Last night I discovered a small black wire coming from a hole leading to either the pickups or the trem cavity...and it was disconnected! I tested it against all the grounds and the buzz went away, so I soldered it to the center lug of the pickup switch. There doesn't seem to me any change in tone, so I hope I fixed it.
Thanks for your reply.

 

[sinisa]

Hi guys,

New PRS owner and first post here

My lefty custom 24 is having the same issue, hum/buzz at high gain/volume but goes away when I touch the bridge or strings. Tried 2 other guitars and they don't have such problem. Here's a photo of the cavity.

Another thing, it has gold hardware but came with a gold righty tremolo arm. Still waiting for my dealer to get back to me. What I heard is PRS no longer makes lefty tremolo arm, so the best chance is a lefty one in chrome finish? Any other lefty custom 24 owners out there?

 

[Shawn@PRS]

Hi guys,

New PRS owner and first post here

My lefty custom 24 is having the same issue, hum/buzz at high gain/volume but goes away when I touch the bridge or strings. Tried 2 other guitars and they don't have such problem. Here's a photo of the cavity.

Another thing, it has gold hardware but came with a gold righty tremolo arm. Still waiting for my dealer to get back to me. What I heard is PRS no longer makes lefty tremolo arm, so the best chance is a lefty one in chrome finish? Any other lefty custom 24 owners out there?

Hi there,

Make sure the ground wire is connected to the claw in the tremolo cavity and if it is connected, make sure it has a nice secure solder joint.

 

[sinisa]

Hi Shawn,
The tremolo solder joint feels pretty solid. I also tried shorting the bridge block to volume pot with a wire but that didn't help.

 

[sinisa]

Also my other quieter guitars have shielded cavity, could that be a problem?

BTW Shawn do you know anything w.r.t. my question about lefty tremolo arm?

 

[CoreyT]

Glad this thread popped up.
My 2012 Gibson '61 SG Reissue has zero hum.

However both my 2012s SE Santana and the new SE Custom 24 I have both have hum.
The Custom 24 is worse if you pull the tone pot to split the coils.

If I also touch the strings, the bridge, (both guitars) round nut on the Santanas toggle, the hum goes away.

I just pulled the cavity cover for the switches on the Custom 24, and all look good.
There is a thin black wire from the bundle going to the tremolo cavity, however I do not want to pull that cover yet.
I take it that is tremolo claw ground wire.

What size point screwdriver is needed?
All that I have are to big or to small.
I found one 1.5" shorty screwdriver that worked, but was a little hairy working with since I cannot get much torque with it, and I do not want to chance stripping the screws or slipping with it into the guitars finish.

I also tried different guitar cables, and the hum was still there.

 

[sinisa]

I shielded the cavity and now the hum is gone

 

[CoreyT]

I shielded the cavity and now the hum is gone

How?

 

[sinisa]

By covering the cavity & plastic cover with copper tape from StewMac:
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electro...Copper_Tape.html?actn=100101&xst=2&xsr=i-3789

Make sure you have a bit more tape around the cavity rim so that it contacts the piece on the cover. Also it should contact the washers on your pots to be properly grounded.

Be careful when pulling out the knobs though! I used a bit more force than necessary and dented the finish around the knob. It's smaller than a pea but still makes me cringe...