CandidPicker

Tone Matters. Use It Well.
Joined
Jan 26, 2019
Messages
4,977
Location
NW Connecticut, USA
Recently had a chance to practice with my S2 SC Std McCarty Tobacco Burst, and discovered that the bridge pickup was cutting out briefly, and both pickups would hum when you lifted your fingers from the guitar, in either humbucker or coil-tap mode.

My other S2 SC Std Antique White has no such issue.

The McCarty Burst had some wiring issues from the retailer, which a local tech corrected with new wiring. However, with the bridge pickup cutting out intermittently, and the pickups humming in either mode, my feeling is to bring the guitar back to the same tech and ask him to correct the problem (hopefully, he'll stand behind his work).

My intuition tells me it's a loose wiring contact or a grounding wire that was not adequately soldered.

I'd rather not pull the pick guard off the guitar to let you folks have a look because that involves more than my level of expertise.

From my description, does this sound like the correct diagnosis for the intermittent pickup and hum?
 
Brought my S2 SC to a qualified tech who will be checking out my intermittent pickup and hum problem...

His words were that the guitar is expected to hum when you lift your fingers from any metal part...my reply was that, "No, my S2 SC Antique White has no such hum issues given the same conditions, so why would my S2 SC Satin have hum?"

My question to PTC might be, "If the S2 SC has humbucker pickups that are designed to mitigate any hum, is it possible that an improperly wired ground, or shorted wire may be causing the intermittent bridge pickup and subsequent hum problem?"

FTR, it was my tech's work that rewired the 3-way toggle to the pickups, pots and jack. Hopefully, it will also be his work that will solve this pickup issue and any hum concerns even when metal parts are not touched...
 
Tech checked out the hum issue....apparently a wire (the tech described it as a wire that was more like a unwound guitar string) was soldered to one of the bridge studs that was also soldered to one of the pots, designed to ground the strings...when the tech pulled slightly on the string, the solder joint failed. The tech thought that the guitar string may have been been subbed when the 3-way toggle was re-installed by the original retailer, so he used standard 22-gauge coated wire instead which has a better "adherence" when soldered.

Received the guitar back today and checked it out with my amp...there was a slight hum at first, but that was due to a poor effect connection. Once that was corrected, the S2 SC was quiet as could be. No intermittent pickup, no hum or ambient noise.

Crickets. Am now a happy camper and can rest more easily this evening.
 
Back
Top