Hum

[david benham]

I'm using a disc-o-tone pickup in my all wood guitar, & I'm getting hum that goes away when I touch the cable end, or a screw on my amp.

[Ron "Oily" Sprague]

You have a bad ground, or a cold solder joint somewhere. Did you ground the strings? Is there a volume pot? Pics would help with further diagnosis.

[Ron "Oily" Sprague]

David,

Just saw yer status message. Grounding the strings may or may not be necessary. First check that you have properly grounded to the back of the vol pot. You should scrape off some of the lacquer until you scratch base metal. Then, makes sure all your solder joints are actually good, including the ground to the jack (most likely culprit if grounding to the vol pot back does not cure the problem). If you still get hum, are you using a metal bridge? If so, run a ground wire from the bridge to the back of the vol pot, not to the jack. If you run it to the jack, you will induce a ground loop, and not get rid of the hum. Also, twist your wires from the vol pot to the jack for a cheap shielding effect. Let us know if this solves your problem.