I need help with my new warmoth build!

[theleteri]

After dreaming of this bass for years it is finally coming together. i am still missing the tuners and the bridge will be in any day now but i just got the electronics hooked up last night.

today i plugged her in to hear the electronics and they are a bit noisy for duel coil pickups...

i am using nordstrand big split pickups. i have a mail volume knob, a separate volume knob for the bridge pickup and a series/parallel switch. (here is a link to a diagram of how i wired it need help wiring! )

it works (i laid my other bass on the floor, plucked a string and held the new one up to the string and i got a sound) and i tried flipping the switch and diff. volume configurations and it all worked.

the problem is that when there is no volume there is noise. if i turn down the main volume the noise is not as bright but just as prevalent. if i touch the control plate or pole pieces the noise goes away but if i put my hand on the electronics cover plate on the back it gets louder.

the bass is not shielded as per a suggestion from a local guitar guy. now before you say to shield it i must tell you that my other bass is shielded and has duel coil pickups and is just as noisy. i am worried that my solders are not the best.

Could cold solders cause this problem?

any other suggestions?

[theleteri]

not that anyone has replied to my post but since my post i found some new info.

from what i understand arizona is notorious for having "dirty" power. this causes a lot of noise in things and there is an uneven flow of power. i decided to take an extention cord and try a couple different outlets in the house and what do you know... the outlet in the bathroom on a GFI made it silent. SUPER silent infact. i could turn the knobs and flip the switch without a sound. i am thinking the other outlets i tried have a bad ground.

so inconclusion the bass is silent and all i need now are the tuners. $89 more and my dream bass will be finished! write-up to come!

[Angel LaHash]

did you make sure that the ground went to the BRIDGE too
I know they call it ground but more like a dam big heat sink
(pictures tell a mission words, also my english isnt that good, plus you get people talking about the same thing but with different words)
I would like to see/hear more on how you get on and wish you the best of luck (sorry no help before)

[SGD Lutherie]

Sounds like the bass needs shielding, and make sure you ground the bridge. This grounds the strings (which clearly aren't on your bass yet), so when you touch the strings it grounds your body.

[ctmullins]

Definitely shield it, even if you think it doesn't need it. The problem is that each and every room in every building is different. I have rooms in my house that cause buzz, and others that don't. If you gig, you probably already know this, but different venues will have different amounts of RF interference. So build it for the worst case scenario (IOW, shield it!), and you'll be fine.

Also, there's quite a bit of debate about whether or not to use a bridge ground. Yes, it helps quieten a noisy instrument a lot while you're playing, but it also exposes you to shock hazard in situations where the wiring is insufficient (or just plain incorrect). More info here. Most of my own instruments do not use a bridge ground, and rely on shielding to quieten them. Even so, when recording in my den, I need to clip a jumper wire from the bridge to one of my mini-switches to keep the buzz down. But I would never gig that way.