Fixing passive Tone buzz/noise

[Kuskah]

So I got myself a cheapo Harley Benton Stingray clone, split-coil volume,volume,tone setup. It's fine for the price but when the tone knob is fully open (getting full tone), I get a nasty electric buzz. When I roll it off / close it, the noise goes away. It also gets significantly reduced when I touch the strings while the tone is open. I suspect some grounding issue. I have soldering iron and stuff but before I start digging around the insides I thought I'd ask, what should be my course of action trying to fix it? Grounding the tone knob exterior?

 

[kyral210]

Check if the bridge has a ground wire. Check that wire is making contact to metal under the bridge and not a paint coating. Check all the grounds are grounding in the cavity.

a multimeter with continuity check is your best friend here.

 

[Jerry Catanescu]

Does it buzz when both volumes are at 100%? It is to be expected that it will buzz when in split coil (only one volume at 100%).

 

[ctmullins]

It also gets significantly reduced when I touch the strings while the tone is open.

Implies that

Check if the bridge has a ground wire.

this is not the problem.

@Kuskah, does the buzz change as you rotate your body, pointing the instrument in different directions?

It sounds like you are picking up some electrostatic noise, which is minimized - not necessarily eliminated, but minimized - by a full shielding job. The entire control cavity, as well as the pickup cavity. It is imperative that the shielding is connected to ground - a multimeter in "continuity" mode should beep when one probe is touched to the shielding and the other touched to the sleeve of the output jack.

 

[kyral210]

Implies that



this is not the problem.

@Kuskah, does the buzz change as you rotate your body, pointing the instrument in different directions?

It sounds like you are picking up some electrostatic noise, which is minimized - not necessarily eliminated, but minimized - by a full shielding job. The entire control cavity, as well as the pickup cavity. It is imperative that the shielding is connected to ground - a multimeter in "continuity" mode should beep when one probe is touched to the shielding and the other touched to the sleeve of the output jack.

Add to this; shield under the entire pickguard. Shielding is an antenna that shunts interference to ground. The larger the surface area the better!