Grounding Help Please

[Herbie Chesnutt]

Hey, I'm kinda stumped. Not much of a wiring guru over here so forgive if I'm missing something obvious.

I'm wiring a jazz with a DP3T mini switch as a pup selector and a DPDT slide switch for series/parallel directly to jack.

Right now the wiring is EXACTLY (checked it a hundred times) like the second diagram found here: Series Parallel Master Switch

And to be extra thorough, here is a diagram I drew to show how I wired it with a DP3T.

It actually works perfectly for the most part. In parallel I can select each pup individually and at center I get both. In series the selector is "neutralized" so that no matter which position the toggle is in I get a series signal from both pups. Perfect!

But, I've noticed that when I'm testing the pups by tapping on them I get a loud fizzly buzz from the neck pup whenever I tap the poles with a screwdriver. They sound fine while playing, but I assume this buzz is because of a grounding issue in the circuit. The bridge pup is silent and taps are clear. This result is present in both series and parallel modes and also whenever the neck pup is selected of course.

I'm using Area Js, each wired in series as per the diagram that came with the pups. Also, trying to troubleshoot, I sort of blindly attached a wire to ground on one end and a clippy on the other then touched each connection with it looking for one that will ground the neck pup. All I managed to do was short out the bridge pup most commonly and a couple times I shorted out both. So yeah, no clue over here.

I could let it slide since it is only when the poles are touched that the buzz jumps out, but I'd rather do a rock solid wiring job than half a$$ it.

Any ideas based on the diagram at the link above where I may be going wrong?

Thanks!

 

[Herbie Chesnutt]

Fixed the wiring diagram above to accurately reflect the wiring I have in hand.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

With some pickups, the metal parts are grounded. If the pickup doesn't have a separate drain wire for the shields, then when you put two in series, the shields become hot on that pickup. That makes the noise you are talking about.

If the poles are grounded on the Area Js, and that ground is also the pickup's common wire, this will happen.

I haven't installed any Area Js, but the instructions say they have a gray wire, and normally the gray and green wire connect to ground. In this case only the gray should be grounded on the pickup that is being switched into series. In series, the green wire is now part of the signal and not ground. If the gray wire is connected to the green, then the metal parts of the pickup will be part of the signal (hot).

In your diagram that would be the neck pickup. So make sure the gray wire is not connected to the green wire, and is going to ground. The green goes to the switch.

 

[Herbie Chesnutt]

In your diagram that would be the neck pickup. So make sure the gray wire is not connected to the green wire, and is going to ground. The green goes to the switch.

Yes! Aha! The gray wire is twisted with the green right now. When I get home I will connect the green to the switch and the gray wire to ground.

May you live long and your days be filled with donuts and boobs.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

Yes! Aha! The gray wire is twisted with the green right now. When I get home I will connect the green to the switch and the gray wire to ground.

May you live long and your days be filled with donuts and boobs.

Ah thanks. I'm trying to stay away from donuts, at my age you have to watch what you eat! But I'm never too old for the other thing.

 

[Herbie Chesnutt]

Fixed!

Thanks again!