Hey all! Recently acquired a Gibson Thunderbird for a great price with two known issues: it has a pretty bad hum from both pickups and the case was pretty chewed up. I got a new case and solved that issue, but I’m still trying to figure out what is causing the hum. It hums when it’s in close proximity to older electrical wiring and/or lighting and where it’s facing determines how much hum there is. Whenever I touch the strings, the hum doesn’t change. I switched out the stock pickups to a set of brand new Thunderbuckers and the same issue is present, even with the exact same wiring and solder positions that the original pickups had. I checked all of the ground wires and I’m pretty sure they’re where they need to be. I also checked the ground wire that goes to the bridge and that’s in the correct spot as well. Output jack has no issues as well. I’ve played through my friend’s Epi T-Bird through the exact same setup I was running my Gibson through and it had virtually no hum. Sorry for the long post, just trying to figure this issue out since I’ve gone to two guitar techs and both said the issue was with the pickups before I switched the pickups out.
