EVH Noise

[Redfone]

Hi Guys

I recently purchased an EVH and think it might have a problem. It is really noisy, far noisier than my Tele's, and this is on the clean channel, no gain. When I add gain it is terrible.

I am using the same cables and rig, so it is not an equipment problem, it is something with the guitar. I noticed that when I put my hand close to the pot cavity the noise gets louder. When I am not near the pot cavity the noise gets better, but obviously it is hard to play the guitar without the pot cavity being near my body. The noise is also louder on the neck pickup.

I thought shielding the cavity might help with the noise, but it hasn't. The noise does go away when I touch the bridge or lead though.

I feel it is a grounding problem. I have checked the wiring, shielded the cavities and grounded them, but none of this has made any difference.

Could it be a bad pot? Is it possible for a bad pot to pick up noise? Could it be the switch? Sort of hit a wall here. Anyone else ever experienced any thing like this?

Would love to hear any suggestions or thought on this, do not really want to replace the pickups.

 

[Spudmurphy]

When you mention that the sound goes away when you touch the bridge/lead - that sounds to me like a grounding problem and I would go over that again.

I'm sure that our resident expert Beej will be along soon!

 

[beej]

Well this is one of those problems that's hard to diagnose without seeing the guitar. No doubt, there shouldn't be that much noise.

I would check to see that the output jack isn't wired up backwards (hot and ground reversed).

On the grounding, double check that the back of the pot is grounded, the trem claw is grounded via the wire into the control cavity, and that the shielding in the guitar cavity is grounded.

 

[stramm8]

Sounds like you got a bad EVH. Better pack it up and ship to me for proper disposal... Seroiusly, could be any number of things and without physically looking at the guitar it's just a bunch of guessing. If you're not experienced at tracing out wiring gremlins, take it to a respected tech and they should be able to get you fixed up in short order.

 

[Jack FFR1846]

Replace the output jack. Be sure ground is ground

 

[Redfone]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Beej, what is the back of the pot supposed to ground to?

Trem claw is grounded, ran a new wire for this and the shielding in all three cavities is grounded as well. I did check the wiring for the output jack and nothing seemed out of place.

I might start replacing parts to eliminate hardware one by one, starting with the output jack and work my way through to the pickups.

 

[beej]

Dunno about the EVH, but most MMs have a ground point inside the cavity that connects the shielding to ground. That's usually where most of the grounds are connected- output jack, volume pot, etc. Usually there's a jumper from the grounded lug on the volume pot to the back of the pot housing. Doesn't sound like the culprit here, but worth checking everything. (When in doubt- use a multimeter to check everything.)

As an aside, one option if you're in the US and stuck is to send it to MM for a once-over. Would come back set up and playing like new

 

[straycat113]

Okay I am going to say it because Redfone seems to be a handy guy or else I would just say take it to a good tech, but give CS a call and see if they can walk you through it as I am sure you will come across the issue. There is no way you should be having all that noise.