Help with soldering/grounding issue

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grunge782

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Hey I tried going to some people on HC but that kind of turned out useless.

I have a grounding issue on my guitar. I am not that great at soldering and I've noticed that a lot of the time my soldering turns out to be grey and dull (cold soldering spots). I know you are supposed to clean the tip, tin the tip and hold the soldering iron on the wire not just dab the solder on. Somehow my soldering still sucks though.

Here's a schematic of one of the first guitars I've worked on.

SingleHumbuckerDiagram.jpg


Is that right? Everytime I take my hand off the bridge I get that classic humming sound even when its selected on the humbucker mode. I tried some insulation with a wire going from the volume pot ground to the insulation to create a Faraday cage. I still got the hum though.

Suggestions?
 
To completely shield your electronics I believe you need metal covers on your pickups or you'll still get hum when you take your hand off the strings and bridge....but I could be wrong on this....kind of a half guess.

Greg
 
To completely shield your electronics I believe you need metal covers on your pickups or you'll still get hum when you take your hand off the strings and bridge....but I could be wrong on this....kind of a half guess.

Unfortunately I wish this was true but I have another guitar with no pickup covers and I don't have the same kind of hum.
 
Are you having trouble grounding to the pot? Take a file to the back of the pot and file off some of the plating. This will help the solder stick better and faster
 
Are you having trouble grounding to the pot? Take a file to the back of the pot and file off some of the plating. This will help the solder stick better and faster

Nah, surprisingly... I actually have done a good bit of research, I use a screw like tip for the soldering to the pot so that the pot gets hot enough instead of being on one spot. On the pot its not really dull, but I'm having trouble soldering with the lugs. They look fine for a second or two but then I see them harden and it looks like when somebody breathes onto a mirror and turn dull grey- classic cold solder joint look.

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, I keep the soldering iron clean and tin the tip.
 
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