Newbie Intros and Greco Wiring Help Request

[Dynacosrule]

Hello folks!

I’ve been following the forum for a while, got bitten by the MIJ LP, joined the forum and recently bought a cheapie Greco Rock Spirits to see how I liked them – I’m in love! I’ve played for quite a while and got my 1st guitar in my 1st yr of high school (1969) but always played Fenders, wow how much time have I wasted not playing LP type guitars…Lol
I’ve attached some pics to show you the Greco, I was told buy the Japan seller that it was an 85 but I couldn’t say for sure, might be a 95??? Regardless of the yr it plays great, has a chunky neck (no FEB), sustains for days and I hate to unplug her!
I’ve done a few mods, nothing non-reversible and felt since it was a Rock Spirits model I could mod it to my own tastes and not commit sacrilege!

Here is what I’ve done: SD Antiquities, Switchcraft 3 way & jack, 500k RS Works vol pots, CTS tone pots, vintage Bees, Gibson non-wire ABR, Gotoh LW tailpiece, locking steel studs and TonePros Kluson tuners (I know, they’re bolt bushing types).

My mods lead me to a cry for help from the forum. I have a bit of hum going on and need some advice/direction in tracking down the cause. I’ve checked all the connections for correct hook up, everything is wired right and I have no cold solder joints and the ground from the bridge/tailstop is soldered up. I thought I might have a wonky switch so I installed a new 3 way but still have the hum – it’s not real bad but it’s noticeable. As expected, when I touch metal it goes away.
The hum seems constant in volume regardless of the guitar or amp volume but lessens as I roll back the tone controls and disappears when the tone pots are zeroed. Is it possible that I have a bad pot or perhaps the bridge ground isn’t attached well at the bridge/tailstop?
Any advice for this LP newbie? Sorry for being so long winded, I just wanted to intro myself before begging for favours!
Thanks folks – have a great weekend!

[Dynacosrule]

Hi Again - more Pics...

[chriseskew24]

If the hum goes away when you go to ground/ touch the strings what are ya worried about? All sounds normal to me to be honest.

May just be more noticeable then it was before with the new pups/wiring. How does it sound when played? I believe the antiquities are un-potted pups that may have something to do with it.

Honestly if it goes away when you touch the strings and it sounds good when played then you are fine. It is normal for a guitar to hum until you touch the strings!

[chriseskew24]

Is the other pup wire under the black switch cover? It all looks good to me!

[chriseskew24]

If the hum goes away when you touch the strings then there is no problem with your bridge ground IMHO

[Dynacosrule]

Thanks for the replies - Actually the guitar sounds great but I was expecting less hum, I have single coils that hum less and I guess I just have to learn about LPs - remember that I've been a Fender guy forever.

I associate non-60 cycle hum that goes away when you touch any metal or the strings as a ground fault cause with Fenders that's generally the case - guess I just got schooled about unpotted humbuckers! LOL

Thanks again folks, much appreciated!

[chriseskew24]

Remember that humbuckers generally are higher output then single coils hence the hum

[Dynacosrule]

That's true enough, I think these particular Duncans metered out at about 7.75k ohm for the neck and 8.6k ohm bridge.

That said, I just expected that they would be dead quiet at idle and hands off the guitar - my Tele and Strat are, even with the vol up on the OD channel of my Marshall - that shows what I know (very little obviously) about humbuckers!

As long as my fingers are on the strings there's no hum so I guess I'd better just keep playing...

[Dynacosrule]

Thanks chriseskew24, I appreciate your help!
BTW, I see you use Steve's wiring harnesses, the harness in my Greco is a TundraTone Bee Team and I'm using one of Steve's 3 Ways in my Tele as well - really nice harnesses.

[chriseskew24]

Yeah he makes some great harnesses.

BTW all of my LP's hum with volume up and no fingers on strings. You are fine completely normal!

[Dynacosrule]

Originally Posted by chriseskew24

Yeah he makes some great harnesses.

BTW all of my LP's hum with volume up and no fingers on strings. You are fine completely normal!

That's good to know, thanks! And they say "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" - Ha!