help - strange hum from my strings

[lowdowner]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1348785086' post='1818361']
I've found that this sort of hum (the sort that stops when you touch the strings) diminishes greatly or disappears completely when the control and pickup cavities are shielded with copper foil. Presumably this is because the pickups and wiring are being shielded from my big antenna of a body.
[/quote]
I've looked into the back where the battery compartment is and the electronics are exposed, and there is a small copper 'tab' on the edge of the compartment which is screwed into the woodwork, but there appears to be nothing attached to it... but there are no loose wires and the ground from the jack socket is soldered onto its pot correctly as far as I can tell.

I'm not that fussed, it's not huge, I was just interested...

[uncle psychosis]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1348785086' post='1818361']
I've found that this sort of hum (the sort that stops when you touch the strings) diminishes greatly or disappears completely when the control and pickup cavities are shielded with copper foil. Presumably this is because the pickups and wiring are being shielded from my big antenna of a body.
[/quote]

yeah, I had a telecaster that did it, but it stopped once I got some copper slug tape and shielded the pickup cavity and the electronics. You can also get copper paint, which would be my preferred solution but costs more and is more hassle.

There is a website which has quite a lot of info about this kind of thing on it:

[url="http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/menu.php"]http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/menu.php[/url]

The site is a bit dated and hard to navigate, but its got a lot of good info about shielding/wiring/dangers of electric shock that are relevant to guitarists and bassists.

[Geek99]

There's a sticky thread for this in the repairs nd technical issues forum - I had just this same problem and posted about it once solved