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I followed the advice I found on this board about graphtech saddles
and put a set on my JM. After getting the guitar set back up and
plugging in, I was surprised at the difference in the tone. Yes, there
is more sustain, but the color of the tone seems darker to me now.
Anyhoo, that issue aside, I noticed that the whole guitar seemed to be
more "microphonic". Only way I know how to describe it. It always hums
if I bring it close to an electronic device, like a computer monitor,
for instance, but usually I have found that if I stay a few feet away
it isn't noticeable. But now--I can't get it to stop humming unless I
grab the trem arm, and when I push on the trem arm, there is this
amplified click and pop sound coming out of the amp, that is somehow
associated with the action of the tremelo. What the #$%^&*?
I can only think that the graphtech saddles are somehow insulating the
strings and introducing a ground loop. But I can't for the life of me
understand why it should be so--or how to solve it other than put the
old steel saddles back. Any ideas or suggestions?
John
JMs and Jags have used two different grounding techniques for the strings.
One grounds to the tremolo plate, the other to the bridge. If yours grounds
to the bridge, you've probably cut the ground. Easiest solution would be to
put the steel saddles back.
If you really like the saddles, you could rewire the ground to the trem
plate. You'd need to drill a hole from the trem route to the main control
cavity under the lead circuit vol and tone, route the ground wire through
it, and bend it up onto the face of the guitar near one of the plate
mounting screws.
Good luck,
Mel
-----Original Message-----
From: ohsyrus [mailto:]
Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2003 10:04 PM
To:
Subject: [SurfGuitar101] mysterious hum, pop, and click
I followed the advice I found on this board about graphtech saddles
and put a set on my JM. After getting the guitar set back up and
plugging in, I was surprised at the difference in the tone. Yes, there
is more sustain, but the color of the tone seems darker to me now.
Anyhoo, that issue aside, I noticed that the whole guitar seemed to be
more "microphonic". Only way I know how to describe it. It always hums
if I bring it close to an electronic device, like a computer monitor,
for instance, but usually I have found that if I stay a few feet away
it isn't noticeable. But now--I can't get it to stop humming unless I
grab the trem arm, and when I push on the trem arm, there is this
amplified click and pop sound coming out of the amp, that is somehow
associated with the action of the tremelo. What the #$%^&*?
I can only think that the graphtech saddles are somehow insulating the
strings and introducing a ground loop. But I can't for the life of me
understand why it should be so--or how to solve it other than put the
old steel saddles back. Any ideas or suggestions?
John
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
My Jaguar is grounded just like Mel said, using the second technique
(wire running into the trem cavity that gets sandwiched between the
trem plate and the body of the guitar). I've also heard of the wire
going to the bridge posts too. If that was the case on yours
Ohsyrus, then I agree with Mel, perhaps the graphtech saddles messed
up the grounding scheme?
BN
--- In , Mel Waldorf <mwaldorf@p...>
wrote:
> JMs and Jags have used two different grounding techniques for the
strings.
> One grounds to the tremolo plate, the other to the bridge. If
yours grounds
> to the bridge, you've probably cut the ground. Easiest solution
would be to
> put the steel saddles back.
> If you really like the saddles, you could rewire the ground to the
trem
> plate. You'd need to drill a hole from the trem route to the main
control
> cavity under the lead circuit vol and tone, route the ground wire
through
> it, and bend it up onto the face of the guitar near one of the
plate
> mounting screws.
>
> Good luck,
> Mel
Thanks for your help on this. I'm sure you've hit the nail on the
head. I'll run a wire with alligator clips from the bridge to the trem
to see if the hum goes away--but I will probably just go back to the
steel saddles. I'm not totally convinced i like the sound of the
graphtech. They are very smooth on the hand for palm muting, and
that's nice, but the tone is not quite as "crisp" as it was with the
steel. I notice that the Graphtech guys also do JM/Jag saddles in
TusQ. Anybody try those? Just curious. I realize they would have the
same ground cut problems as the graphtech saddles, I'm just wondering
about the tone.
John
--- In , Mel Waldorf <mwaldorf@p...> wrote:
> JMs and Jags have used two different grounding techniques for the
strings.
> One grounds to the tremolo plate, the other to the bridge. If yours
grounds
> to the bridge, you've probably cut the ground. Easiest solution
would be to
> put the steel saddles back.
> If you really like the saddles, you could rewire the ground to the trem
> plate. You'd need to drill a hole from the trem route to the main
control
> cavity under the lead circuit vol and tone, route the ground wire
through
> it, and bend it up onto the face of the guitar near one of the plate
> mounting screws.
>
> Good luck,
> Mel
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ohsyrus [mailto:ohsyrus@y...]
> Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2003 10:04 PM
> To:
> Subject: [SurfGuitar101] mysterious hum, pop, and click
>
>
> I followed the advice I found on this board about graphtech saddles
> and put a set on my JM. After getting the guitar set back up and
> plugging in, I was surprised at the difference in the tone. Yes, there
> is more sustain, but the color of the tone seems darker to me now.
> Anyhoo, that issue aside, I noticed that the whole guitar seemed to be
> more "microphonic". Only way I know how to describe it. It always hums
> if I bring it close to an electronic device, like a computer monitor,
> for instance, but usually I have found that if I stay a few feet away
> it isn't noticeable. But now--I can't get it to stop humming unless I
> grab the trem arm, and when I push on the trem arm, there is this
> amplified click and pop sound coming out of the amp, that is somehow
> associated with the action of the tremelo. What the #$%^&*?
>
> I can only think that the graphtech saddles are somehow insulating the
> strings and introducing a ground loop. But I can't for the life of me
> understand why it should be so--or how to solve it other than put the
> old steel saddles back. Any ideas or suggestions?
>
> John
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
>
>
>
>
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>
> Visit for archived
messages,
> bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I installed Graphtech saddles on my Jap Jag and encountered exactly
the same problems with electronic noise. I was bedeviled trying to
find a loose ground (there was none), and finally realized that the
barrels themselves were probably insulating the strings. I tied to
jump several ground wires to find the proper ground - best case is,
the tremelo plate fix Brian and Mel suggested.
However, I also found that merely balancing my bridge screws (with the
left one a little longer than the right) also solved the problem. My
conjecture is that my ground wire ties into the bridge on the first
insert in the body, closest to the lower control bout, and therefore
the bridge wasn't making a good ground connection there.
Anyway, the guitar is quiet now. I agree, the Graphtechs do rob some
of the brightness of the tone, but they at least have kept my strings
from popping off the bridge when I get aggressive in my playing.
A good alternative might be a Buzz Stop, which I hear increases
sustain while eliminating some of the problems associated with Jag/JM
bridge design, namely string buzz and strings falling off the bridges
during bends. It may, however, "darken" the sound, much like the
Graphtechs do.
Best wishes,
Gavin
--- In , "ohsyrus" <ohsyrus@y...> wrote:
> Thanks for your help on this. I'm sure you've hit the nail on the
> head. I'll run a wire with alligator clips from the bridge to the trem
> to see if the hum goes away--but I will probably just go back to the
> steel saddles. I'm not totally convinced i like the sound of the
> graphtech. They are very smooth on the hand for palm muting, and
> that's nice, but the tone is not quite as "crisp" as it was with the
> steel. I notice that the Graphtech guys also do JM/Jag saddles in
> TusQ. Anybody try those? Just curious. I realize they would have the
> same ground cut problems as the graphtech saddles, I'm just wondering
> about the tone.
>
> John
>
> --- In , Mel Waldorf <mwaldorf@p...> wrote:
> > JMs and Jags have used two different grounding techniques for the
> strings.
> > One grounds to the tremolo plate, the other to the bridge. If yours
> grounds
> > to the bridge, you've probably cut the ground. Easiest solution
> would be to
> > put the steel saddles back.
> > If you really
like the saddles, you could rewire the ground to the trem
> > plate. You'd need to drill a hole from the trem route to the main
> control
> > cavity under the lead circuit vol and tone, route the ground wire
> through
> > it, and bend it up onto the face of the guitar near one of the plate
> > mounting screws.
> >
> > Good luck,
> > Mel
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: ohsyrus [mailto:ohsyrus@y...]
> > Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2003 10:04 PM
> > To:
> > Subject: [SurfGuitar101] mysterious hum, pop, and click
> >
> >
> > I followed the advice I found on this board about graphtech saddles
> > and put a set on my JM. After getting the guitar set back up and
> > plugging in, I was surprised at the difference in the tone. Yes,
there
> > is more sustain, but the color of the tone seems darker to me now.
> > Anyhoo, that issue aside, I noticed that the whole guitar seemed
to be
> > more "microphonic". Only way I know how to describe it. It
always hums
> > if I bring it close to an electronic device, like a computer
monitor,
> > for instance, but usually I have found that if I stay a few feet
away
> > it isn't noticeable. But now--I can't get it to stop humming
unless I
> > grab the trem arm, and when I push on the trem arm, there is this
> > amplified click and pop sound coming out of the amp, that is somehow
> > associated with the action of the tremelo. What the #$%^&*?
> >
> > I can only think that the graphtech saddles are somehow
insulating the
> > strings and introducing a ground loop. But I can't for the life
of me
> > understand why it should be so--or how to solve it other than
put the
> > old steel saddles back. Any ideas or suggestions?
> >
> > John
> >
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> >
> > Visit for archived
> messages,
> > bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
> >
> >
> >
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Hey, thanks for sharing that. Yeah, Mel and Brian were right. I spent
the evening experimenting, and ultimately found that the string
originally served to connect the bridge and the trem, electrically,
and with the strings isolated by the graphtech saddles, my ground was
cut. I tried several jury-rigged fixed. First, I took a B string and
cut a little piece that I placed under the low e string and then bent
down to touch the bridge. I bent it into a little spring to maintain
contact with the bridge. This worked--and did not interfere with the e
string, but I thought it was too fragile. Then I replaced the e string
saddle with the old steel saddle. This also worked, but, comparing the
tone of the old saddle to the new saddles, I found I liked the
graphtech sound better. Its hard to explain. There's more nasal twang,
which I like, and I compensated for the darkening of the tone by
turning up the treble, and was happy. So I took the old saddle off,
went back to the graphtech, and ran a wire from the bridge post to the
trem. This worked fine. I'm going to go get a little silver chain
with alligator clips to replace the wire, and call it guitar jewelry.
Its a hassle to take the thing apart just to route a channel. I think
I like these graphtechs, and want to try the TusQ saddles, now.
--- In , "Gavin Ehringer"
<gavinehringer@m...> wrote:
> I installed Graphtech saddles on my Jap Jag and encountered exactly
> the same problems with electronic noise. I was bedeviled trying to
> find a loose ground (there was none), and finally realized that the
> barrels themselves were probably insulating the strings. I tied to
> jump several ground wires to find the proper ground - best case is,
> the tremelo plate fix Brian and Mel suggested.
>
> However, I also found that merely balancing my bridge screws (with the
> left one a little longer than the right) also solved the problem. My
> conjecture is that my ground wire ties into the bridge on the first
> insert in the body, closest to the lower control bout, and therefore
> the bridge wasn't making a good ground connection there.
>
> Anyway, the guitar is quiet now. I agree, the Graphtechs do rob some
> of the brightness of the tone, but they at least have kept my strings
> from popping off the bridge when I get aggressive in my playing.
>
> A good alternative might be a Buzz Stop, which I hear increases
> sustain while eliminating some of the problems associated with Jag/JM
> bridge design, namely string buzz and strings falling off the bridges
> during bends. It may, however, "darken" the sound, much like the
> Graphtechs do.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Gavin
>
>
>
>
> --- In , "ohsyrus" <ohsyrus@y...> wrote:
> > Thanks for your help on this. I'm sure you've hit the nail on the
> > head. I'll run a wire with alligator clips from the bridge to the trem
> > to see if the hum goes away--but I will probably just go back to the
> > steel saddles. I'm not totally convinced i like the sound of the
> > graphtech. They are very smooth on the hand for palm muting, and
> > that's nice, but the tone is not quite as "crisp" as it was with the
> > steel. I notice that the Graphtech guys also do JM/Jag saddles in
> > TusQ. Anybody try those? Just curious. I realize they would have the
> > same ground cut problems as the graphtech saddles, I'm just wondering
> > about the tone.
> >
> > John
> >
> > --- In , Mel Waldorf <mwaldorf@p...>
wrote:
> > > JMs and Jags have used two different grounding techniques for the
> > strings.
> > > One grounds to the tremolo plate, the other to the bridge. If yours
> > grounds
> > > to the bridge, you've probably cut the ground. Easiest solution
> > would be to
> > > put the steel saddles back.
> > > If you really
> like the saddles, you could rewire the ground to the trem
> > > plate. You'd need to drill a hole from the trem route to the main
> > control
> > > cavity under the lead circuit vol and tone, route the ground wire
> > through
> > > it, and bend it up onto the face of the guitar near one of the plate
> > > mounting screws.
> > >
> > > Good luck,
> > > Mel
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: ohsyrus [mailto:ohsyrus@y...]
> > > Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2003 10:04 PM
> > > To:
> > > Subject: [SurfGuitar101] mysterious hum, pop, and click
> > >
> > >
> > > I followed the advice I found on this board about graphtech
saddles
> > > and put a set on my JM. After getting the guitar set back up and
> > > plugging in, I was surprised at the difference in the tone. Yes,
> there
> > > is more sustain, but the color of the tone seems darker to me now.
> > > Anyhoo, that issue aside, I noticed that the whole guitar seemed
> to be
> > > more "microphonic". Only way I know how to describe it. It
> always hums
> > > if I bring it close to an electronic device, like a computer
> monitor,
> > > for instance, but usually I have found that if I stay a few feet
> away
> > > it isn't noticeable. But now--I can't get it to stop humming
> unless I
> > > grab the trem arm, and when I push on the trem arm, there is this
> > > amplified click and pop sound coming out of the amp, that is
somehow
> > > associated with the action of the tremelo. What the #$%^&*?
> > >
> > > I can only think that the graphtech saddles are somehow
> insulating the
> > > strings and introducing a ground loop. But I can't for the life
> of me
> > > understand why it should be so--or how to solve it other than
> put the
> > > old steel saddles back. Any ideas or suggestions?
> > >
> > > John
> > >
> > >
> > > Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> > >
> > > Visit for archived
> > messages,
> > > bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
Service.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
