Some small problems with a '96(?) Studio

So I have an ebony black LP Studio that I received for my 13th birthday (sold as 'new' in '99/'00 by some shifty guitar store) played until 18, and more or less not touched since (first the military, than a decade as a drunk/cook/pothead/all of the above will do that). My cousin borrowed it for a few years but it doesn't seem like he played it much. Anyway, now that I'm spending lots of time at home and am fully out of work (and frighteningly sober) I've picked it back up, and while I love playing it, it does have a few small issues:

1) The jack does like some sort of crackly noise sometimes, moving the cable around. I took it out and it had some (a lot) of, I dunno, maybe old shielding, maybe some sort of paper residue. Cleaning it out has helped a bunch, but it's not perfect.

2) The high E doesn't really register on the bridge pickup (only; it resonates well acoustically, and with the neck PU). This is the big one. I was thinking of replacing the pickups, but I doubt my budget as a cook would allow for anything better than a Tonerider/Irongear level pickup, which is probably less good than the stock 490/498 combo (please correct me if I'm wrong on any of this).

3) It hums when I'm not touching the strings, which I feel has to do with grounding.

So, is doing a full rewire likely to fix all of these issues? I'm okay with a soldering iron, so that part doesn't worry me, and I kind of want to do one because the 50s wiring just seems cooler and more like the sound I like. I just can't get a handle on whether or not I am likely to also require new pickups, and would rather cut down on unnecessary shipping cost (I live in Israel).

Okay sorry for the scroll, thanks in advance.

TL;DR: '96 Studio, not very played, recently pulled out of storage. Hums when not grounded, bridge pup doesn't pick up high E, bit of crackling from the cable jack. Planning a full rewire, not sure if I also need new pickups or if I'm missing some other thing entirely.

1) The contact on the jack may have fatigued over time, but is probably just dirty or oxidized. I'd clean it with a good contact cleaner like DeoxIt D5. I usually spray it on a plug and push it in and out of the jack several times.

2) Make sure that the treble side of the pickup is raised high enough. It can be as close as about 1/16" when the string is depressed at the 22nd fret. There are threads on this forum detailing how to fine tune pickup height, but this is a start. Also, make sure the pole for the high E isn't turned much lower than the rest.

3) If your amp's gain is set high it might cause a little more hum than is expected from humbuckers. Touching the strings should make it go away, but it shouldn't be extreme in the first place.

How are the pots? Are the scratchy?

I doubt a full rewire is required.

Don said:

1) The contact on the jack may have fatigued over time, but is probably just dirty or oxidized. I'd clean it with a good contact cleaner like DeoxIt D5. I usually spray it on a plug and push it in and out of the jack several times.

2) Make sure that the treble side of the pickup is raised high enough. It can be as close as about 1/16" when the string is depressed at the 22nd fret. There are threads on this forum detailing how to fine tune pickup height, but this is a start. Also, make sure the pole for the high E isn't turned much lower than the rest.

3) If your amp's gain is set high it might cause a little more hum than is expected from humbuckers. Touching the strings should make it go away, but it shouldn't be extreme in the first place.

How are the pots? Are the scratchy?

I doubt a full rewire is required.

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1) I'll get some contact spray tomorrow. It's good to have around anyway. Not sure why I didn't think of this earlier.

2) The pickup does seem to be too far down on the treble side. I'll smack it with a screwdriver tomorrow, we'll see if that helps. Now that I think about it, is it even possible for only the one pole to fail?

3) It's only really noticeable when the gain is turned up, though I think I can also hear it when it's clean, but that might just be my brain screwing with me. I do occasionally feel like the bridge or something is giving me a tiny zap, but it's not enough of a jolt to be sure. Feels like static electricity, maybe a bit stronger.

The pots seem fine, not scratchy as far as I can tell. I think the switch is a bit noisy.
Anyway, I'm thinking of the rewire mostly because all the 50s wired LPs I've heard (on the internet) just sound better to me, all other things being equal (plus, I'm out of work, bored out of my mind, and, in case I haven't mentioned it, incredibly, unbelievably, sober. My girl thinks I could use a project).

FreeSombrero said:

Anyway, I'm thinking of the rewire mostly because all the 50s wired LPs I've heard (on the internet) just sound better to me, all other things being equal (plus, I'm out of work, bored out of my mind, and, in case I haven't mentioned it, incredibly, unbelievably, sober. My girl thinks I could use a project).

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'50s wiring doesn't require a rewire (unless you're in the mood to rewire). Just move the connection of the tone caps to the output lug of the volume pots (the lug that the switch is attached to).

One thing that might make a noticeable difference would be to replace the volume pots. They're probably 300k (linear taper?). 500k audio taper is the traditional value and is often preferred. It'll either open the guitar up or make it brighter than you like depending on your taste.

Congrats on being sober, and if rewiring a guitar helps, then rewire your guitar! I seem to be pushing you to not rewire your guitar, but I rewired the heck out of my 2014 traditional!

FreeSombrero said:

1) I'll get some contact spray tomorrow. It's good to have around anyway. Not sure why I didn't think of this earlier.

2) The pickup does seem to be too far down on the treble side. I'll smack it with a screwdriver tomorrow, we'll see if that helps. Now that I think about it, is it even possible for only the one pole to fail?

3) It's only really noticeable when the gain is turned up, though I think I can also hear it when it's clean, but that might just be my brain screwing with me. I do occasionally feel like the bridge or something is giving me a tiny zap, but it's not enough of a jolt to be sure. Feels like static electricity, maybe a bit stronger.

The pots seem fine, not scratchy as far as I can tell. I think the switch is a bit noisy.
Anyway, I'm thinking of the rewire mostly because all the 50s wired LPs I've heard (on the internet) just sound better to me, all other things being equal (plus, I'm out of work, bored out of my mind, and, in case I haven't mentioned it, incredibly, unbelievably, sober. My girl thinks I could use a project).

Click to expand...

Get some Deoxit contact cleaner and a can of compressed air for cleaning computers etc. and spray the Deoxit into the pots, twist the knobs around a bunch and use the compressed air to clean the excess Deoxit from the pots.
If you have a gun cleaning kit around (you should these days) use a nylon bore brush coated with Deoxit to clean the bore of the output jack and see if that helps.

These symptoms also occur when the hardware configuration changes, such as when you dock and undock a device that uses external monitors, or you detach an external monitor from the device.