Ground and clicking guitar strings

[ptmusic]

I wonder if you can help please?

My Yamaha Pacifica makes a clicking sound when I touch the strings. My old Squier Strat used to do it too, my Les Paul doesn't do it anywhere near as loudly (barely noticable).

I believe it is related to the fact that the strings are grounded through the tremolo claw so I have checked that it is correctly grounded. I used a multimeter to check electrical continuity (beep setting and it is definately grounded properly.

I contacted my fave guitar shop (who I rate very highly) and they said it was fairly common but I just wonder if there's anything you guys could suggest that could fix it or suggest why it is so much worse on one guitar than another?

A bit of web searching suggests that it's to do with electricity from me being grounded via the strings but my LP is so much quieter and it takes a lot of effort to hear the same clicking sound...

It's only quite a quiet click but it does bug me at times (espcially when using a compressor as this makes it more noticable).

Thanks in advance

Phil

[UnklMickey]

hi Ptmusic,

Welcome to GuitarNuts2.


i'm not sure exactly why that is happening.

it might be, the LP has a hotter signal, so you are using less gain or volume when using it.

or maybe the LP has some resistance in series with the string ground.

instead of just checking for continuity, measure the resistance from the strings to the sleeve of the output jack. (on both guitars)

if the LP does have an appreciable amount of resistance, compared with the Pacifica, consider putting a resistor in series with the wire from the claw of the Pacifica.



unk

[ptmusic]

Many thanks for the response.

Even when I turn the volume up a lot the Les Paul produces an almost innaudible click compared to the Pacifica's louder click even at a low volume / gain so I don't think it's that the Les Paul is a louder signal.

I checked the resistance, thanks for that suggestion, the resistance on the Les Paul (with the multimeter set at 200 on the Ohms scale - the lowest available on my multimeter) was 1.3 on the high E string on average, it floated around a bit though. On the Pacifica it was around 1.0 to 1.2. I'm no electronics expert so I don't know if that is significant enough to make a difference...

Thanks

Phil

[UnklMickey]

hey Phil,

that's definitely in the realm of an insignificant difference.

if it had been an ohm or two on the Pacifica, and a couple thousand or so on the LP......

you might try to mitigate the clicking by using a resistor in series on the Pacifica

i'm not sure how well this will work.

you can experiment with values before you even open up the guitar.

without you touching any metal on the guitar, hold one end of a resistor and touch the other end to a string or the bridge.

if you can find a value that is large enough to minimise the clicking, but small enough that it doesn't prevent you from reducing the hum from your body much compared with direct contact with the strings, that would be a reasonable approach.

after you find a value that works, wire it in series with the claw.

i'd probably start with around 10k.

no guarantee this will work, but resistors are cheap, so it's worth a try.




unk

[ptmusic]

Thanks again.

I'm tempted to get a Tech to look at it and if they can't identify the cause then I'll start trying resistors and see if that makes any difference.

I'm just totally puzzled as to why it affects one guitar but not the other...

Thanks for the suggestion.

Phil

[UnklMickey]

ptmusic said:

...I'm just totally puzzled as to why it affects one guitar but not the other......l

i'm sure you're not alone on that.

if you get a good answer, be sure and keep us posted!


thanks,

unk

[ptmusic]

unklmickey said:

ptmusic said:

...I'm just totally puzzled as to why it affects one guitar but not the other......l

i'm sure you're not alone on that.

if you get a good answer, be sure and keep us posted!


thanks,

unk

If I solve this I'll let you know how.

If anyone reads this and has solved the same problem before please let me know.

Thanks

[ptmusic]

I just got it back from the guitar shop. The tech has screened the cavities and this has vastly reduced the problem. There is still a string ground but early indications show that there is vastly less noise.

I am very pleased but I don't entirely understand how this has worked...

[UnklMickey]

Phil,

thanks a ton for getting back to us with the result.

too many times, when someone gets their problem resolved, we don't get any feedback.

they just disappear, so we don't know if the problem was fixed, or exactly what it was that fixed it.

while it would be nice to know what the mechanism is that causes the clicking, and how the shielding fixed it,

it is useful just to know, shielding does cure the problem.

thanks,

unk

[ptmusic]

No problem.

I found it very frustrating when I searched Google Groups etc that people posted with the same problem bet never did I see anyone say "hey I fixed it and this is how...". If everyone posted the solutions when they found them there would be less need for endless posts on the same subject.

Anyway, I'll stick around in case I can help anyone else... unlikely with my level of electronics knowledge but who knows.