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Post by beatthediese on Mar 19, 2008 14:03:08 GMT -5
Alright here's my story, I know pretty much nada about grounding so any help would be much appreciated.
Since mid January I've been playing on a brand new Fender Super Reverb reissue. All I run is a pro co rat and a boss chromatic tuner straight to my Jazzmaster which has Seymour Duncan Humbuckers in it. The power chord on the amp is 3 prong and goes straight into a 3 prong outlet.
Sp all of the sudden last week at practice my mic starts shocking my lips as I sing. If I held my lips on the mic the whole time it would not continuously shock me but anytime I pulled away and then got close again i'd get a small jolt.
Our other guitarist and our bassist both have a mic too and were getting no shock.
My question is how come all of the sudden, I'd start getting a shock out of mine?
We have gotten some pretty mean storms lately, is it possible that lightning could have messed up the circuit that my outlet is on?
Any suqqestions?
Thanks a ton!!
-Adam
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Post by D2o on Mar 19, 2008 14:29:18 GMT -5
..... The power chord on the amp is 3 prong and goes straight into a 3 prong outlet. Sp all of the sudden last week at practice my mic starts shocking my lips as I sing. ..... Our other guitarist and our bassist both have a mic too and were getting no shock. My question is how come all of the sudden, I'd start getting a shock out of mine? We have gotten some pretty mean storms lately, is it possible that lightning could have messed up the circuit that my outlet is on? Hi Adam, Welcome to GN2! I am trying to picture what you mean about the mics of the other members. Do you mean the other guitarist and bassist have a mic that goes into the same amp as yours does. Or do you mean that they have the same kind of mics as you, but are patched in elsewhere? Or both / neither ... What's the weather like since the storms? Dry, are you noticing static in general when you touch anything else? You say "a" 3 prong outlet - is it the same one as you had been using prior to the shocking? Have you suddenly done anything differently ; WORN anything differently? (fleece, or any static generating material) Maybe this reissue amp is trying to be more authentic than you would have first thought. There is no standing water involved, I assume ... right?
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servant
Meter Reader 1st Class
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Post by servant on Mar 19, 2008 15:14:10 GMT -5
OK - this is too scary to wait until I get home from work... 1 - Has anything changed in your rehearsal space setup other than a storm happening? i.e. Have you unplugged ANYTHING and are things plugged into different outlets than before? 2 - Assuming you have a stand-alone PA system, is it plugged into the same outlet as the other singers' amps, and is yours in a different outlet? 3 - I'm sure your RI amp does not have the old (deadly) Polarity switch. How about the PA? 4 - Just because you are plugged into a 3-prong outlet does not mean it is wired correctly. Do you have a circuit tester or a volt meter? 5 - Stop resting your lip on the mic until you get this sorted out! Give us more info.
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Post by beatthediese on Mar 19, 2008 16:02:09 GMT -5
there are 3 outlets in the room.
our guitar player is on one outlet. our bassist and our PA our on another. and i'm on the 3rd. it's the same outlet I've been using for almost two years now and i've never had this problem.
all of the mics are going into one PA. i'm on channel 1, our bassist's mic on channel 2, and out guitarists mic on channel 3.
i don't think it's anything to do with the PA or that outlet because neither of them were getting shocks from their mics. at one point the bassist and I even traded mics/cabels/stands and the same mic/cables/stand that i was getting shock from did nothing to him.
as far as I know there is no standing water in the room. i was wearing house shoes with a plastic bottom but i've worn them to practice countless times and never had a problem. i don't recall any static shock, it's actually been quiet humid (i live in texas).
i don't have a circuit tester or volt meter but i was planning on picking up one to take over there before the next practice. i also want to plug my amp in through another outlet and see if the result is the same. if that's the case then it has to be something in my chain of equipment right?
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servant
Meter Reader 1st Class
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Post by servant on Mar 19, 2008 19:34:44 GMT -5
Plug your amp into the outlet with the PA (leave the PA plugged in where it is; move your amp's power cable over to the other outlet). That will eliminate any question about a bad ground on the first outlet.
If you can get hold of a meter, set it to AC and, without you touching the mic, measure the voltage from your guitar strings (or bridge) to the mic. It's been years since I had to do this (back when all our amps had polarity switches and two-pronged power cords...) so I don't remember good voltage numbers vs. bad numbers. LOW (perhaps zero?) is what you want. Check the bass guitar to a mic to get a base reading, then check your guitar to your mic.
If you get a higher reading on your guitar, start working down your signal chain. With the volume on your amp turned down to zero, unplug the guitar cord from the guitar, and measure from the ground (not the "hot" tip) on the cord to the mic. Still bad? Unplug that cord from the last effects pedal (closest to the guitar). Keep going until you end up possibly measuring from the input jack on the amp to the mic.
I sound to me like I'm rambling a bit so I'll stop here. Let us know what you find.
And keep those lips off the mic!
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Post by quarry on Mar 20, 2008 3:14:23 GMT -5
I remember having that same problem, "back in the day"... It was always the polarity switch on the back of my Fender amp. You might want to get something like this: www.tripplite.com/products/static/ct120.cfmto test the outlet with. This one costs around $12. There are cheaper ones, I'm sure. This will show if there's a problem with the outlet (bad ground, reversed polarity, etc.). I can't explain why it started happening all of a sudden... unless one of your Texas storms managed to fry a ground wire...
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Post by beatthediese on Mar 20, 2008 13:09:29 GMT -5
when you say measure from the guitar to the mic etc, do you just mean hold the meter between the guitar and the mic or what? sorry, i'm pretty stupid with stuff like this.
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servant
Meter Reader 1st Class
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Post by servant on Mar 20, 2008 20:00:18 GMT -5
Yes. And with AC, it does not matter where the black probe goes vs. the red probe.
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Post by beatthediese on Mar 24, 2008 22:16:45 GMT -5
we practiced today and no shock. weird. i wonder if i was just dry and staticy last time?
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Post by D2o on Mar 25, 2008 9:09:04 GMT -5
we practiced today and no shock. weird. i wonder if i was just dry and staticy last time? That is weird. I guess if no other variable has changed (wiring, equipment, order of connection, clothing, etc. etc. etc.) it could have been the dry weather. Still, if it happens again - even in the least - get it checked out. The alternative is just not worth it
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