Grounding question?

[sneakymarco]

Hi.

Sorry to be making so many posts in my first week on the forum, but I had another quick question for all you experts out there.

Is it normal for a guitar to buzz and hum until you touch a metal part like the strings or bridge? I've tried checking around online but I have found people saying both that it's normal, and that it's NOT normal, and I'm really not clear on which is the true answer.

It seems to me that if everything is grounded properly internally, all of that humming and buzzing should be going down the ground side of your cable and out the ground on your amp; right?

I just shielded my strat and it is significantly quieter than it was before, so I thought I'd done it all properly, however I still get some buzzing until I touch the metal.

Could this be an issue with the grounding in my amp? I don't have another to try out, so is there a way I can check that?

Thank you all for your time and help.

[kuzi16]

its not normal at all. it maens that your strings are not grounded.

[sumgai]

SM,

sneakymarco said:

Is it normal for a guitar to buzz and hum....... until you touch a metal part like the strings or bridge?

kuzi16 said:

its not normal at all. it maens that your strings are not grounded.

(kuzi, I think you mis-read marco's question, didn't you? )

Yes, it is normal, albeit undesirable, that guitars hum and/or buzz when plugged into an amp. It's also normal that when you touch the strings of a guitar, it should quiet down considerably or completely. Shielding the guitar (per the "Quieting the Beast" article) goes a long way towards making this normal behavior less intrusive to our ears during those times when we aren't pounding on the strings. As you already know.

Could this be an issue with the grounding in my amp?

Not likely.

I don't have another to try out, so is there a way I can check that?

Simply use a multimeter to test for continuity between the output jack's mounting plate, and the bridge/strings. If the meter doesn't read 0Ω, then you've got a problem. In such cases, go a step further, like so: Plug a cable into the jack.... now check for continuity between the tip of the cable's free end and the strings. If you got 0Ω, Bingo! you know the wires to the jack are reversed. But if you got "OL" (what most meters display for an open connection), then the strings simply aren't connected to anything. (If the reading is really high, but not infinite, then it might be a bad solder joint somewhere along the line.)

In any case, you should now be able to locate and correct the deficiency, right? ;D

HTH


sumgai

[sneakymarco]

Thank you both for the replies.

I am positive that my shielding was all done correctly, and there is indeed continuity between the strings and the shielding. So everything appears to be working properly.

So basically there's nothing more I can do to quiet it? I have to say, the results were so impressive I was half-hoping that I could get my baby to be dead silent.... but I guess that's not an option.

[kuzi16]

yeah...

i did read that wrong.
im sure you could tell from my previous posts that when it comes to electrical work im easily confused.

ive said it before and ill say it again, my skills are in design, not wireing.

[sumgai]

kuzi16 said:

yeah...

i did read that wrong.
im sure you could tell from my previous posts that when it comes to electrical work im easily confused.

ive said it before and ill say it again, my skills are in design, not wireing.

No worries, mate! In this case, it was a skill in interpreting the English language, not electronics.

And by the time we're through with you, you will have a good idea of what's going on with all those loose little electrons runing around in that there circuitry! ;D


sumgai