damn hum

[AlfredB]

hi there,

I get the typical 50/60hz hum on my guitar ... it nearly diminishes to zero if I touch any metalic parts of the guitar (bridge, etc...)

so its probably a ground loop or so (i am NO expert) ...

is there something I can do to avoid this? touching anything metal, like the heating pipes or so?

thx for any help
alfred

 

[Farview]

Is the amp grounded? Check the outlet it is plugged into to see if it is properly wired.

Take the guitar to a tech and make sure it is wired properly. It isn't a ground loop, it is just a bad ground somewhere.

 

[AlfredB]

i'm sure its not the guitar as all guitars have this problems ... and yes, i checked, the 3rd cable is connected in the wall outlet and i use a "3legged connector"

any other ideas?
thx
alfred

 

[Beltrom]

I saw somewhere that you could strip both sides of a wire and make a few twists around the groundpart of the plug in the guitar, and then step on the other side with your foot as a quickfix. You could probably in this case twist it around the bridge instead...

Haven't tried this myself so I don't know how well it works or if it's a good idea. So use at your own risk.

 

[Farview]

Does it do this everywhere you take the amp? This used to happen to me a lot in crappy bars that were badly wired. Take it to a friends house and see if it does it there.

 

[juststartingout]

Just run a ground wire from your amp to all of your boxes. Ground the chassis on each and every piece and the hum will go away.

 

[Light]

What kind of guitar is it? Because the awful truth is, with some guitars, this is completely normal. All guitars will have some hum which goes away when you touch a metal part of the guitar, because you are providing a path to ground. With single coil pickups, this hum can be really bad. You either need some form of hum-canceling pickups, or you have to live with it.

Without seeing your guitar, I can not possible tell if this is the issue at hand. The best advice I can give you is to take it to a good repair shop, and have them look at it. They will be able to tell you if the hum is normal, or a problem.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[AlfredB]

its a 95 Gibson Les Paul Studio ... so we are talking humbuckers here ... also i use an older Ibañes w/ humbuckers and get the same hum

again, thx to all of you
alfred

 

[boingoman]

High gain/distortion adds noise, also.