My guitar emits a buzz? Wtf?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sisprum Vish
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Sisprum Vish

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Hey guys. I'm guitar-stupid, so bear with me.

Basically, I have a shitty little 'strat' (knockoff) made by Baltimore that I got for $99, and another cheap Brownsville guitar for about the same price, and behringer's ever-so-famouse iAxe. When plugged into the same exact recording rig as the other guitars, I tend to have to gate out the noise especially when using my strat. From what I can tell, the pickups are all the same on all of the guitars, but I really want my strat to cooperate with me. Is there any tweak or trick I can do to quiet the thing or is the guitar just fucked? :confused:

Thanks for the help :)
 
Isolate where the sound is coming from. Does it happen with all pickup selections? Does it happen when the guitar volume is turned down? When the tone control(s) are moved one way or the other? How about if you jiggle the cable plug in the jack?
 
I could be wrong here, but I think Strats are notoriously bad for buzzing noise due to their single coil pickups. It's not fucked, it's just in their nature.
 
Sisprum Vish said:
Hey guys. I'm guitar-stupid, so bear with me.

Basically, I have a shitty little 'strat' (knockoff) made by Baltimore that I got for $99, and another cheap Brownsville guitar for about the same price, and behringer's ever-so-famouse iAxe. When plugged into the same exact recording rig as the other guitars, I tend to have to gate out the noise especially when using my strat. From what I can tell, the pickups are all the same on all of the guitars, but I really want my strat to cooperate with me. Is there any tweak or trick I can do to quiet the thing or is the guitar just fucked? :confused:

Thanks for the help :)
Click to expand...

try moving your amp away from anything else that puts out a radio signal
 
It could be pretty much anything causing the interference. Single coils hum a bit more than humbuckers (duh) but a well sheilded and grounded strat shouldn't be too bad.

Read up on shielding your guitar (google it) to cut down on the hum (using conductive paint or copper tape or even foil). Make sure your wiring is solid too and you'll be fine. I've seen factory jobs with ground loops everywhere, so don't just assume it's right.

That said, just moving away from the source of the interference is by far the cheapest solution. Also turn off any CRTs, fluoroscent lighting etc that you don't need on while you record.
 
mjbphotos said:
Isolate where the sound is coming from. Does it happen with all pickup selections? Does it happen when the guitar volume is turned down? When the tone control(s) are moved one way or the other? How about if you jiggle the cable plug in the jack?
Click to expand...

I can switch up the pickup settings and actually nullify the buzz, but then my guitar sounds all robotic. When the guitar's volume is all the way down, it also goes away. The tone controls have to be exactly right in order to minimize it, but it's still never totally gone when I'm using my favorite pickup settings. It definitely appears to be coming from the strat, the one that I'd rather record with otherwise.
 
philbagg said:
I could be wrong here, but I think Strats are notoriously bad for buzzing noise due to their single coil pickups. It's not fucked, it's just in their nature.
Click to expand...

I guess that makes sense then. Maybe I should just record with something else and use the strat for rocking out purposes only.
 
slowmotion said:
It could be pretty much anything causing the interference. Single coils hum a bit more than humbuckers (duh) but a well sheilded and grounded strat shouldn't be too bad.

Read up on shielding your guitar (google it) to cut down on the hum (using conductive paint or copper tape or even foil). Make sure your wiring is solid too and you'll be fine. I've seen factory jobs with ground loops everywhere, so don't just assume it's right.

That said, just moving away from the source of the interference is by far the cheapest solution. Also turn off any CRTs, fluoroscent lighting etc that you don't need on while you record.
Click to expand...

I guess I didn't really think of that... my whole rig is on this one [ungrounded] outlet, so it's not really the best setup. The only thing is, the other guitars sound fine on the same setup, so I'll follow your advice and google it a bit more and see if i can fix it. Thanks
 
Does it get louder or quieter depending on if you're touching the strings? If so: that's fixable, if memory serves....which it may not. :D
 
Its a $99 guitar !!!! Its gonna have noise and not stay in tune. Thats why its $99 !!!!
 
TyphoidHippo said:
Does it get louder or quieter depending on if you're touching the strings? If so: that's fixable, if memory serves....which it may not. :D
Click to expand...

It seems like the buzz is still there even when I'm not touching the strings... It's just constant no matter what I'm doing and turning my gate all the way up just ruins my tone completely.
 
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