Static Electicity Noise?

[Zaphod B]

Hey, all. On my Korean Strat clone (the Guitar Fetish XV-850), I can run my finger(s) just about anywhere on the pickguard and induce a very noticeable crackling noise. The guitar is very quiet otherwise.

Could this be because of static electricity build-up on the pickguard? I've never seen this phenomenon before.

Any recommended cures?

 

[dgatwood]

Hey, all. On my Korean Strat clone (the Guitar Fetish XV-850), I can run my finger(s) just about anywhere on the pickguard and induce a very noticeable crackling noise. The guitar is very quiet otherwise.

Could this be because of static electricity build-up on the pickguard? I've never seen this phenomenon before.

Static would happen once and then stop. That sounds more like a slight DC bias on your ground or something.

Does this guitar have an active pickup? If so, perhaps your cable just doesn't have a good enough ground for whatever reason.

If the pickups are passive, what are you plugging it into? Are you sure the building ground is good? If you stick a voltmeter between the ground pin of an electrical outlet and the ground on your amplifier's input, do you see a DC voltage? AC voltage? WARNING: Be sure you only touch the ground pin on the outlet if you try that. The neutral won't be quite grounded, and the hot can injure or kill you....

 

[Zaphod B]

The crackling only happens when my fingers are moving across the pickguard while touching it. It stops immediately when I stop moving my hand.

The pickups are passive GFS "Texas Strat" and they exhibit about the same amount of minor hum as my other single-coil guitars.

I don't think it's a DC bias problem.

Any other ideas?

 

[Moonrider]

Wipe your axe down with an anti-static dryer sheet and see if it goes away

 

[GONZO-X]

yep, it's just static from the friction of you moving across the pickguard.
very common.

dryer cloths, like moonrider said..
took mine a week to calm down after a new pickguard was put on, then it never came back.

i went to the trouble to also copper shield the entire underneath of the pickguard, with proper grounding, and that helped too.

 

[Zaphod B]

Cool. I'll try the anti-static dryer sheets.

Thanks, guys.