Strat. Loud buzzing.

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hixmix

hixmix

Halibut, North Dakota
I plugged my Strat into my new amp and it buzzes really loud. Use middle position on the 5 way and buzz is reduced considerably. Thought it might be the cord or the amp but I tried out a few other guitars with the same chord and there is no prominent buzz so it has to be the guitar.

How to fix?
 
hixmix said:
I plugged my Strat into my new amp and it buzzes really loud. Use middle position on the 5 way and buzz is reduced considerably. Thought it might be the cord or the amp but I tried out a few other guitars with the same chord and there is no prominent buzz so it has to be the guitar.

How to fix?
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Welcome to the world of single coil pickups. If you plug into a high gain setup (high gain amp and/or distortion/overdrive boxes and/or a lot of compression...) you are going to get some buzz. If there are fluorescent or neon lights around, it will be worse. If (like me) you have high voltage power distribution lines nearby, it will be worse. If you are near a computer monitor or TV, it will be worse.

If you set it where it buzzes pretty loudly, does it make any diff which way you face while holding the guitar? That points to AC power line interference.

Is it the middle position where it is less, or one or both of the "mix" positions? Some Strats are fitted with a RWRP (reverse polarity reverse wound) p'up in the middle position, which makes switch positions 2 and 4 quasi-humbucking. On mine, it's the bridge p'up that's RWRP, so only position 2 is humbucking, but that's the one I use the most.

You could shield the cavity of your Strat, which might help some. There are also "noiseless" pickups available, but they don't sound the same.
 
Ok. I was fiddling around some more and it seems the hum/buzz appears when I plug the guitar cord into either input jack on amp. Doesn't matter if other end of cord is plugged into guitar or not. Still the hum/buzz.
 
hixmix said:
Ok. I was fiddling around some more and it seems the hum/buzz appears when I plug the guitar cord into either input jack on amp. Doesn't matter if other end of cord is plugged into guitar or not. Still the hum/buzz.
Click to expand...

So, looking at what you said in the first post, when you plug in any other guitar than the Strat, the buzz goes away?
 
hixmix said:
Ok. I was fiddling around some more and it seems the hum/buzz appears when I plug the guitar cord into either input jack on amp. Doesn't matter if other end of cord is plugged into guitar or not. Still the hum/buzz.
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well this could be a typical response. if you have your cord plugged into the amp and the jack is hanging in the air or the connecting ring is touching something like, say, your hand, then it's going to hum. However, when you plug it into an instrument, that hum should stop (well, if you're using a humbucking guitar like my LP. your single coil axe may just keep humming naturally as mentioned before).

once i had a cord that didn't stop humming, but it did when i wiggled it around the guitar jack. thank goodness it wasn't the guitar - the cable was just wearing out and that prob disappeared with a new cable. However, other folks i know have had faulty jack connections which can result in hum as well.
 
ggunn said:
So, looking at what you said in the first post, when you plug in any other guitar than the Strat, the buzz goes away?
Click to expand...

The Strat is a little noisier but now after trying a couple of different kinds of guitars I've found it's not the guitar. I called the amp maker and he said to try a new guitar cord. So I went back to GC and got a 40 dollar monster cable guitar cord. The amp is pretty quiet but I still get the loud hum when I plug the guitar cord in either amp jack. It doesn't matter if the guitar is connected to the cord or not. I have everything set to 5. I also tried moving the amp around and a couple of different electric outlets. Could there be a short in the amp?
 
It sounds like the amp may have a bad ground on the input jack maybe, is there a warranty on the amp or was it sold as-is? There just isn't much quality on the input jacks anymore, sorry to say.
 
hixmix said:
The Strat is a little noisier but now after trying a couple of different kinds of guitars I've found it's not the guitar. I called the amp maker and he said to try a new guitar cord. So I went back to GC and got a 40 dollar monster cable guitar cord. The amp is pretty quiet but I still get the loud hum when I plug the guitar cord in either amp jack. It doesn't matter if the guitar is connected to the cord or not. I have everything set to 5. I also tried moving the amp around and a couple of different electric outlets. Could there be a short in the amp?
Click to expand...

Did you buy the amp new? It is beginning to sound like it needs new filter caps.
 
Someone with a very small dick neg-repped me for this thread and called me a "moron".

How do I know he has a tiny dick:

1. Because he was afraid to sign his name to it.
2. Because he has little or no rep himself and his red chicklet had no effect on my rep.
 
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You near a computer monitor? I have to shut mine down when i record, even from seeral feet away (sucks with a comp based recording system as well).

Dave
 
I e-mailed B-52 yesterday and the owner responded today. Here's what he wrote:

Dear _____

We need more information to assess the problem. Please answer all of the questions below:

1) What guitar is it?

2) What pickups does it have?

3) Did you try it with a different guitar?

4) Did it buzz in the store?

5) Is it plugged into a grounded outlet?

6) Does the buzz stop when the guitar volume is turned down?

7) Which controls on the amp affect the loudness of the buzz?

8) Does the buzz lessen when you move further away from the amp? How far away?

Please give me as much info as you can.

Best Regards,

Avi El-Kiss

B-52 PROFESSIONAL
3383 Gage Ave.
Huntington Park, CA 90255
Phone: 323-277-4100
Fax: 323-277-4108
E-Mail: avi@B-52PRO.com

Websites:
www.B-52PRO.com
www.B-52GUITAR.com
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I'm going to fool around with it a bit more tonight. I'm going to try some more electrical outlets and a new power cord also.

If that doesn't work I guess it goes in for warrantee repair or back to GC for a refund. I'd hate to take it back though because I got an amazing deal on it and they don't have anymore. There were like 5 or 6 of them left when I bought it.
 
After a few more troubleshooting e-mails back and forth, Avi told me to bring the amp down to the factory and they would fix it or replace it with a new one. The factory is only a half hour south of me in Huntington Park, CA. So I drove down this morning and got there when they open at 7 AM. Tech wasn't due in for another hour so they just replaced the amp with a new one right right out of the box!
 
good to hear you are getting service out of your amp vender.

I will pass on a tip, for strats, to you. I am a die hard strat tweeker.

The tip:
Modern strats have the shielding on the back of the pick guard...that little tin foil shit. This is very sorry shielding IMHO. On my '66 strat there is a piece of thin metal the same size as the pickguard, underneath the pick guard. I have put this shielding plate in other strats (when my 66 was taken apart for a fret job and finish). These shielding plates work very well! In every case there is less 60 cycle hum with the vintage shielding plate than there was with just the chezzy tin foil shielding on the back of the pick guard.

I also, put my '66 back together without the shilding plate....using a modern pickguard (because the shielding plate was on another strat of mine) and my '66 had alot more hum than usual.

Fender should learn the lesson: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"

I have seen these vintage type shielding plates for sale...they run around $15 to $20. It's the best $20 you can spend on a strat IMO.
 
jimistone said:
good to hear you are getting service out of your amp vender.

I will pass on a tip, for strats, to you. I am a die hard strat tweeker.

The tip:
Modern strats have the shielding on the back of the pick guard...that little tin foil shit. This is very sorry shielding IMHO. On my '66 strat there is a piece of thin metal the same size as the pickguard, underneath the pick guard. I have put this shielding plate in other strats (when my 66 was taken apart for a fret job and finish). These shielding plates work very well! In every case there is less 60 cycle hum with the vintage shielding plate than there was with just the chezzy tin foil shielding on the back of the pick guard.

I also, put my '66 back together without the shilding plate....using a modern pickguard (because the shielding plate was on another strat of mine) and my '66 had alot more hum than usual.

Fender should learn the lesson: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"

I have seen these vintage type shielding plates for sale...they run around $15 to $20. It's the best $20 you can spend on a strat IMO.
Click to expand...

you can get thin copper sheets that would probably work well. i did a diy shielding job on my guitar and it did'nt change a thing. i used foil and maybe that's why it did'nt work for crap. what did the rest of your 66 look like inside? was the whole cavity shielded or just the plate under the pick guard?

btw, fender did make some nice guitars in early 2000. of course that did'nt last long. what the hell is wrong with those people?
 
TravisinFlorida said:
you can get thin copper sheets that would probably work well. i did a diy shielding job on my guitar and it did'nt change a thing. i used foil and maybe that's why it did'nt work for crap. what did the rest of your 66 look like inside? was the whole cavity shielded or just the plate under the pick guard?

btw, fender did make some nice guitars in early 2000. of course that did'nt last long. what the hell is wrong with those people?
Click to expand...

No, my '66 does not have a shielded cavity...the shieldding plate is an exact cutout of the pickguard...the only difference is that instead of having screw holes like the pickguard....it is slotted for the screws.

I tried making one of of thin copper, THEN tried making it out of thin sheet metal....tried to cut it out with a jigsaw. Spent a good part of a day and failed miserably.

Forget it! That sucker has to be punched on a machine....it's cheaper and easier to just buy one for $15 than it is to try and make one yoursellf IMO (if you own a macine shop disreguard that)
 
jimistone said:
I tried making one of of thin copper, THEN tried making it out of thin sheet metal....tried to cut it out with a jigsaw. Spent a good part of a day and failed miserably.
Click to expand...


My 62ri strat has that metal pickguard thing. I also have sheilded many guitars with foil tape from radio shack (which sucked because it was like 1/2" wide) and from DiMarzio, and cut out a sheilding plate from thin coper sheet from a hobby store. I didn't use a hacksaw, though. I used scissors. If you can't cut it with scissors, then it is probably way thicker than it needs to be. Also, if it's thin enough, then it doesn't need to be the shape of the pickguard. It only needs to be big enough to act as a "lid" over the routed holes in the guitar. If the metal is too thick, then you have to cut out the whole thing lest you have bulges. :eek:

I also bought a can of sheilding paint from stewart macdonald and it works great, too.

Just keep in mind that the sheilding all needs to have good connectivity to itself (if you have to use multiple pieces of the tape) AND to ground. After covering the inside fo the cavity and the back of the pickguard with the tape, I spent just as long putting a little dab of solder between the pieces to make sure they were electronically a single mass.

that said, sheilding makes a fairly subtle difference to me. If the buzz is outrageously loud, it's probably the ground on the guitar having a bad connection to the bridge or to the output jack. Or, as you said, the amp.
 
jimistone said:
Forget it! That sucker has to be punched on a machine....it's cheaper and easier to just buy one for $15 than it is to try and make one yoursellf IMO (if you own a macine shop disreguard that)
Click to expand...

haha that's funny..... I bet it's hard to shape one of those in a shop. I wonder if it's possible with a jig saw and sheet metal?

I am having the same problem on my Gretsch lap steel (which by the way my thread got hardly any attention compared to this thread! lol)

I'm gonna try the jigsaw trick and report back, cause i ain't gotta choice. I know they don't make a plate for my has been lap steel.
 
Thanks for the tip, jimi.

New amp is alot quieter. May have only been a few bad tubes after all. There's 12 of them in there and I noticed on the old one some of them were barely glowing. Much healthier, even glow coming from the tubes in the new amp.
 
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