grounding problem or normal?

[surface54]

when i take my hands off the strings i get a grounding type hum sound, when i put my fingers on the strings it stops, or on the cable. ive literally went over the entire connection layout in every spot and its all perfectly connected no weak spots. does this mean i have a grounding problem in my house (which i do no doubt) or is this a guitar grounding problem?
never really noticed it before and it happens on either pickup being selected independently. i tried entirely bypassing the volume pot and there was still a hum, only thing i didnt try was bypassing the 3 way selector would that matter?
i do hear alot more hum in my recordings more than i used to, but that was another amp another pickup. i actually have tested this hum on two different amps, both happen when the overdrive channel is on, on clean channels i cant hear the hum at all. is this normal for guitars or i have i just been blind to the hum over the years in the first place?

[FluffChop]

If you take your hand off the guitar then all the noisy signals in the universe descend onto the instrument. When you touch the metal conducting parts of the guitar like the strings, the bridge etc YOU absorb the noise into your body. So you don't get that noise going into the guitars' signal anymore. It's as normal as can be, every guitar I've ever owned through every amp I've ever used has done that. It's more noticeable on the higher gain settings as you said.

[Funkfingers]

+1

You are running a high output pickup into an extremely high gain valve amplifier. Every slightest bit of hum and/or RF interference is going to be boosted to a clearly audible level. This is the nature of the beast.

[ACR4V3N]

Through my experiences with guitars and hum, any hum that you can touch to eliminate, you can eliminate by some other method. I will lay out how to diagnose, then how to cure in this post.

First, try another guitar into the amp (if you dont have one barrow one). If its still humming take the amp to a friends house and try it out. Also try out the problem guitar on a different amp and see what happens. You need to try and change the variables as many times as you can and see when it hums and when it doesnt (I read your post, and im just going over the basics to be sure).

The pickup could be broken. A wire on the inside could have come loose, but chances are you would really notice a problem at that point, it would be a BUZZZ not a hummmmm.

I had this problem and my solution was to shield EVERYTHING. I had a brand new custom 5 and it was humming ever so slightly and when i touched it, it went away. It was nothing to worry about, but it wasnt as quiet as my other guitars so I knew there was still a chance to get rid of the hum. I ordered copper tape (aluminum tape works too, but is a bit more frustrating to use) and went to town on the guitar cavity and area around the pickup. There was still some hum. So I went over every thing over and over, till finally I realized the wire going from the pu selector to the cavity (lp style guitar) wasnt shielded. I made some ghetto shielding with some copper and have never looked back. Unless you're working with some strange pickup like a p-rail, you should be able to get rid of any hum which occurs when you touch the grounding.

The amp I play through is a bogner alchemist and at high gains, sure there's a hum, but it doesnt hum or not hum based on if I touch the guitar.

To sum it up in 1 sentence: You can have your cake and eat it too, but you have to shield EVERYTHING.

[astrozombie]

I've had this type of hum in my guitars as well. When I'm alone in my bedroom and hear it, it's frustrating. I must say though, that when I'm not actually listening for it, I don't notice it. I've never turned on my amp when playing a gig and thought "this is noisy". To each his own I guess, It doesn't bother me as much as It used to. I used to think I had wired something wrong, and I'd dive into my guitar's wiring, multimeter in hand, only to find everything is fine.

[surface54]

thanks for all your feedback! it helps to know that is fairly common. puts my mind at rest over it. i thought my pu's were going bad even though they sound fine when im playing it, its just that slight moment when i dont have my hands on the strings and the high freqs buzz hum.

and thanks about the shielding info ACR4V3N ill look into it as a future project.
do you wrap the wire in the copper tape or the lining of the cavity's walls?

[ACR4V3N]

do you wrap the wire in the copper tape or the lining of the cavity's walls?

I went by this for the most part:
http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/shielding/shield3.php

I put copper sheets in the cavity, then soldered them together. Then put it on the inside of the back cover, and taped a wired from the cover to the cavity. The trick is, you dont have to ground anything, since the copper will act as grounding, which the article explains thoroughly. To make sure the copper is all soldered together, I would take a guitar cable, plug it into a turned on amp, then touch the tip of it to one side (without touching the grounded part) and then touch other parts of the cavity to see if I could hear a buzz. If it buzzes, than its attached. As for shielding the cable from the pu selector to the cavity, I simply wrapped copper around it carefully then attached it to the ground on both ends as well as the normal grounding wire which was running between the two. If you have any questions or encounter any problems, let me know, as I might be able to help.

[Gingrel]

This explains the science behind it: http://www.guitarnuts.com/technical/noisebucket.php

EDIT: ^^ A fellow GuitarNuts user I see!

Good shielding should stop the problem, as the shield blocks the interference radiated by your body.

[astrozombie]

This explains the science behind it: http://www.guitarnuts.com/technical/noisebucket.php

EDIT: ^^ A fellow GuitarNuts user I see!

Good shielding should stop the problem, as the shield blocks the interference radiated by your body.

This is a great resource. I think it's important to know:

IF YOUR GUITAR PRODUCES A SLIGHT HUM WHEN USING GAIN, AND TOUCHING THE METAL PARTS ON THE FRONT OF YOUR GUITAR MAKES THE NOISE A BIT MORE QUIET, YOUR GUITAR IS WIRED CORRECTLY.

I wish more people knew that.

[ACR4V3N]

IF YOUR GUITAR PRODUCES A SLIGHT HUM WHEN USING GAIN, AND TOUCHING THE METAL PARTS ON THE FRONT OF YOUR GUITAR MAKES THE NOISE A BIT MORE QUIET, YOUR GUITAR IS WIRED CORRECTLY.

If only that were true. So far, with proper shielding and grounding, I've been able to get rid of all the hum in any of my guitars which is dependant upon touch. What I mean is, if you can touch your guitar, and it gets quieter, then something isnt as good as it could be.

[Gingrel]

If only that were true. So far, with proper shielding and grounding, I've been able to get rid of all the hum in any of my guitars which is dependant upon touch. What I mean is, if you can touch your guitar, and it gets quieter, then something isnt as good as it could be.

That's a problem that is fixed with shielding, not wiring.

[ACR4V3N]

That's a problem that is fixed with shielding, not wiring.

Well forgive me for using the word grounding instead of wiring.

[surface54]

STORY OF MY LIFE

You may be grounded well enough to be electrocuted by high voltage and still remain a noise source

[astrozombie]

STORY OF MY LIFE

You may be grounded well enough to be electrocuted by high voltage and still remain a noise source

You put a replacement pickup in your guitar right? did it hum before, with the stock one?

[Gingrel]

I think if you play electric guitar, lots of people consider you a noise source regardless of how well you're grounded

[surface54]

I think if you play electric guitar, lots of people consider you a noise source regardless of how well you're grounded

i even agree myself!

[surface54]

ok so what im hearing is yeah its a shielding problem but its doable.
actually playing on my way more high class marshall DSL it eliminates literally 80% of noise compared to a little 10watt Ibanez Toneblaster, that thing hisses alot when my hands arent on the strings. the marshall is much quieter so i guess some amps can filter out some extra noise your guitar may be producing.

yes i have been swapping pickups for the past 2 years, right now i have a Custom 8 in there and it sounds fine. no extra weird hum so its safe to say its in working order.

i have bad grounding in my house so im sure that contributes alot.

[astrozombie]

ok so what im hearing is yeah its a shielding problem but its doable.
actually playing on my way more high class marshall DSL it eliminates literally 80% of noise compared to a little 10watt Ibanez Toneblaster, that thing hisses alot when my hands arent on the strings. the marshall is much quieter so i guess some amps can filter out some extra noise your guitar may be producing.

yes i have been swapping pickups for the past 2 years, right now i have a Custom 8 in there and it sounds fine. no extra weird hum so its safe to say its in working order.

i have bad grounding in my house so im sure that contributes alot.

I feel you. through my hot rod deluxe, my guitars are quiet. i plug into my transtube peavey though, and i get this kinda noise. also theres an outlet in my house thats iffy. im sure plugging into it also makes it noisy.

[surface54]

another question if you dont mind

does the tone pot possible make or create extra noise in the loop?
right now its disconnected but im wondering can it make extra amounts of noise for the whole signal.

[cortmarshall]

One thing to add: Stewmac has shielding paint (which i think is bttr than tape, its more permanent, you can get more coverage, and its easier to work with, for me at least) its a little bit more expensive, but if youre not sloppy and don't overapply, it lasts quite a while. Here's the link: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electron...t=2&xsr=i-3789