Anyone please help me fix a noisy Les Paul??

[papersoul]

Hi guys,

I love my 2003 LP Standard but it has always buzzed like crazy! I now have the pot mounting plate that came stock in the LP cavity (with this, you should not have to star ground - all the pots together), I have everything correctly grounded and even connected all the pots together for additional grounding and an additional ground wire from each pickup chassis to volume pot.

Still, I get loads of hum and buzz. I can't do anything to kill the noise! This is the only guitar that forces me to keep a noise supressor on my pedalboard.

This is a guy on Youtube who has a similar issue. He said he could not find a solution, same with a friend of mine and we all have LPs from different years. My SG, Fenders and PRS are all quiet!

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[TheTranslator]

Re: Anyone please help me fix a noisy Les Paul??

My SG, Fenders and PRS are all quiet!

SG is quiet - really?!? Every single one of my Gibson SG's (including a LP Classic I used to own) buzz like crazy in distortion mode. I have a couple Jacksons that buzz as well. So far, I haven't experienced any unwanted pickup noise from ANY of my Ibanez guitars - even the lower-end RG's.

Sorry, I don't have any electrical advise to offer, but from my experience, different pickups might help. My SG Faded Special buzzed so bad, I swapped the stock pups for EMG's, and it was quiet as the dead of night. However, I replaced the EMG's for Dimarzio SD's. EMG's sound like a tinker toy in the clean channel.

 

[verbotenco]

Re: Anyone please help me fix a noisy Les Paul??

Ever try grounding the amp? It might be the stray electric current in your house. Run a copper wire (like from an electrical cable) from the a jack on the back of your amp to a metal rod (about 1 m), and bury the rod in the ground outside.

 

[FretFire]

Re: Anyone please help me fix a noisy Les Paul??

Ever try grounding the amp? It might be the stray electric current in your house. Run a copper wire (like from an electrical cable) from the a jack on the back of your amp to a metal rod (about 1 m), and bury the rod in the ground outside.

Please tell me you're kidding.

OP: Does the buzz stop when you touch metal on the guitar? (strings, bridge, etc)

 

[ErikH]

Re: Anyone please help me fix a noisy Les Paul??

Sounds like the bridge ground is missing to me.

If the pots are on the plate, there is no need to run any additional ground wires connecting them so get rid of those, same with the additional ones from the pickups. Just unnecessary wires with that setup. Check the wiring at the jack, make sure that is good too.

You might have to pull the a bridge post to make sure that ground wire is connected.

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Re: Anyone please help me fix a noisy Les Paul??

Sounds like the bridge ground is missing to me.

If the pots are on the plate, there is no need to run any additional ground wires connecting them so get rid of those, same with the additional ones from the pickups. All that does is lead to a ground loop (which can contribute to the problem). Check the wiring at the jack, make sure that is good too.

You might have to pull the a bridge post to make sure that ground wire is connected.

+1

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Re: Anyone please help me fix a noisy Les Paul??

Please tell me you're kidding.

OP: Does the buzz stop when you touch metal on the guitar? (strings, bridge, etc)

Purely as a test, why not.

In dry parts of the world the earth that usually runs out of the house often dry out and provide dreadful earthing at times. It's like that here now. Some bits of electrical gear buzz like nobody's business. Once the rains come in November, everything will go quiet as a mouse again.

At least this way you can prove whether or not your amp is properly earthed and not causing the buzz itself, though if other guitars don't buzz, then that seems unlikely.

The other option is to find where the earth strip is outside the house and get a couple of buckets of water thrown on it.

 

[FretFire]

Re: Anyone please help me fix a noisy Les Paul??

Purely as a test, why not.

In dry parts of the world the earth that usually runs out of the house often dry out and provide dreadful earthing at times. It's like that here now. Some bits of electrical gear buzz like nobody's business. Once the rains come in November, everything will go quiet as a mouse again.

At least this way you can prove whether or not your amp is properly earthed and not causing the buzz itself, though if other guitars don't buzz, then that seems unlikely.

The other option is to find where the earth strip is outside the house and get a couple of buckets of water thrown on it.

Or you could use a $10 outlet tester.

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Re: Anyone please help me fix a noisy Les Paul??

Or you could use a $10 outlet tester.

Can the iPhone 5 do that too?

 

[uOpt]

Re: Anyone please help me fix a noisy Les Paul??

Hi guys,

I love my 2003 LP Standard but it has always buzzed like crazy! I now have the pot mounting plate that came stock in the LP cavity (with this, you should not have to star ground - all the pots together), I have everything correctly grounded and even connected all the pots together for additional grounding and an additional ground wire from each pickup chassis to volume pot.

Still, I get loads of hum and buzz. I can't do anything to kill the noise! This is the only guitar that forces me to keep a noise supressor on my pedalboard.

This is a guy on Youtube who has a similar issue. He said he could not find a solution, same with a friend of mine and we all have LPs from different years. My SG, Fenders and PRS are all quiet!

Thanks for any suggestions!

So you are sure all your pots are grounded (probably want to use an Ohmmeter). And you did ground the plate, right?

Then the next step to debugging is disconnect the pickups and see whether that makes the buzz go away.

Are your strings grounded?

 

[ErikH]

Re: Anyone please help me fix a noisy Les Paul??

So you are sure all your pots are grounded (probably want to use an Ohmmeter). And you did ground the plate, right?

Good point. If the plate is grounded (wire connected to the ground lug of the output jack and soldered to the plate itself) then the pots should all be grounded together and no need to run a wire from pot to pot at all. The string ground should also be connected here (though I like to run it from the bridge straight to the output jack ground lug).

 

[rumblebox]

Re: Anyone please help me fix a noisy Les Paul??

1. how high is the gain on your amp?

2. does it go away when you touch the strings?

3. how many amps have you played it though?

4. shielding is never a bad idea. (connect the shield to ground)

5. do you enjoy playing while a hundred neon lights are surrounding you?

 

[AlexR]

Re: Anyone please help me fix a noisy Les Paul??

If you've double grounded the pots that may well cause a loop. I'd remove the plate and re-wire from scratch myself.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Anyone please help me fix a noisy Les Paul??

I'd pull your inserts and make sure that the strings' ground wire is wedged in there properly.

What does your "rig" consist of? Pedals, cables, amps, A/B box, etc. All the guitars you said are quiet... Are they quiet through the exact same rig?

If you've double grounded the pots that may well cause a loop.

There is no such thing as a "ground loop" inside a passive guitar. It's impossible. Wire your ground wires however you want without worry...as long as they lead to ground one way or another, they are fine.

 

[Bfeeney]

Re: Anyone please help me fix a noisy Les Paul??

I'm having the same problems with my Epi. What do you guys mean with ground loops?

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Anyone please help me fix a noisy Les Paul??

I'm having the same problems with my Epi. What do you guys mean with ground loops?

It's an issue with how you plug in your amps and other stuff, not an issue with passive guitar wiring.

 

[verbotenco]

Re: Anyone please help me fix a noisy Les Paul??

Please tell me you're kidding.

OP: Does the buzz stop when you touch metal on the guitar? (strings, bridge, etc)

It worked on my setup. Yes the noise stopped when I touched a metal part, as the stray current is transferred to my body. That's the same principle applied by grounding the amp to the ground: Transferring the stray current to the ground. And it's better if the soil is wet cause it augments the induction. This is like Chris of Arabia said in his previous post in this thread.

 

[verbotenco]

Re: Anyone please help me fix a noisy Les Paul??

The tin foil affixed onto the inside a guitar's electronics (like on the pickguard) is supposed to reduce hum. Check if yours has it.

 

[James Rock]

Re: Anyone please help me fix a noisy Les Paul??

Yes the noise stopped when I touched a metal part, as the stray current is transferred to my body.

I read a website that said this is very much false as the human body is terrible at conducting current and would be a terrible ground and that this still happens even when you are in shoes standing on plastic. Not sure how true it is but makes sense to me http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/shielding/shield3.php

To the OP you may need to add shielding, I have the same problem with my tele most noise goes away when I touch the strings (still left with 60 cycle hum though), doesnt effect me most of the time but some shielding inside the cavities will help.

 

[papersoul]

Re: Anyone please help me fix a noisy Les Paul??

My Les Paul has none of that shielding anywhere.
Yes, all my other guitars are quiet through exact same rig. I went through my guitars one at a time through this rig, and only LP was that noisy!
I just got all new pots and caps and my tech said he is going to install this weekend and will check all grounds and connections.
I guess I could use shielded wire, but really it is what it is, I don't feel like changing my toggle switch wires.