Les Paul Buzzes Until I Touch Metal

[ianbourg]

I really want to know if this is normal or not, because I've seen people claim that this means it's grounded well. There's an obvious drop in buzzing noise whenever I touch anything metal on the guitar (tuners, strings, bridge, tailpiece, etc.). I've already checked the continuity with a multimeter and it seems to be fine. I first started noticing the buzz when I upgraded my electronics and changed out my stock bridge pickup for a sh-5 custom (uncovered zebra styled). The buzz is the most noticeable when using a fair amount of gain on the bridge pickup, but I can still faintly hear it on the neck pickup.

I did wonder if my ground wire to the bridge was a problem and saw that it was just stuffed between the tailpiece brushing and the hole wall, so there was no soldering to the brushing. Is this how the bridge ground is supposed to be or should I solder it directly to the brushing?

Any advice would be appreciated. I've been trying to troubleshoot this for weeks now.

 

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Re: Les Paul Buzzes Until I Touch Metal

Probably the grounding in the electricical grid of your house. Speaking from my own experience, try ground it into a metal rod about 1m length, buried deep into the ground. Run a copper wire from a metal part like an unused jack in your amp, to the rod.

 

[Johnny-DK]

Re: Les Paul Buzzes Until I Touch Metal

Yeah likely to be the house power. Try to another outlet and/or make sure that your guitar rig doesn't share the outlet with other electrical equipment.

 

[El Dunco]

Re: Les Paul Buzzes Until I Touch Metal

Does this happen with any other guitars? I had this problem with my king V which went away when I taped over all the exposed parts of the wiring.

 

[orpheo]

Re: Les Paul Buzzes Until I Touch Metal

This is perfectly normal. You are the cause of the hum. By touching the metal you ground yourself.