My Les Paul is noisy! Video!

[GuitarDoc]

Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!

Do as GoldenVulture suggested with the pups. I doubt that it has anything to do with the pups, however, because you said it happened with other pups as well.

By the way, your problem is DEFINITELY a grounding issue. No question about it. When you touch the strings, they are getting grounded through your body. When you don't touch the strings they lose their ground and are noisy. Therefore, your strings are NOT grounded. Strings are normally grounded on a LP, as was said, by a wire from the bridge to a pot in the control cavity.

THAT IS your problem. If the wire is there, resolder the connection to the ground in your control cavity, no matter how good the solder joint "looks", resolder it anyway to a different spot with a hot iron so the solder flows thin like water. If that doesn't correct it, then the problem IS with the wire connection to the bridge.

Knowing about the extremely poor QC of Gibson, my suspicion is that the wire is not making a good electrical contact with the bridge post. You may have to pull the post and check that connection.

Believe me, (and I know you've heard or read a lot of "cures" for your hum), this IS your solution.

 

[The Dali]

Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!

Thanks. I've called a local repair tech. I'm going to see what the cost will be to get it right. More to come!!

 

[LoFiBrian]

Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!

had the same issue with my MIK Hamer. turns out a loose tailpiece bushing wasnt completing the ground anymore and it had to be resecured and now its 10x more silent.

i had it rewired 3 times too. turns out 2 diff techs just reused the stock ground wire and didnt check it.-B

 

[GoldenVulture]

Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!

Do as GoldenVulture suggested with the pups. I doubt that it has anything to do with the pups, however, because you said it happened with other pups as well.

To ascertain if your base plate is grounded or if you have the Hot and ground reversed. If they are reversed it will produce extra hum when touching anything connected to the base plate. Just thought i'd put it out there as a possibility to check. Both pups would have to be reversed wired for it to happen all the time on either pup, otherwise you'd have one pup out of phase. you don't mention any phase issues and I couldn't hear any in the clip, so it's most likely not part of the issue. Also because it has persisted through pup changes it seems like the grounding issue to your strings.

 

[The Dali]

Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!

To ascertain if your base plate is grounded or if you have the Hot and ground reversed. If they are reversed it will produce extra hum when touching anything connected to the base plate. Just thought i'd put it out there as a possibility to check. Both pups would have to be reversed wired for it to happen all the time on either pup, otherwise you'd have one pup out of phase. you don't mention any phase issues and I couldn't hear any in the clip, so it's most likely not part of the issue. Also because it has persisted through pup changes it seems like the grounding issue to your strings.

I will check that.

Here is a link that exemplifies why this issue is so misunderstood. This link says the OPPOSITE of what all of you are saying.

http://www.guitarnuts.com/technical/noisebucket.php

 

[The Dali]

Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!

had the same issue with my MIK Hamer. turns out a loose tailpiece bushing wasnt completing the ground anymore and it had to be resecured and now its 10x more silent.

i had it rewired 3 times too. turns out 2 diff techs just reused the stock ground wire and didnt check it.-B

You know, I really don't think it is the bridge ground. I disconnected the bridge ground wire and the hum/noise got SUPER loud. When I re-connected it went back to the volume it was before. I would think that if the bridge was NOT connected it wouldn't have changed volume when I de-soldered the wire.

 

[GoldenVulture]

Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!

I will check that.

Here is a link that exemplifies why this issue is so misunderstood. This link says the OPPOSITE of what all of you are saying.

http://www.guitarnuts.com/technical/noisebucket.php

Now one can see why the noise getting louder as one touches the strings is indicative of either a missing or broken string ground wire or of the wires to the output jack being reversed. (With reversed output wires, touching the strings is exactly like touching the tip of the plug in the experiment above.)

:cool2:

 

[The Dali]

Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!

.... livin' after midnight, rockin' til the... oh sorry

how about the ground wire from the bridge post or stop-tail post? you got that hooked up i'm sure

edit: i have really bad noise issues with directional hum. does it go away if you turn around 90 degrees? do you other guitars get noiser when you turn around 90 degrees?
i've asked about this question over and over again, and cant get any information other than its a computer/tv/rheostat/florescent lighting etc etc

By the way, no, the hum doesn't change based on direction or proximity to the amp.

 

[Jessie's ghost]

Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!

I will check that.

Here is a link that exemplifies why this issue is so misunderstood. This link says the OPPOSITE of what all of you are saying.

http://www.guitarnuts.com/technical/noisebucket.php

But you guitar gets quieter when you touch the strings, doesn't it? Have you taken the live tip of an instrument cable plugged into an amp and touched the end to a ground in your guitar? Or to some random piece of metal? I don't think the guy in the article has it all figured out, either.

Have you tried measuring the resistance between the volume control ground and the bridge, or between the bridge and the ground on the output jack? Compare these with the corresponding measurements on your Carvin.

I really doubt this is some inherent problem in the guitar that can't be fixed.

 

[The Dali]

Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!

But you guitar gets quieter when you touch the strings, doesn't it? Have you taken the live tip of an instrument cable plugged into an amp and touched the end to a ground in your guitar? Or to some random piece of metal? I don't think the guy in the article has it all figured out, either.

Have you tried measuring the resistance between the volume control ground and the bridge, or between the bridge and the ground on the output jack? Compare these with the corresponding measurements on your Carvin.

I really doubt this is some inherent problem in the guitar that can't be fixed.

Good idea. I'll give that a shot tomorrow.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!

You are theorizing. Which isn't a bad thing.

But, nevertheless, the problem IS with your bridge ground, since that is the only electrical connection to your strings.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!

You know, I really don't think it is the bridge ground. I disconnected the bridge ground wire and the hum/noise got SUPER loud. When I re-connected it went back to the volume it was before. I would think that if the bridge was NOT connected it wouldn't have changed volume when I de-soldered the wire.

That's like saying your car not being able to start has nothing to do with the battery even though the headlights aren't very bright, because when you disconnect the battery the headlights go completely out and when you hook the battery back up the headlights light up to the same dimness that they were before.

So, yeh, the bridge ground wire may be having some effect, but that doesn't mean ther isn't something wrong with it.

 

[rumblebox]

Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!

if the hum stops when you touch the strings, then obviously you have a good bridge ground. that's not arguable. if your bridge ground was disconnected or nonexistant, you could touch the strings all you want and the hum wouldnt change a single bit. at that point the hum would only go away if you touch the jack or the pickup screws.

example: my MH-350NT came with EMG's, and i had to add a bridge ground when i put passives in it. it was bearable until i used P-Rails in P90 mode. so i added a bridge ground, and it stopped when i touched the strings, as it should.

you're going to have to fully shield the cavities, because the electronics have to be encapsulated by the shield, not just covered by it. that's why youre carvin is so quiet, and that's probably why your strat is so quiet. sorry bro, but that's the only way it's going to stop humming so much if all your other grounds are good. if you shield it and it still hums, then you really do have a ground problem.

also make sure you solder a ground wire to each of the sections of shielding, because they're useless without being grounded.

 

[brentrocks]

Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!

Flouresent lights?

 

[rumblebox]

Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!

Flouresent lights?

i thought about this too. but 1. all the guitars would be loud, and 2. it woudnt go away when he touched the strings.

 

[Snoogles]

Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!

maybe the wires to the cable jack are reversed?

 

[Jessie's ghost]

Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!

 

[Snoogles]

Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!

totally wrong analogy. what you're saying would equal the ground wire to the jack or a pickup being severed. not the one to the bridge.

the fact that the noise stops when he touches the strings shows that everything is in perfect working order, but it simply lacks proper shielding.


dali, you know what you have to do bro. on my old strat i used the copper foil tape stew mac sells. you could use regular foil and spray adhesive, but since it's a real LP classic i would use the good stuff.

i think that's wrong. shielding reduces the type of buzz that DOESN'T go away when you touch the strings (the buzz that's constantly there).
we know its a grounding problem because the noise goes away when he touches the strings

 

[Jessie's ghost]

Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!

Also, I just cut the bridge ground in my LP100, and the noise Dali has sounds a lot like the noise my guitar has… which goes away when I reconnect the bridge wire.

I measured the DC resistance of my bridge ground. Between the stop-bar and the sleeve of the output jack, 24 ohms. After cutting the ground where it solders to the volume pot, "1 - -" meaning open-circuit. You can measure this with a simple multimeter, with the guitar sitting unplugged by itself, without even taking any covers off.

The cavity on that guitar has some kind of black paint that might be conductive. I noticed that I'd covered the inside of the plastic cover in copper tape, overlapped and soldered the joints. (Sometimes I do that because I'm bored. Go figure.) Having it on or off didn't make a lick of difference. I used to think I had to shield the pickup cavities in my guitars. Eventually I did it with my RG550. All it did was make the thing sound a little duller.

 

[rumblebox]

Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!

i think that's wrong. shielding reduces the type of buzz that DOESN'T go away when you touch the strings (the buzz that's constantly there).
we know its a grounding problem because the noise goes away when he touches the strings

we'll see what happens if he fully shields it.