My Les Paul is noisy! Video!
- Thread starter The Dali
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J
Jessie's ghost
Guest
Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!
Did he measure the bridge-output resistance with the ground wire cut? Because it's time to stop assuming things.
Did he measure the bridge-output resistance with the ground wire cut? Because it's time to stop assuming things.
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Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!
dude.... the humming stops when he touches the strings. IT IS NOT THE BRIDGE GROUND. it cannot possibly get anymore apparent that the bridge ground is not the problem. 100%. the ground problem is somewhere else in the wiring.
normally i would say try another cable, or try another amp. or maybe you have neon lighting or something. but it goes whisper quiet when he touches the strings, and all his other guitars are quiet.
so we are 100% sure this particular guitar has a ground issue.
and i'm 100% sure it's not the bridge ground, because it goes quiet when you touch the strings.
i dont know how to make it anymore clear that should be marked off the list of things to check.... again.
dude.... the humming stops when he touches the strings. IT IS NOT THE BRIDGE GROUND. it cannot possibly get anymore apparent that the bridge ground is not the problem. 100%. the ground problem is somewhere else in the wiring.
normally i would say try another cable, or try another amp. or maybe you have neon lighting or something. but it goes whisper quiet when he touches the strings, and all his other guitars are quiet.
so we are 100% sure this particular guitar has a ground issue.
and i'm 100% sure it's not the bridge ground, because it goes quiet when you touch the strings.
i dont know how to make it anymore clear that should be marked off the list of things to check.... again.
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J
Jessie's ghost
Guest
Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!
I'm out. Good luck.
I'm out. Good luck.
Chickenwings
Alnico 6/8
Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!
i dont know where rumblebox learned his wiring ideas from, but given that pretty well everyone else who has posted on this thread has stated the exact opposite of what hes suggesting should at least be a hint that maybe hes got it backwards.
This is just a routine string/bridge ground issue.
If your strings are grounded correctly via the bridge then you would not have the hum. When you touch the strings it is your body that is acting as the earth connection. What you need is a wire that connects your string to ground directly, rather than having your body do it. There is probably one already installed on your guitar, but its clearly not doing its job.
Quite a few guys have already mentioned that's what you need to check. If you have a wire running from the bridge to ground, then it is most likely shorted somewhere or the solder join is inadequate. If you are not prepared to reconnect the birdge stud to a new ground wire, then just take it to a tech and get them to do it for you.
i dont know where rumblebox learned his wiring ideas from, but given that pretty well everyone else who has posted on this thread has stated the exact opposite of what hes suggesting should at least be a hint that maybe hes got it backwards.
This is just a routine string/bridge ground issue.
If your strings are grounded correctly via the bridge then you would not have the hum. When you touch the strings it is your body that is acting as the earth connection. What you need is a wire that connects your string to ground directly, rather than having your body do it. There is probably one already installed on your guitar, but its clearly not doing its job.
Quite a few guys have already mentioned that's what you need to check. If you have a wire running from the bridge to ground, then it is most likely shorted somewhere or the solder join is inadequate. If you are not prepared to reconnect the birdge stud to a new ground wire, then just take it to a tech and get them to do it for you.
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J
Jessie's ghost
Guest
Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!
(God, I had to stick my head in the door on my way to the water fountain.)
Okay. The human body is a big bag of water-filled tissues and conductive electrolytes. We are constantly picking up and shedding electrical charge. On average, we are pretty neutral on the +/- voltage thing. Also, our sheer mass makes us able to sink a fair amount of charge (not at high currents or anything, but significant for the purposes of this discussion). Ever get shocked by static electricity? That's you and some piece of metal (or maybe another person, etc.) trading electrical charge and getting back to zero (more or less).
Don't believe it? Try this:
1.) Take a guitar cable and plug one end into an amp, but keep the other end free.
2.) Turn on the amp and dial up a decent amount of gain -- enough that you hear noise through the amp without touching the cable.
3.) Pick up the cable and touch the different parts of the 1/4" plug. Press on the tip with your finger. Loud, huh? Now press good and hard on the sleeve (ground). Does it maybe get quieter?
4.) Now touch the tip of the cable to a ground on the inside of a guitar cavity. Or some random thing like the grounded chassis of a stereo component. Or a metal filing cabinet. See what happens.
5.) Then see what those various ground points do with the sleeve on the guitar cable.
I don't claim to know everything about guitar wiring, but dude, this is real.
(God, I had to stick my head in the door on my way to the water fountain.)
Okay. The human body is a big bag of water-filled tissues and conductive electrolytes. We are constantly picking up and shedding electrical charge. On average, we are pretty neutral on the +/- voltage thing. Also, our sheer mass makes us able to sink a fair amount of charge (not at high currents or anything, but significant for the purposes of this discussion). Ever get shocked by static electricity? That's you and some piece of metal (or maybe another person, etc.) trading electrical charge and getting back to zero (more or less).
Don't believe it? Try this:
1.) Take a guitar cable and plug one end into an amp, but keep the other end free.
2.) Turn on the amp and dial up a decent amount of gain -- enough that you hear noise through the amp without touching the cable.
3.) Pick up the cable and touch the different parts of the 1/4" plug. Press on the tip with your finger. Loud, huh? Now press good and hard on the sleeve (ground). Does it maybe get quieter?
4.) Now touch the tip of the cable to a ground on the inside of a guitar cavity. Or some random thing like the grounded chassis of a stereo component. Or a metal filing cabinet. See what happens.
5.) Then see what those various ground points do with the sleeve on the guitar cable.
I don't claim to know everything about guitar wiring, but dude, this is real.
Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!
(i couldnt resist either)
everything you just said was right, but you're not understanding what i'm saying.
yes your body acts as a giant ground, but disconnect your bridge ground and see if you can make the buzz quieter by touching the strings or bridge... nothing will happen.
without a ground wire going to your bridge, there is no pathway for your body to ground the guitar unless you touch a pickup or jack directly.
the OP gets rid of all his unwanted noise by touching the strings, simply ruling out the bridge ground as the problem. the ground problem is somewhere else. possibly a bad jack, bad pot, cold solder that came loose from a pot, etc etc.
if all the guitar's primary grounds were excelent, the bridge ground wouldnt make such a huge difference as it currently does by touching it.
my MH350 originally had EMGs, so it didnt come with a bridge ground. but even with with passives i didnt need a bridge ground until i put P-Rails in it on P90 mode. so i installed a bridge ground, and all the buzzing went away when i touched the strings. i think of it as a band-aid for mediocre primary grounding really.
(i couldnt resist either)
everything you just said was right, but you're not understanding what i'm saying.
yes your body acts as a giant ground, but disconnect your bridge ground and see if you can make the buzz quieter by touching the strings or bridge... nothing will happen.
without a ground wire going to your bridge, there is no pathway for your body to ground the guitar unless you touch a pickup or jack directly.
the OP gets rid of all his unwanted noise by touching the strings, simply ruling out the bridge ground as the problem. the ground problem is somewhere else. possibly a bad jack, bad pot, cold solder that came loose from a pot, etc etc.
if all the guitar's primary grounds were excelent, the bridge ground wouldnt make such a huge difference as it currently does by touching it.
my MH350 originally had EMGs, so it didnt come with a bridge ground. but even with with passives i didnt need a bridge ground until i put P-Rails in it on P90 mode. so i installed a bridge ground, and all the buzzing went away when i touched the strings. i think of it as a band-aid for mediocre primary grounding really.
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J
Jessie's ghost
Guest
Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!
Ah, I understand you now.
I really wish I had that Wildkat; maybe it had the same problem that the OP's guitar has.
I'm doing some stuff with the LP100 now that's pretty interesting. The tailpiece-ground measurement is about 1.1 ohms now, and it's a lot more effective at quieting noise. But now when I remove the ground wire and touch the strings, that little high-frequency buzz that used to go away, well it isn't even there now.
Learning every day.
Ah, I understand you now.
I really wish I had that Wildkat; maybe it had the same problem that the OP's guitar has.
I'm doing some stuff with the LP100 now that's pretty interesting. The tailpiece-ground measurement is about 1.1 ohms now, and it's a lot more effective at quieting noise. But now when I remove the ground wire and touch the strings, that little high-frequency buzz that used to go away, well it isn't even there now.
Learning every day.
Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!
Well, at least we all agree that it is a grounding issue. If we can't determine (or agree on) WHERE the ground is defective, then the OP needs to start at the beginning and physically check and redo every single ground connection, leaving nothing out. Not theorizing that a particular connection must be good because (insert "yada, yada yada"), therefore I don't need to redo that connection, ...but redo EVERY connection.
Either that, or just send the guitar to me. I don't mind noisy guitars...I play P-90's.
Well, at least we all agree that it is a grounding issue. If we can't determine (or agree on) WHERE the ground is defective, then the OP needs to start at the beginning and physically check and redo every single ground connection, leaving nothing out. Not theorizing that a particular connection must be good because (insert "yada, yada yada"), therefore I don't need to redo that connection, ...but redo EVERY connection.
Either that, or just send the guitar to me. I don't mind noisy guitars...I play P-90's.
ImmortalSix
John Mayer's Mankini
Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!
The Dali
MeltedClockologist
Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!
Hi everyone. I just returned from the guitar tech and I have some news...
The guitar grounded. It is NOT, NOT an issue with the bridge ground. He went over the guitar and he believes that the excess noise is coming from the control wires from the selector switch through the body to the jack. The guy who wired it didn't use shielded wires.
Furthermore, he emphatically stated that if you touch the strings of the guitar and the noise goes away that means that the guitar is grounded.
He gave me some shielded control wire and I'm going to replace the extisting wire from the switch to the jack and see if that does the trick.
Hi everyone. I just returned from the guitar tech and I have some news...
The guitar grounded. It is NOT, NOT an issue with the bridge ground. He went over the guitar and he believes that the excess noise is coming from the control wires from the selector switch through the body to the jack. The guy who wired it didn't use shielded wires.
Furthermore, he emphatically stated that if you touch the strings of the guitar and the noise goes away that means that the guitar is grounded.
He gave me some shielded control wire and I'm going to replace the extisting wire from the switch to the jack and see if that does the trick.
J
Jessie's ghost
Guest
Re: My Les Paul is noisy! Video!
Wow. That's a lot of distance to have unshielded wire. Try getting copper foil tape in there.
Looks like I've been wrong, for a good number of years, about how the bridge ground works. Now that I "get" it, I think I'm going to try some new stuff with my next wiring project. :friday:
Wow. That's a lot of distance to have unshielded wire. Try getting copper foil tape in there.
Looks like I've been wrong, for a good number of years, about how the bridge ground works. Now that I "get" it, I think I'm going to try some new stuff with my next wiring project. :friday:
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