Static crackling in the pick guard

Micah

Micah

New member
Hey guys--Im getting this static crackling in the pick guard of me tele and my SG whenever I rub my fingers accross the plastic. Ive read some stuff about sheilding the under side of the guard with copper and then grounding that to the one of the pots, and Ive even heard people say to ground the screws that mount the pickup to ground. I tried grounding the SG to the screws and nothing worked until I removed the copper from under the screws. Any suggestions out there on how I could get rid of the cracking on both of these guitars? BTW, the neck quite a bit as well, but its not mounted to the pick guard, but to the body.
 
Re: Static crackling in the pick guard

Wipe it down with a Downy Fabric Softener pad. You know: one of those little pink sheets you toss in the clothes drier. That'll fix it right up. Lew
 
Re: Static crackling in the pick guard

;) Do you do that everytime you play it?? I could do that, I was looking for more of a permenant solution to it. How does one discharge this static before it gets to the pickup?? I have an EPI SG without a pick-guard and it doesnt do it @ all. But the Gibson SG and Tele both have pick guards and they crackle like a mother especially when Im playing clean stuff. Functionaly I could remove the tele guard because the neck pickup is mounted to the wood, but it would look like crap.. The SG guard mounts the pickups to the guitar, so thats not an option. So really, Im just trying to figure out how to get this static energy to go to ground a way that is differnt than through the pickup. Any suggestions? I cant be the only one that has this issue.. :scratchch:banghead:
 
Re: Static crackling in the pick guard

I told you what to do. Just do it. You don't have to do it every time you play.

And either leave your shoes on or take your socks off when you're playing your guitar at home and shuffling around on the carpet... :1:

Lew
 
Re: Static crackling in the pick guard

Haha! You crack me up! :joke: Are you just wiping the pick guard down or the whole guitar? I live the smell of fabric softener so thats a big plus 4 me ;) Ok-I'll give that a try, but, if there is anyone out there that has found a permenant solution to this issue-please share the wealth!
 
Re: Static crackling in the pick guard

I've had pretty good luck attaching aluminum foil to the backside of the pickguard using spray adhesive. I let all of the pickup and pickguard screws touch the aluminum, too.
 
Re: Static crackling in the pick guard

i recently shielded my les paul, and i know how annoying that static is, so i hope this info will be of some help.
what you want to do is create a faraday cage.

To get rid of static, use copper tape to cover the inside of the pickguard, as well as the insides of the cavity. Make sure you have 'lips' extended out from the cavity so that when the PG is installed, it'll make contact. Theoretically, the pots should ground by contact with the foil. But if not, it is why there is a wire attached from the copper tape to the potentiometer. You should go to stewmac.com and look up materials. There should even be a tutorial there.

Hope this helps some.
 
Re: Static crackling in the pick guard

benji657 said:
i recently shielded my les paul, and i know how annoying that static is, so i hope this info will be of some help.
what you want to do is create a faraday cage.

To get rid of static, use copper tape to cover the inside of the pickguard, as well as the insides of the cavity. Make sure you have 'lips' extended out from the cavity so that when the PG is installed, it'll make contact. Theoretically, the pots should ground by contact with the foil. But if not, it is why there is a wire attached from the copper tape to the potentiometer. You should go to stewmac.com and look up materials. There should even be a tutorial there.

Hope this helps some.
Click to expand...

Great info! Hey--What Ive got in there now is a sheet of solid copper which is loose (and an absolute pain to deal with when changing pickups). I have it cut to fit the entire surface of the underside of the pick guard and all of the guard mounting screws go through it into the wood. I cut around the pickups holes, and I have a wire soldered to the sheet of copper (thicker than aluminum foil btw) and grounded to one of the volume pots. I tried running the pickup mounting screws through the copper (which is grounded) but I get no sound. Aparently Im shorting the circuit by doing this, eliminating the pots to ground. So, I cut around the mounting screws and voila-I get the pickups back. Anyway, its still crackling... So do you think that its the fact that the sheet isnt adhered to the guard? Or the fact that I dont have the pickup cavity sheilded with copper tape?

It would be nice to be able to adhere that sheet to the guard so its not flopping all over when I take the guard off and to get rid of the wire and just use copper to make contact when the guard is secured.

I really appreciate your help--as you mentioned, this is REALLY anoying!!
 
Re: Static crackling in the pick guard

Albochic said:
I've had pretty good luck attaching aluminum foil to the backside of the pickguard using spray adhesive. I let all of the pickup and pickguard screws touch the aluminum, too.
Click to expand...

Aluminum foil would have been allot cheaper than a roll of this copper stuff for 10 bucks! Is aluminum a conductor?? For some reson I thought it wasnt, but I could be wrong.
 
Re: Static crackling in the pick guard

Save yourself a lot of work and just wipe that pickguard down with a fabric softener pad and see if that cures it.

This kind of problem is a playing at home in your stocking feet and shuffling around on the bedroom carpet while playing your guitar problem though.

Creates a static charge and the vinyl in your pickguard reacts to that static charge caused by shuffling around on the bedroom carpet in your stocking feet while playing your guitar.

Did I mention that it's caused by shuffling around on the carpet in your stocking feet while playing your guitar? :)

Lew
 
Re: Static crackling in the pick guard

Lewguitar said:
Save yourself a lot of work and just wipe that pickguard down with a fabric softener pad and see if that cures it.

This kind of problem is a playing at home in your stocking feet and shuffling around on the bedroom carpet while playing your guitar problem though.

Creates a static charge and the vinyl in your pickguard reacts to that static charge caused by shuffling around on the bedroom carpet in your stocking feet while playing your guitar.

Did I mention that it's caused by shuffling around on the carpet in your stocking feet while playing your guitar? :)

Lew
Click to expand...


I hear you man-but, it also happens when Im wearing shoes and playing out. I wish it was just while playing @ home on the carpet ;)
 
Re: Static crackling in the pick guard

I'm leaning towards a grounding issue as the source of this problem. The first thing I would check would be a spike protector/power conditioner if you use one. The second would be the earth ground on your amp/effects. Lew's dryer sheet remedy should work unless the shielding on the back of your pick guard has electrical potential...that would indicate a ground problem.
 
Re: Static crackling in the pick guard

glassman said:
I'm leaning towards a grounding issue as the source of this problem. The first thing I would check would be a spike protector/power conditioner if you use one. The second would be the earth ground on your amp/effects. Lew's dryer sheet remedy should work unless the shielding on the back of your pick guard has electrical potential...that would indicate a ground problem.
Click to expand...

Interesting that you say that-- But, when I think about it, Ive brought my guitar into music stores and tried amps out and it does the same thing. It particularly happens when I rub my hand accross the pick guard. I will probably order some tape and try to do the entire guitar-- Rigt now Im just sheilding the guitar and it could be going through the bridge or something. Again, it happens on the SG and Tele-but not on the Epi SG without a pick-guard.
 
Re: Static crackling in the pick guard

I notice you have a problem with static crackle from your pick guard... The easiest cure I know and it is years old, is to rub washing-up liquid on the guard, let it dry then polish it off. But the best cure is not to rest your fingers on the guard and thats not always easy. Hope it works for you,,, Good luck...
 
Re: Static crackling in the pick guard

dude
look at the date of the post before yours

welcome to the forum
 
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