Why am i getting an electric shock from my guitar?

S

SepultuRick

New member
hi, i wonder if anyone can suggest why i am getting a small but quite painful electric shock from my guitar strings when i have my guitar plugged into my roland micro cube and the cube plugged into my laptop via the record out. It only seems to happen when i have the bridge humbucker selected aswell.

any suggestions? bare in mind it only happens when plugged into the cube record out and when the bridge pickup is selected. thanks
 
Re: Why am i getting an electric shock from my guitar?

well they are "electric" guitars...?


Sorry I had to...
 
Re: Why am i getting an electric shock from my guitar?

Try another electric socket (preferably in another building) Chances are the electric socket is wired incorrectly. (Call a Electrician) If it happens where ever you plug in? (Call a Amp Tech)
 
Re: Why am i getting an electric shock from my guitar?

Also try plugging both the laptop and the a,p into the same recepticle if they aren't already.
 
Re: Why am i getting an electric shock from my guitar?

Happens to me too, but only when I touch my computer... Could have something to do with the fact that my computer is made of aluminum though...

Basic electricity. Electric tries to go from one source to the ground at all times. I may be wrong, but I might assume that your laptop is the source. The electricity goes from the laptop to your amp to your guitar to you to the ground. All that is happening is that you're letting yourself be a part of the electricity's current to the ground.

Like in my case, the electricity uses me as a medium between the laptop and the guitar.

I could be backwards by using the laptop as the source though.

How to fix it? Go acoustic.
 
Re: Why am i getting an electric shock from my guitar?

Yah... some kinda grounding weirdness 'fer sure.

Your only getting zapped with the bridge pickup though? Ehhhhh.... that doesn't make a whole lotta sense. The ground is to the strings & bridge...it doesn't care which pickup is selected.

If the amps direct out is causing the shocks you could try lifting the ground on the audio cable that's running between the A/D converter and amp...

Or, use a microphone!
 
Re: Why am i getting an electric shock from my guitar?

timorousme said:
Happens to me too, but only when I touch my computer... Could have something to do with the fact that my computer is made of aluminum though...

Basic electricity. Electric tries to go from one source to the ground at all times. I may be wrong, but I might assume that your laptop is the source. The electricity goes from the laptop to your amp to your guitar to you to the ground. All that is happening is that you're letting yourself be a part of the electricity's current to the ground.

Like in my case, the electricity uses me as a medium between the laptop and the guitar.

I could be backwards by using the laptop as the source though.

How to fix it? Go acoustic.
Click to expand...

This has happened a few times with my macbook, but if i change electrical outlets it stops, its a grounding issue.
 
Re: Why am i getting an electric shock from my guitar?

I use a Macbook too. The 15.4" Macbook Pro. Which do you use?

Yes, I am a big giant Mac fag.
 
Re: Why am i getting an electric shock from my guitar?

Happened to me. KMC is right. Basically your amp isn't grounded properly, which probably means you're not plugging into a 3 prong (or the amp doens't have a 3 prong plug). If the amp has a three prong plug, and you're plugging it into a grounded socket, take it to a tech.

You can die from this, so don't be stupid. I was lucky, and only got a few burns.
 
Re: Why am i getting an electric shock from my guitar?

bigalthethird said:
Happened to me. KMC is right. Basically your amp isn't grounded properly, which probably means you're not plugging into a 3 prong (or the amp doens't have a 3 prong plug). If the amp has a three prong plug, and you're plugging it into a grounded socket, take it to a tech.

You can die from this, so don't be stupid. I was lucky, and only got a few burns.
Click to expand...

It more likely means the outlet is miswired than it means that the amp is defective. THe former is the much more common cause of such issues, and the main reason that ANY gigging musician should own an outlet tester and use it religiously.

The outlet is either 100% ok, or it won´t be used. Anything else is essentially suicide ;)
 
Re: Why am i getting an electric shock from my guitar?

Zerberus said:
It more likely means the outlet is miswired than it means that the amp is defective. THe former is the much more common cause of such issues, and the main reason that ANY gigging musician should own an outlet tester and use it religiously.

The outlet is either 100% ok, or it won´t be used. Anything else is essentially suicide ;)
Click to expand...
:clap::werd: Ask Keith Relf.
 
Re: Why am i getting an electric shock from my guitar?

Zerberus said:
It more likely means the outlet is miswired than it means that the amp is defective. THe former is the much more common cause of such issues, and the main reason that ANY gigging musician should own an outlet tester and use it religiously.

The outlet is either 100% ok, or it won´t be used. Anything else is essentially suicide ;)
Click to expand...

Actually I was thinking this as well, but I didn't type it. The outlet's ground could've gotten messed up somehow. That's what happened in my case. The amo could be the problem to, but Zerbafus is probably right that the outlet is just busted.
 
Re: Why am i getting an electric shock from my guitar?

It happened to me too when I was jamming in a friend's basement many years ago. It was the room wiring that did it.
 
Re: Why am i getting an electric shock from my guitar?

Does it happem when running the Roland Micro Cube from the internal batteries versus plugging it in via the wall-wart?

Is the cherger/AC adapter for your laptop 2 or 3 prong?
 
Last edited:
Re: Why am i getting an electric shock from my guitar?

Another of the reasons I use a wireless...

I can't get a shock if I'm not "connected" to the amp... ;)
 
Re: Why am i getting an electric shock from my guitar?

Zerberus said:
It more likely means the outlet is miswired than it means that the amp is defective. THe former is the much more common cause of such issues, and the main reason that ANY gigging musician should own an outlet tester and use it religiously.

The outlet is either 100% ok, or it won´t be used. Anything else is essentially suicide ;)
Click to expand...

Truth.

But he's talking about a zap from the computer > amp > strings...

Most likely it's a VERY low voltage... if it was a full 120 volts AC coming up the line & through the amp... then there'd be all kinds of buzz & noise. Enough that the rig wouldn't be playable.

THAT would have the potential to be leathel. This sounds like it's more annoying then anything else...
 
Re: Why am i getting an electric shock from my guitar?

bert123 said:
Does it happem when running the Roland Micro Cube from the internal batteries versus plugging it in via the wall-wart?

Is the cherger/AC adapter for your laptop 2 or 3 prong?
Click to expand...

everyone i use is 3 pronged. I live in the uk. I am going to do a few experiments to see if i can single out the cause.

The bridge pickup has recently been fitted and i have only recently started plugging the micro cueb straight into the laptop. i guess i just need to be careful for now and try to find out what it is
 
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