How to fix Ground Noise | Guitar Tech Tips | Ep. 8 | Thomann

[@garygrinkevich6971]

Just spent an afternoon trying to search for a ground problem and the buzz was because i have the amp plugged into a power strip with 2 computers, an A/C and a lamp turned on. i'm posting this to save someone in the future - check your external connections first and work inward from the outside starting with the jack first, it may save you a bit of effort with disassembly and reassembly.

[@oneandonlyarajivp]

Hi Gary. My amp is plugged into a similar situation, a power extension with my macbook, an adaptor for my overdrive pedal daisy chain, a toothbrush charger and some other appliance. Is this bad and what could be causing my guitar hum and if so why? Also any suggestion on what I could do here please? Thanks

[@garygrinkevich6971]

@@oneandonlyarajivp no worries dood just unplug it all and see if it helps might have to borrow a grounded outlet from a neighbor if possible use a grounded 3 pronged extension, also somtimes the internals on a laptop can buzz and whir, if you can run the toothbrush off a battery that may help isolate grounding as well. Damn noisey wall pixies

[@generalawareness101]

I am stumped because everything has continuity but if I touch the strings, or any metallic piece on my guitar, the hum goes away. I checked the ground from the wire to the amp to the input jack then the output jack of the guitar to all metal pieces. Every single point had continuity. I am stumped.

[@garygrinkevich6971]

@@generalawareness101 check your grounds again, and maybe the output jack sometimes they need to be bent to make contact firmly with the cable. Ive had bad solder joints that read good until i tightened the jack into the body cavity and the contacts would pull loose, also you're wires could have a bad connection. Godspeed.

[@generalawareness101]

@@garygrinkevich6971 I wouldn't put it past having bad wires from the rat's nest I saw in the guitar. Squier Bullet Mustang, and the Squier Fat Strat I own does not have the issue, so it is guitar related for sure. I will have to give it a complete look over when I replace my guitar nut (been in my city for a week now but USPS keeps saying arriving late so may be lost/stolen/broken).

[@jpiatt70]

I would like to make a small suggestion. The Continuity setting you used on the multimeter is actually a diode checker. It is applying voltage and the reading that is displayed is the voltage in which the diode biased and allowed continuity. Diode checkers will ‘Ring’ up to 40 ohms. If you are still having trouble locating the problem switch to ohms and see which component is reading high. This could save you from reflowing every solder joint.

[@jedunboxing4127]

is there a way to make it quieter like putting capacitor or something or resistor ,not sure im not electrician

[@DoctorTemblor]

​@@jedunboxing4127 what do you need to make quieter?

[@mefirst4266]

NO! HUM ARE ALWAYS AN IMBALLANCE. CAPS WILL CHANGE THE SOUND OF A PICKUP. AND RESISTOR DOES NOTHING TO IT. AT HD YOU CAN BUY ALUMINUM TAPE IN THE DUCT ISLE. USE THAT TO PUT IN ALL THE CAVITIES AND BEHING THE PICK GUARD. NOW A BLOWN CAP CAN CAUSE HUM ALTHOUGH I DO NOT KNOW HOW YOU WOULD BLOW ONE ON A GUITAR THAT HAS VERY LOW CURRENT. PS. YOU NEED A GOOD SOLDERING IRON. AND PRACTICE USING IT SOLDERING WIRES TOGETHER. I USE 800 DEGREES F AND VERY SHORT TIME. AND CLEAN ALL PART YOU ARE GOING TO SOLDER WITH SMALL WIRE WHEEL AN THEN CLEAN WITH ACETONE. NOT ALCOHOL

[@diegogarza11]

Hey! I'm trying to fix my guitar and saw your comment. When using the multimeter every component in my guitar 'rings', every component other than the toggle switch, which gives me readings of around 400 ohms when connecting it against any other component in my guitar. Following your comment, this narrows down the issue to the toggle switch, but to what conclusion could I get with this? a) Some cable needs to be resoldered and this should fix the issue? or b) the toggle switch is f'd up and I'd need to switch it for a new one? Just a noob here trying to learn a bit and fix my PRS :) Thanks again man.

[@jsullivan2112]

How do I know if a component is reading high?

[@jasongomez1134]

One of the most informative tips! Just got a 7 string for a steal second hand. Boy was I disappointed when I plugged it in! This solved everything! Thank you so much!

[@pchandrakant1]

I just completed my first kit build and was getting a NASTY buzz and very low signal-to-noise ratio. I checked EVERYTHING and finally, after watching this, realized I had my jack wired backwards. Thank you!

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

Haha! How cool man, congrats on building your first guitar kit! Happy to help. //cheers, Kris

[@JameMakesNoise]

Keep in mind that on some guitars the metal components connect to ground by being screw onto a shielded pickguard. So if you can't figure it why something like a jazzmaster rhythm selector switch isn't grounding, it's because it's wiring is designed to be use with a shielded pickguard. If you don't wanna shield your guitar then you may have to run another wire to the jack

[@SonicSoundofDoom]

I was having not a hum sound but lots of static coming from my amps and evening computer monitors (plugin amp). I found this video and tested my pots, all worked fine but then I tested the Jack and nothing! It was connected however the ground wire and white wire were in the opposite space they should be in. I switched them and tested as you mentioned and it worked! Now that static noise is gone. Thanks so much for this video!

[@budgetguitarherogeartv4143]

Perfect timing. Was having this issue with one of my guitars and thought it might be the pickups. Will try the steps in the video. Cheers

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

Dead mans shoes That’s really cool to hear. Good luck man! //cheers, Kris

[@Aint1S]

I don't know why I like watching people repair guitar issues... 🤔👍🏼 Forget the fact that I went to the Navy and university for electronics, I just like the videos!

[@benbush1227]

excellent lesson! and put a smile on my face... I always wondered if that type of work was only done by cranky people! nope ... theres happy ones too! great job, appreciate you.

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

Yeah man, thanks! Gotta keep the smiles. It's medicine. :) And life's so much nicer this way than complaining all the time, right? //cheers bro, Kris

[@RobTube1963]

Thanks Kris, that solved my problem with hum, what about 1 or 2 videos about wiring pickups in the right way, I guess this would help many guitar home constructors

[@tiesundanfsboi8251]

Thank you very much I’ve spent almost 3 days trying to ground my HSS strat build excellent walk through 👌👌

[@hussamjamil4980]

Hi Chris, thank you for the tip regarding the cold soldering. My 2010 Squier Bullet Strat suddenly developed that grounding issue, everything looked fine, till a closer look at the middle pickup showed some very small electrical rust. Resoldered it and problem solved, i forgot about the cold solder connection completely. Much appreciated and happy rocking!

[@eddierayvanlynch6133]

A lot of us have that one ax that's been "fixed" so many times we don't want it messed with... This helps a lot. Kudos. 👍👍👍👍👍👍😎

[@VashStarwind]

Thanks man this video helped me a lot. I just redid some wiring on my guitar and it had a horrible buzz after, and i thought i messed everything up. Turns out my input jack wires were backwards. Sounds so much better.

[@phaeded0ut]

Ran into this hum problem with my new Harley Benton RB-12CS, along with a few more fit and finish issues. The grounding issue turned out to be a soldering problem (hum showed up when the strings or bridge were not touched). Because of this guitar looking like a brand we cannot mention, I flipped the bridge saddles, octave strings and did a bit of nut-work, besides the standard setup for intonation and lowering the strings for increased playability. The frets were in dire need of dressing as my fingers came away with lots of metal dust. I also removed and replaced the tuning machines with Gotoh locking machines and Schiller strap locks. One thing to note is where on a three-way switch or five-way switch is where to place one of the probes from the multimeter. The next mod I might undertake on this guitar is to pull all of the pots and switches and use a bit higher quality copper foil on the underside of the pickguard and to leverage copper foil up to the pickguard screw holes in order to shield the cavity, too. This is a very fun guitar, by the by. Great video, thank you!

[@billpholde4816]

Thank you showing where the continuity setting is on a multimeter. It's amazing how many of these grounding/shielding demos assume everyone knows that!

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

Sure thing Bill! I know, it's unbelievable how many assume that some basics don't need any explanation. That's not very helpful. 😅 Take Care //Kris

[@thepenguimoose562]

I am dealing with this and I figured out what it was before I watched this and feel amazing, thank you for the tips and saving my sanity

[@dwarfyh32]

Great video and very clear explanation. I have just bought a used les paul and found the neck pickup volume wont turn off, my first thought was an earth problem so will check it all out.

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

Yes, it sounds like a grounding issue. Check it, solve it, play it, love it. :) That's the right order. Haha! //cheers, Kris

[@stevehightower8906]

Just purchased Katana 100 Mk II... allowed it to acclimate ( not that it was cold or wet ) before plugging in to the power. Read the manual, turned it on and all was quiet.. till I plugged in the cable ( no guitar yet ) and a loud buzz ensued. I've been searching for an answer beyond the standard plug-in point/ fluorescent lights/ ect ( all of which do not seem to apply ). It may be a lost cause on this brand new unit, but at least I now have a starting point... believing it may be a ground fault. Thanks for the well described condition/ analyzation method/ fix.

[@christianboddum8783]

Just discovered that my multimeter has continuity tester because of this video, thanks a million :-)

[@captmulch1]

I diagnosed my Fender Jazz Bass ground issue with just a 'test lead' - a wire with an alligator clip at each end (you could just use a plain piece of wire stripped at each end). I connected one end to the ground on the jack, the touched each of the pots with the other end. The hum dissapeared when I touched the forward pickup volume pot. No evidence of any wire loose, so I just soldered a new piece of wire between the jack and the volume pot. Problem fixed. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIPS!!!

[@philcollis100]

Glad I found your video: I wasted a day changing wiring on new pickups trying to get rid of the buzz - after seeing your tips I checked the output And the wires were the wrong way. Next time I’ll check that first! Thanks!

[@4stringed]

4:47 literally magic. None of my instruments are that quiet

[@keithklassen5320]

Maybe it's because you have more electrical interference in your area, or maybe it's because your power supply is more noisy, or maybe it's because your amps have their own grounding issues?

[@Adriano-do-Couto-Illustration]

A single coil guitar will also be a lot noisier than a humbucker like this one.

[@RockGuitarVibes]

Funny, that's exactly what happens to my Friedman guitar a week ago. You've explained it very well 👍

[@nazec1720]

Very very helpful! I have this issue, now all I hope for is that this will be fixed.

[@OspreyD40]

Very helpful! I had a vintage Gibson EB 3 that had inconsistent terrible racket. I couldn't figure whether the source was a bad pot, the jack... anything seemed to be able to trigger it. Tech Jon Mouradian found a loose wire, as in your video, and pointed out several cold solder joints. He resoldered all the problem areas >> perfect! Thank you.

[@BrewerShettles]

Great Video !! Guitar playing!!! - what if there is static with nothing plugged into a tube amp?

[@RobertEMason]

This video helped me trace and find a very annoying ground buzz. Your technique led me right to the solution

[@robertwiegand9927]

Awesome, on my way to home Depot to get some solder and a multimeter to fix my annoyingly buzzing Jackson. Thanks for no fluff and getting right to it in the video. Liked and subscribed.

[@Charles-fd1uj]

Just wanted to say a massive thank you, having the exact same issue thought it was something faulty with my focusrite. Found your video when I was trying to get an example of the sound to send them and what do you know, opening up the jack and I see a loose black cable. Guess I'll go pickup a soldering Iron tomorrow. Cheers for spreading the knowledge, got a subscribe from me.

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

That's awesome to hear Charles, glad you like the series. Check out the playlist, we have tons of videos already and new episodes are coming every Thursday. Cheers! //Kris

[@niklasroos]

This is one of the best instructional videos I've seen. Thank you. Will be able to fix my guitar this afternoon. Could not see any loose ground wire yesterday, but probably a bad solder joint I now will be able to identify. I actually suspect it is the same as in the video with the input jack. I didn't realize how to check it with a guitar cable before now though.

[@RekEighty]

I found a lot of times too guitars that came in for repair I worked on, loose flakes of solder had gotten lodged into areas of switches and across lugs on pots etc that were causing the issues. If no broken wires are found and everything else is checking out, look for loose bits of solder debris that might be stuck somewhere.

[@rattyguitars]

Chris, that was great! I had a buzzing sound issue with the FELSEY FLP350 (their first batch). Located it at the bridge and was a coating issue. The coating blocked the ground running through the inserts.

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

I'm glad to hear that you have it sorted out. That coating issue is something that happens every now and then unfortunately. Luckily brands learn from it and improve as fast as they see it slip through. Cheers man //Kris

[@nimaghoroubi9324]

man i love this, very new to electric guitars and this is EXACTLY what i need for my own self paced, self learning journey. thank you guys

[@theepimountainbiker6551]

Cool easy explination thanks. Need to check my grounds but I think my problem is in my pickup switch. Bridge and bridge/neck selection its fine no noise. I put it on just neck it hums like crazy ONLY WHEN TOUCHING THE STRINGS, not when Im not touching them. Never had this issue before

[@kennethh2430]

I just purchased a "Condition 2" Kramer Pacer Tiger finish from Guitar Center/Musicians Friend. Being 'Condition 2' you'd expect light scuffing at the worst. The sales rep on the phone couldn't tell me any details other that the guitar was located in their warehouse. Being just over 20% less than a new one and also not wanting to wait for a the new ones to be stocked, coupled with an easy return and a good experience with another 'Open Box' guitar, I ordered it. Got it, opened the box, inspected and I could find absolutely nothing wrong with it, other than the whammy bar doesn't want to thread on smoothly once in a while. I plugged it in, sounded great clean, added some gain...OMFG, very loud! LOL Finally popped the covers off, looked fine. Checked continuity and voila! Ground wire from the bridge had broken off at the POT. Tested again by touching until I can solder after work...noise levels are now within spec! I'm wondering if this was why someone returned it? Saved me over $150 - thanks whoever you are! And thank you for the post, Thomann and Andertons are amazing. The service you provide the States is top notch!

[@japhney]

Thank you. This was very helpful, simple, and informative.

[@OspreyD40]

Added thought: it seems that a number of people have been able to trace their issues to broken wires on the jacks. That can come from tightening a loose jack nut from the outside of the instrument without stabilizing the jack body inside the instrument, such as by taking a few minutes to remove the cavity cover plate (on solid body instruments with easily accessed control cavities) in order to hold the jack firmly, while tightening the nut on the outside. Unless the jack body is firmly prevented from rotating, tightening the outside nut rotates the whole jack, pulling on the wiring until a wire snaps. The wires are often very tiny and don't put up much resistance to being yanked. There are a couple little tools that will go into the jack from outside, press firmly on the sides of the socket to hold it firmly and allow the outer nut to be tightened without rotating the jack body. One is the String Swing CC18 tool. Easy as can be to use it.

[@swikkis]

I put Mexican Tele Stock Pickups back in my Tele myself and they work. No major hum. But I do notice a little hum when I touch the strings and when I touch the pots (Steel knobs). Is this a result of cold solder joints? I also noticed two wires originally twisted together on the tabs of the switch in a couple places but when I reinstalled the pickups I soldered them separately since my cloth wire was too stiff to twist. Could this cause a but of a hum issue (its a small amount of hum).

[@DePistolero]

Hey, thank you, yesterday I watched this video because I've been doing stuff to my old guitar a few years ago ( 10+ ) and In my blissful ignorance just switched ground and hot..... so my guitar buzzed louder than the guitar sound, so I just stashed it... and using this video I was actually able to get to the root of the problem, and to my surprise it is as quiet as the night now... extremely cheap guitar, and fender 10w old and also broken. but it is all very quiet now. Huge Thank you!!!!

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

That is awesome, glad to hear that the video helped to revive your old guitar. Cheers //Kris

[@grumblyone3334]

Well shucks! I've got a 90s JagStang that's got that EXACT issue! It also had some bad wiring from the factory, & I've been in there before, but I've had that grounding hum ever since. Very possible I botched a soldering joint, I suppose. (Sigh). Looks like I've got some more work to do! Thanks for the insight!

[@dart9692]

When i opened my jack input the wire wasn't connected LOL. Thanks for this, I didn't even suspect the jack input being the problem.

[@prodreams5594]

Your episodes made my life easier!! Thank you so much

[@michaelmattson3515]

Yes excellent process. I have a Fernandez Revolver Sustainer guitar. I have already replaced the bridge pickup with a F space Screaming Demon. Much better now. I’ve did this 8 years ago with no problems. Lately I get a hum when switching to the middle & neck position. The battery is fresh. I’m not sure where to start on this project. Any ideas? Thanks

[@bomoore9872]

Your video sounds exactly like mine. THANK YOU. Its late but im boutta check this tomorrow and see whats wrong with it, or if a wire is loose

[@danielmiller2886]

Great info! It would be worth mentioning how to isolate where the hum/buzz is coming from in your signal chain and determining if the problem is in the guitar itself or somewhere further down the line. It can drive a person mad, for sure!

[@ZacksRockingLifestyle]

Well, wouldn’t you just try plugging the guitar straight into your amp first to see if the buzz remains? If it does not, investigate signal chain. From there, start removing pedals one at a time, then two at a time, etc, until buzz source(s) in signal chain (has/have) been isolated, I’d think.

[@joelwells]

Hi, I can't figure out wether the noise I have is an issue with the building/electrics/grounding or the guitar. Ive isolated the guitar, going direct to my interface's hardware input, running on external battery (so no computer or mains plugs at all) and their was no noise. Does this mean there isn't a problem with the guitar or would I only get noise if connected to mains anyway, so could still be either? 🤯

[@cadethacker]

You are my hero. This is exactly what the issue was... but with a twist... I bought a $100 Bass off social media just as a practice bass and the issue was somebody had wired the input jack backwards. But this video literally walked me step by step and then it was obvious. I had continuity between the pot and the tip arm. So got out the iron and swapped the two eyelets on the jack.. and.. MAGIC dead silence. I owe you a beer .

[@mysnkshetri]

Great video 👍. My guitar is also having this kind of noise problem but in a complete opposite way. When I turn up the tone knob, there is noise and it stops only when i touch any of the metallic part in the guitar. If I don’t use the tone pot then there is no noise. So I checked everything and even changed new capacitor thought might be it was the capacitor coz it’s in the tone pot. But still can’t fix it. After I watched this video, I feel like maybe you can help me out. So please if you have any suggestion or instruction about my problem, it will be a big help. Thanks.

[@acousticabir]

Same here 😕

[@albertnameirakpam2860]

Prolly because your amps aren't grounded properly. I have a prs mt15 that buzzes when i dont touch my guitar. Fixed the grounding issue for the amp and the noise is gone

[@mysnkshetri]

Albert Nameirakpam kamaina semdoino amta hybirak kero? Technician manak tabudi chatri ado eina hanjan2 wiring mayam do change toura2 try tourabane sukya yadre.

[@albertnameirakpam2860]

@@mysnkshetri meitei oire haha. Loina connect touro, adei ngg guitar amp ki metallic part ama nasa ground toura touch toubada fabra yengO. If this solves your buzzing, then the amp was not grounded properly. Amp tugi 3-pin plug anouba ama chngAni or a properly grounded socket chngAni c semgede. Eig case tasu C oirmEni. Hope this helps

[@mysnkshetri]

Albert Nameirakpam haha mane Meitei ne. Amp loinamak ta chap manana noise to leiye. Guitar gi Tone, volume pot, output jack hole loina sinlagasu yengabane yadre. Capacitor louthok aga tone knob to sijinadradi keisu toude, tone knob hek on toubaga adum noise leire. Capacitor su sinlaga yenge loi chap manei.

[@taimoooooooor7594]

got have to be the most helpful video on the internet. using that DMM technique saved me plenty of time and was able to solve the problem within seconds. thanks man. SUBSCRIBING YOUR CHANNEL!!!!

[@StefanGBucher]

So great! Thank you! I don't get a connection between the bridge ad the cavity electronics. What do I do?

[@timothyward5196]

Thanks! This helped me figure out my output jack wires were reversed on a barrel jack. Helpful video

[@NessiGreenaway]

Hi Kris, thanks a lot for the video! Could you do a follow up video on connecting the shielded pickguard of a Fender offset guitar to ground? Thank you very much much.

[@pasteye1671]

Check the jack lead for continuity before condemning the output socket - if the cable is faulty, it could make it look like the fault is on the socket. Also, if you plug in and sound comes through the amp, then the socket cannot be open circuit.

[@donald-parker]

New comment on old video .... I just found a problem with my home made strat that has been bugging me for years. Somewhat intermittent but often lots of static sounds that were driving me nuts. I took the whole think apart, applied new copper tape (with conductive adhesive) to the whole pickguard (and in the process broke two leads from pickups that took me a long time to trouble shoot) and DeoxIT-ed all the pots, and all seemed to be good. Until I put the trem arm in (WIlkinson trem - very similar to Ghoto). Any touching of the trem arm caused static scratch sounds. So I used my multimeter to test continuity. Bridge, strings, everything all seemed to be grounded. But not the trem arm. I found if I screwed the arm further into the bridge and tightened the trem arm grub screw I had a good ground and all static noises went away. Which was probably me original problem all along. Lesson learned - test all grounds before trouble shooting. The problem might not even be a wire.

[@arthurwiebusch9292]

this video is perfect, straight to the point

[@jamesford8104]

Sir thank you for the video. I am having an issue with my guitar. Whenever i plug my guitar it is making hissss type noise. But when i touch strings or bridge. That noise stops. How to fix it? I hope you will answer. Thanks again.

[@grayghost832]

Mine buzzes except when I touch the metal part of the knobs on the inside of the guitar or where the jack goes in. It seems to go away when I turn the tone knob all the way down. About to check it out. Dean vendetta xm 6 string.

[@jxcreativedesign]

Did you get this solved? Mine is buzzing now except when I roll down the volume knobs too :(

[@grayghost832]

@@jxcreativedesign No unfortunately...

[@f1s2hg3]

Great show and excellent instructions for fixing your noise on electric guitar 🎸

[@musicbill]

Im working on a squire Tele and it has a loud buzz and it gets louder when I touch it.What would cause that?

[@herrunsinn774]

I have a "Cordoba GK Pro Negra" (nylon sting) with a "Fishman Prefix Pro Blend" acoustic pickup. I bought it in 2015, so it's now 6 years old. Late last week, it developed a hum when plugged into my amp. The hum get worse, the closer my hand came to the piezo and would go away if I would touch the outside ring of the guitar plug socket (the "strap button" on the bottom of the guitar). This told me it was a grounding issue. So make a long story short, I took it to a repair shop and the repair person predicted it wasn't a loose ground wire, but rather a bad piezo. He said over the years he has NEVER (excuse the caps) seen a Fishman pickup that eventually didn't have a failing piezo in it. It's just part of "doing business" with a Fishman pickup. It turned out he was right. He replaced the piezo and the guitar was once again right as rain. The cost wasn't too bad... at €70 for the replacement piezo and €30 to install it. I only mention this because this video focuses on dedicated electric guitars... but acoustic guitars (with pickups) can also have grounding issues. If you have one with a Fishman pickup, don't overlook the high probability that a faulty piezo is the culprit... and not a broken or loose ground wire.

[@frostedhead]

I get grounding noise when I take my hands off the strings? How do I fix that?

[@deostar2009]

I think it might be your bridge and strings that are not grounded properly.

[@Ulquiorful]

Found a solution?

[@deostar2009]

Hell it might be the shielding of the hole guitar that's bad and not the bridge and strings, sorry my fingers didn't wrote correctly what i was thinking on my other comment =)

[@guitarsnstuff4810]

It could just be 60 cycle hum witch is caused by frequencies from electromagnetic interference if you playing high gain with a single coil pickup it’s bound to happen or sometimes if you have enough gain with a hum bucker it can still happen Solution 1 find your sweet spot What I mean by that is point the guitar in different directions around the room and if you stop hearing hum that’s your sweet spot Solution 2 use foil to block interference This is something that’s better shown so I can’t really explain it Problem/solution 3 this will coast money and it’s not always the problem but it will benifite your guitar in general Your pots have gone bad This especially happens when you do a lot of sauntering the heating and cooling of the pots can destroy them and that’s a cause of 60 cycle hum Solution 4 get a noise suppressor This is a pedal that you can get that cancels out 60 cycle hum but you can also loose a lot of sustain and when using a lot of gain your going to put the resistance really high and sometimes it will make a really strange noise

[@boimesa8190]

@@guitarsnstuff4810 how to fix it?

[@meouicmoi]

Hi, thanks for the nice video but what about if the humming sound comes when the hands are not touching the guitar? In my case It is completely silent when i hold the guitar firmly. It's a kind of opposite from the problem you describe. I am using a looper pedal so i need my guitar on me when i play drums but it makes a lot of noise (humming) when i don't touch a metal part. My guitar is only few month old, i really don't get it. Any solution? Thanks in advance, Thierry

[@charlesjoy3091]

Try shielding the guitar electronics !

[@brCharlieNagy]

Great video thanks. So the black plate of the pickup should be grounded, too, right ?

[@arnolddealiii4259]

How about a set of Humbuckers that are noisy but I got a prewired hardness by Emerson Custom. Guitar is super noisy when the strings aren’t touched to complete the ground. Bad shielding maybe? It’s the Les Paul in my profile picture.

[@robertkelly3357]

I have something similar. Loud noise until I touch my LP’s strings/bridge. On the other hand, my strat single coils, makes no noise if I connect it. It happens on all 4 of my amps, in any room of my house. In addition, I took it to my local guitar center and tried it on different amps, but no noise problem. So it’s peculiar to my house.

[@bharathguitarsounds7995]

Iam facing this on my passive pickup used on acoustic guitar. Cannot open it up. Any means to fix it?

[@justinTime077]

Break open the guitar with an axe

[@Fernandorivasc]

Wow, ypu made my day I was trying to get rid of the ground noise in my 1999 godin radiator and turned out to be just this problem, the jack was wired backwards. Thanks man

[@Delectatio]

Each time I turn on distortion pedal I feel like my guitar turns into a radio - sometimes I can hear some phrases from movies or TV shows someone watches in the neighboring apartment. When I touch the strings (or cable, or the pedal) the noise disappears (almost).

[@alexnuzzi4780]

You saved me a trip to my tech! I put new pickups in my Jackson rr1 and couldn’t figure out my ground problem. After getting a multimeter with continuity I found the problem in five minutes. Coated springs!!!! 🤦‍♂️

[@hemantogoswami2841]

How to fix ground noise of an Fishman pick up, fixed in a nylon string guitar. Can you suggest? I will appreciate

[@PISSEDOFF-MADABOUTIT60]

Yo great work that color on your ax was nice color. I am going it guitar repairs at the age of 58 and I am going in cold with the knowledge of what I know from the early 80' and what I now in between that time my career has been in cooking. Videos like your make sense of it all. I have Ibanez I was lining the pocket with foil for a shield and it worked pretty well the humming is very low andI used elmer's glue to keep the foil in place. I ask you like I do others can you look in to the things that cause house wiring like that because ONCE I moved my gear I to my BASEMENT I lost a lot of the humming problems.

[@wildskel6350]

Great video-all I need to do now is to grow two more arms so I can solder properly. I just never got the knack!

[@valmarin4260]

0:53 SOS in morse code lol

[@danmanning6759]

Thanks, this video really helped! "The bare wire is ground, and connects to the barrell of the cable" was what I needed... Sure enough, I had wired up the jack backwards 😋

[@mustafaalpcigman4110]

Could the same issue be also causing minor electrical shocks from the guitar to your body? I have this exact same problem with my two basses (time to see a tech) and I also feel like I’m getting little continuous electric shocks while I’m playing. Could the problem also be just the grounding of the house’s electrical system?

[@doogliebop]

Sounds like your strings and/or bridge isn't grounded properly. I connect my bridge ground to the output ground terminal. I also inserted a small screw in the cavity, soldiered a ground wire to it, and the other end of the wire to the back of my volume pot. Then connect all the back of the pots to one another. Now your pots all have a common ground and grounds from start to finish of your signal.

[@neuropacker]

Excellent instruction. Am looking forward to viewing more of your videos.

[@azt3ca]

Great video! Kris, I have a question: I recently noticed that all my shielded guitars seem to have less top end. In a Tokai I own, at fist I thought it was the pickups... Swapped them for a set I already had and was quite familiar with.. and nothing. Then I thought it was maybe the pots and capacitors... swapped them for another set I already had and was familiar with and nothing again. Could it be the shielding paint? The guitar is absurdly well shielded, up to the point that there's literally no hum whatsoever regardless of distortion. If so, can I sand the shielding paint off? Thanks a bunch.

[@Nick_Tamburri]

At 2:48 In the video when you were checking the ground for the jack... Was the cord plugged into anything or was it just a random cord you just brought over for it?

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

Hey, the cable was plugged into the guitar's output jack as seen at 2:59. The cable you use for testing has to be connected with the guitar otherwise you can't test continuity. Cheers //Kris

[@debeatz8314]

Brilliant video, helped me fix it even without the tester tool

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

That's awesome! Glad to hear that! //Kris

[@petestewart2701]

Thanks Kris. My problem is exactly that. Cheap soldering kit ordered!

[@BOFFKA86]

Got a question) If my guitar stops making noise when I touch the strings? Is it cold solder or I need shielding?

[@BartPlanting]

From what I've read that would be shielding. Would be great to see a video on this channel as well regarding that topic. My Harley Benton bass suffers from it

[@andrexskin]

Did you guys solve it? My guitar has an high frequency noise that stops when I touch a string

[@luzukogobozi7122]

I have the same problem on my bass...

[@havoc2431]

Guys any solution?

[@BOFFKA86]

@@havoc2431 foil shielding helped, but there's still some noise when not touching.

[@PooNinja]

Electricity loves the Earth... it’s always trying to get to ground.

[@PooNinja]

Cold solder often looks ok when it’s totally not! Just reflow and your good to go.

[@gregparker8349]

Kind of...Electricity doesn’t want to get to ground necessarily it wants to get back to its source, it uses the ground as a means for that

[@woolofmana8644]

@@gregparker8349 what's its source??

[@Vigilante311]

It also loves giving me a brain aneurysm when trying to fix it

[@PooNinja]

@@Vigilante311 awe the joys of intermittent failures 🤬

[@X9Eric]

Thank you so much Kris this is a great video!

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

Thanks a lot! //Kris

[@janmariposquefamily]

Hi! I just replaced my neck pickup with Seymour d's vintage stack. However, even if Cont. Test is ok, there is a hum when im not touching the strings or any metal part of the guitar. What seems to be the problem? Thank you!

[@sebrura]

Here as well. SD pickups. Terrible noise, but when I lay my hand over the bridge, it’s completely silent.

[@JohnMcGFrance]

Very helpful. Thank you. Could you do one on identifying wires on pickups? I have 2 25 year old Kent Armstrong PAFs with 4 wires on each I’d like to put them in my guitar but no idea how. I think the 4 wires are to do with coil taps? Could I put a push/pull pot in and do this? Anything along those lines would be really interesting. Thanks again.

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

Thanks John, we will shoot videos on push-pull pots for sure! It might take a little while, but we'll get there. Thanks for the suggestion! //cheers, Kris

[@NicleT]

Excellent video. Also, beautiful guit, love the color.

[@javierlandaeta891]

Hello, Thank you very much, excellent video!! What do you recommend with conductive paint? My guitar doesn't have one and it makes a little noise. Any help is appreciated!

[@ceonach]

Thanks Kris. Straightforward and to the point. Needed that.

[@Stophocles]

I was told on Reddit that the buzz I get from my JS 1200 was a grounding, issue, but it doesn't sound like this. It's just a constant buzz, that gets worse with more gain. Now the interesting this is, it gets slightly louder when I touch the bridge or strings. However, if I touch either of the metal boxes around the pickups, it pretty much goes away. If I touch the inside walls of the electronics cavity, it pretty much goes away completely. What am I dealing with here? It almost seems like if I was able to somehow ground the wall of the cavity it would be totally resolved, but that seems like a weird solution, if it even is one.

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

Hi, you should check the string grounding with a multimeter (on the continuity-check setting). This sounds like the bridge and the strings are not grounded properly. I hope this helps. Cheers //Kris

[@samg1359]

Hello Kris! Thank you for your help i think i may have found the problem. I believe it is also my jack. I have looked inside and it seems connected but, the ground does not touch the pin directly on the jack. it is connected because the solder binds them. The solder has solidified around the ground wire so it is connected, but the wire does not directly touch the pin. would you consider that a bad solder?

[@rev.sanjaydan7598]

Excellent video 👏👏👏 Thank you so much💐 I have got a squire vintage modified 70s strat... bridge pickup and neck pickups are noisy but the neck and middle pickups are have no disturbance. Is the noics because of the single coil pickup ?

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

Thanks! Exactly, traditional single coils are a little noisy, especially with a distorted tone. But in the 2nd and 4th position, where you have the bridge and middle, or neck and middle selected, they cancel the noise. Not all strats do that, but most of them. Cheers //Kris

[@ChokDK-bryllupsmusik-duo]

Humming "Sending out an S. O. S." First guitar in the world that can play a tune without using the strings :D :D :D Great video.

[@rebeccac7293]

What if you have the humming/buzz when you first plug in the guitar, but not the buzzing when you touch your hand to the strings? Is that still a ground issue?

[@juankplaysmusic]

What baffles me up is when the hum noise increases when turning down the volume knob! Makes no sense at all and it's annoying for what I do which is mostly hang out in my home studio-guitar room. Do these suggestions do the trick for that? Or do I need something special done to the volume knob itself?

[@manuelrodriguezcarrera9488]

Hey Chris, should the mics and the pot have continuity? It's off on my bass and there is a suspicious cable going nowhere from the mics

[@adiiqbal8010]

This was just the video I was looking for thank you!

[@jaymzstealth]

I've got this same problem on my lespaul but in reverse it's noisy until I touch any piece of metal do you know what it could be

[@ryanboshell6124]

I’m wondering the same

[@camilo1455]

Shielding of the cavities and bottom of pickguard. Tape is cheaper than paint.

[@GabrielFernandez-qc9jj]

How about a les Paul style guitar that only have 2 knobs? Where should I put the ground wire ? There is not hole to the bridge (since people said solder the ground wire to the bridge)

[@jonbinnie]

Brilliant video thank you!

[@chiron3463]

My friend bought brand new bass guitar Sadowski from NY. It vas very expensive. When he tried to play it (he has very good bass amp) he found that moving hands or only sleeves over body creates static electricity crackles which was really annoying during performance. And when he connected wireless, it got even worse. We opened cavity to controll what wrong, but every ground points were ok. Cavity was painted with graffit color, and cover had alu plate inside, connected with ground with mechanical contact. Nothing helped us to get off those crackles. If he connectes another bass, it was ok, so amp is not wrong. What's your opinion with it?

[@MaximusAdonicus]

I know this is a year late and I'm no electrician, but: -Even though all of the wires seem to be soldered fine, it could be that one of the ground wires is soldered to a wrong place. Like ie. many have commented that they had the jack input wires soldered backwards. -If the bass was new, why didn't the friend just take it back to shop for an inspection? Since it was under warranty.

[@chiron3463]

@@MaximusAdonicus He did it. He had warranty so he let it back. Instead it he bought Fender precision 5 string Bass. Fully satisfied.

[@doofinator4285]

What if I’m still getting crazy (sounds like ground) buzz and out of humbuckers no less but I’m showing continuity everywhere? It’s not an amp/cable/environment problem as none of my other guitars do it.

[@ArstaLavista]

Same man this is driving me crazy haha