Your guitar might NOT have a ground problem

[@BeeJonez]

I have been chasing a crazy loud buzz for days, and came across this video. I had no issues up until recently, and the problem persisted between multiple amps, guitars, cables, etc. So I went into my garage and experimented with my body to figure out if that was the issue, and sure enough it was. Turns out, when it got hot this summer I decided to play barefoot. If I put my sandals on however, boom no buzz. I could literally touch a bare foot to the concrete and it buzzes, take it off and it stops. Thanks so much for this, saved me who knows how much time and money trying to fix it!

[@EmperorKamikaze]

If you sing into a microphone like that, you'll get shocked!

[@Mj-bg2uj]

Im new to playing electric guitar as I've played acoustic for years .. I got my first electric guitar and amp yesterday and the hum was driving me crazy.. the second I touched the strings or the guitar the humming stopped .. this video saved me from ripping my walls apart thinking it was my outlets

[@dehazesings]

THANK YOU! This was one of the clearest video's on youtube I've seen in a while, great slow and steady, but not too slow explanations.

[@DrKevGuitar]

Thank you for taking the time to comment!

[@goodun2974]

@00- , you have a defective amplifier! This is a very dangerous situation! You should *never* be able to "feel" electricity on the strings. If one hand (or both) is on the strings or metal hardware of the guitar, and you happen to put your lips to a microphone, or you're standing barefoot on a concrete basement or garage floor, or you touch a water faucet and a sink, or anything else that has an earth ground, The voltage leaking out from your amplifier will try to pass through the guitar strings and through your body and 2 whatever grounded object you are otherwise touching. You could easily be electrocuted. Does your amplifier have a grounded cord with the round 3rd pin? If it doesn't, or if it originally had one but somebody removed it, then not only does that need to be to be repaired or replaced so that you have a ground to the amplifier again, but whatever is leaking voltage inside the amp to the metal chassis and therefore to the guitar strings will need to be repaired. If it is a vintage tube type amplifier it might have a defective coupling capacitor from the power cord to the chassis, of the type that is sometimes referred to sarcastically as a "death cap". If the amplifier has a ground switch or polarity switch, then it almost certainly has one of these capacitors and the amp's interior wiring will need to be upgraded for safety. Worse yet, it could be a "Widowmaker" amplifier, with a Transformer-less power supply circuit sometimes referred to as an AC/DC circuit ( Which has nothing to do with the famous rock band). These amplifiers have no power transformer and the only transformer you will see on the chassis will be a small output transformer that feeds the speaker. These things are highly dangerous and generally not worth putting the effort or money into to make them electrically safe. Not to mention that the audio output power is invariably less than 2 Watts, tone quality generally isn't very good, and they are noisy and buzzy by design. If it has weird tubes such as a 50C5 or a 50L6 and a 35Volt rectifier like a 35W4 then it is definitely a "widow maker" type amplifier and you really don't want anything to do with it. Amplifiers of this type can no longer be manufactured because they don't meet electrical code and they are extremely unsafe.

[@goodun2974]

@00- , feeling electricity on the strings is *not normal*, regardless of the guitar, the type of pickups or the internal wiring. You never said what amp you're using. If you plugged directly into the amp (no pedals or effects) and felt juice on the strings, something ain't right. Here's something to try ---- plug the amp into a modern kitchen or bathroom plug that has a GFCI ground fault interruptor built in (sircuit breaker buttons on the outlet). If it trips, you've got a problem, if it doesn't, you're safe. Or don't. But even stubborn people who refuse to use common sense and logic to solve a problem don't deserve to get electrocuted.

[@goodun2974]

@00- it doesn't matter. A faultily wired guitar can hum and buzz like a banshee but it can't put voltage on the guitar strings because it doesn't contain a power supply. Only an amplifier can do that. I've got 50 years of electronics repair experience, including fixing many defective guitar amps, both tube and solid state. My experience and instincts tell me if you're feeling an electrical tingle, somethings wrong. Regardless, do what you want, but stay safe!

[@RolandMohacsi]

This is the most helpful video I watched in a long time. The buzz was driving me crazy, it appeared when I did not touch the bridge or the strings. I resoldered everything and even made sure the guitar is fine with a multimeter. But the buzz was still there. Then I saw this video and understood the problem. I went on installing shielding in the cavity and now it is dead silent. Thanks for sharing.

[@davidewing55]

Very informative. I have a Telecaster that exhibits this problem. When I touch the strings or the metal volume/tone knobs, the hum goes away. I was just about to crack it open and check all the wires, etc. But I did your test of touching a metal pedal on my board and touching a metal input jack on an amp I am not plugged into, and the hum stopped. Thanks for saving me the trouble a lot of wasted time debugging the issue!

[@rejuvenator8966]

One thing I still don't understand. You say you have a telecaster that has this problem. But the point of the video was that it is a problem with your house, not the guitar. So how come only your tele has that problem? And if other guitars don't, then the tele should be fixed to match the other guitars?

[@sting1111]

@@rejuvenator8966 yes same here. my brothers LP is dead silent. but my SG buzzes like a chain saw and all grounds are in tact.

[@solkinar]

I recently moved homes and immediately noticed electrical noise coming through my amp. At my previous home there almost no electrical noise. I took my guitar and amp to my neighbors house and there was almost no noise. I have tried expensive cables, surge protectors with emi/Rfi filters and different electrical outlets with no success. I then purchased a wall plug tester and checked every outlet. I found 2 outlets and 1 wall switch wired incorrectly and 1 outlet that was half faulty. After I corrected the wiring and replaced 1 outlet the noise was substantially reduced.

[@Ilikefreibier]

How can an outlet be wired incorrectly? Like there's only 3 cables to connect, no?

[@solkinar]

@@Ilikefreibier the neutral and hot wire were reversed. Reversed polarity. Yes it works but the risk of getting shocked is increased.The ground was correct.

[@Ilikefreibier]

@@solkinar I don't see how that could affect the noise, I mean with AC it doesn't matter which way it's connected... Correct me if I'm wrong

[@solkinar]

@@Ilikefreibier I am not an electrician. Yes A.C. still works no matter which way it is wired but there is a correct way to wire it. The tester identified the incorrect wiring. I am sure the wall switch being wired incorrectly was a bigger problem. I believe the LED light it controls was the root cause for the noise. I suspect it was back feeding interference into the wiring.

[@solkinar]

After months of trying to solve my "buzz" problem it was a neutral to ground fault in the house wiring. Ground faults create EMF. I purchased an EMF meter and saw high magnetic fields on the meter that were unexplainable and seemed to move around. Another thing to keep in mind is if your main breaker panel is grounded to the city water supply it might also be a source of the problem. If your neighbor has a neutral to ground fault and is also grounded to the city water supply then they might be the cause of EMF.

[@charleshoghton3089]

Thank you so much for this video. I had exactly this problem of unwanted noise which was making a great guitar and amp almost unusable. I was getting a bit despondent listening to your explanations because I couldn't see what the solutions might be. Then you mentioned the magic word "dimmers". The ceiling light in my practice room has a dimmer switch and that turned out to be the issue. With guitar strapped on and loads of unwanted noise, I turned the light off and, bingo, the unwanted noise went away and I was left with a great guitar and amp sound. So I went to my local electrical store today and bought a regular on/off light switch to replace the dimmer switch. The result is total guitar karma. So thanks again for your great video.

[@DrKevGuitar]

Awesome! So glad it worked out!

[@joekotts]

So glad u made this video. U helped me greatly. I've been contemplating what was happening when I was getting all this buzz but yet it would go away when I would touch the strings. I couldn't find anyone addressing this until I ran across your video. Before I watched this I was already contemplating that it may not be a ground issue though I wasn't 100% sure. When I watched your video u it became clear...I really appreciate your knowledge.

[@truttzi]

The ultimate test would be to take the guitar off and stand at the other side of the room. Removing yourself from the equation. That would actually prove that nothing else in your home's circuit could be causing the issue. Touching part of your ground loop is indeed grounding yourself, but could also be cancelling noise from another appliance by using the body's resistor capabilities, hence removing yourself from the equation is the way for it to be 100% conclusive. I might be wrong, though...

[@jacquesmurdoch3599]

Mine does it still, even when I take off and leave on the couch.

[@truttzi]

@@jacquesmurdoch3599 have you tried a different guitar and cable?

[@1dimtim]

im pretty sure that hum comes from a bad ground from the mains!

[@GandBman]

I did just this after watching the video. I had a buzz going on, I took my guitar off and placed it on a sofa, no buzz, I put the guitar back on and the buzz came back.

[@lurklingX]

i have 3 guitars. 1 buzzes. AND buzzes by itself off the stand. so it must be grounding in my case.

[@the-j-caster]

Thanks for this! I just spent an hour re-soldering everything and then decided to do some research. Thanks for this!

[@donepearce]

You need a grounded copper foil shield in the guitar cavity on the side closest to your body. That will stop 90% of the coupling. I've done it to all my guitars that have this problem and it shuts the noise down instantly.

[@DrKevGuitar]

My guitars are fully shielded.

[@prism223]

I had an odd situation related to this recently: New guitar was making random crackling noises. After investigating, it was triggered by body contact with the back cover plate. When I opened the cavity, it turned out someone had painted the cavity with conductive shielding paint but failed to paint the top edge, which would make contact with the cover plate that had some conductive foil attached. So they had turned the guitar cavity into a giant capacitor instead of a Faraday cage lol. I put some aluminum foil on the top edge of the cavity as a quick fix and it removed the noise.

[@SwingEzzZZ]

In my case, I replaced a stuck tone pot for my Washburn guitar. This was a tone pot with push/pull coil tap which got stuck so I need to replace it. What I found out surprisingly was that if the pot body touched the wood in the install position there would be wierd noise coming out when plugging the guitar to the amp. I need to open the back plate up and reinstall the pot so that no part of it touch the wood. I had to twist the pot a little before tightening to do that. I thought oh! the factory might paint the inside with certain kind of conductive paint. As for the ground noise which goes away when we touch the strings or metal part of the guitar. It goes away because the electric charge can go to ground thru our body. This is happenning all the times in Thailand where I live. The problem is the wiring in most older houses are not grounded. The power outlet has only 2 holes no 3rd hole for ground. So, I put a copper ground rod about 1.7 meter long into my front yard and wire it to my wall outlet with 3 hole socket and change my amp power plug to 3 prong with ground wire connected to the Amp chassis.

[@JasonJBrunet]

I tried that to help w/ the buzz in my ~70 year old Silvertone steel. It didn't do anything 😞

[@donepearce]

@@JasonJBrunet Then the cause is different. If the buzz doesn't stop when you grab the strings, this isn't causing it.

[@mzdtuk]

I used to do a bike-powered 12v PA system for small hippy festivals. No mains anywhere near, no inverters, FOH, monitors all 12v car amp kit, even built guitar & bass amps using 12v amps. No hum. ;-)

[@JasonJBrunet]

I played through one of those in Seattle a loooong time ago!

[@garyd3725]

The noise issue changes depending on where you are? So you can’t be the source of the noise now can you if that’s the case. The source of your noise is electrical noise either from your electrical outlet or other electronics outside of your control like your neighbours heat pump or hot tub.

[@matttdamon1105]

This video is great. I have the same issue with my Strat. Update - it was the lights in my room. When I turn them off the buzz goes away!

[@christopher13013]

Thank you! From your explanation, I found my buzz wasn't a ground problem with my guitar; it was a ground problem with my electrical outlet! I plugged my amp into a different electrical outlet and the buzz was 10x quieter.

[@SergeiVlassov]

I just want to add that if you have issues like that, don't use coated strings like Elixirs etc, as the coating adds a significant resistance and when you touch the strings the grounding is not that efficient as with uncoated strings. And fr such "airborn" noise sources shielding of electronic cavity in the guitar helps as well. It will not remove the noise, but it will reduce the amplification of noise that guitar is picking from your body. E.g. when I put unshielded guitar closer to my body, this type of noise gets worse, but not with the shielded guitar.

[@softdev1]

Interesting. I only have 1 guitar that does this. It’s my only guitar with coated strings.

[@huyle2057]

after 3 hours trying to re-ground my guitar, i still coudnt fix it. thanks to your video i can finally know its not about the grounding

[@DrKevGuitar]

And thats exactly why I made the video! Thanks for your comment!

[@fuzzface777]

thank you kevin! ive had this problem for YEARS and have searched the whole internet for thi but i havent found anything as clear as this… thanks for this video!

[@DrKevGuitar]

You are very welcome!

[@J.C.Ky.ridgerunner1955]

Set the guitar down and walk out of the room. If the buzz stops then it was your body. If it doesn't, back to square one

[@jonswoveland]

Oh maaaan! I really could have used this video about 30 years ago. Thanks for sharing!

[@cashway0420]

what if the hum doesn't go away when you touch the strings but does go away when you touch the input jack and cable?

[@DrKevGuitar]

Yes, that absolutely could be a string/bridge ground issue. A continuity test with a multimeter would give you the answer to that instantly.

[@NewGoldStandard]

I'm lazy and didn't want to take apart and shield my bass that I only use for DI recording, so: If you have a similar issue, where your guitar buzzes mildly but stops when you touch the strings, and you just need a quick fix to record a track, tape one end of a spare aux cord to something metal on the guitar and stick the other end in your shoe, against your foot (touching skin), or where ever else you want to stick it, I won't judge. You're effectively now always touching the guitar and you can get that track recorded and move on. Edit - I actually tape the aux cord to the metal end of the cable that I'm using, so it's not technically *on* the guitar. Don't be pedantic.

[@brucerain2106]

Decent tip actually

[@jameslightningappleby]

Good tip. But im gonna solder the aux to my nob just to be safe

[@NewGoldStandard]

@@jameslightningappleby Respect where it's due.

[@bbbbbblues]

Thank you, thank you Kevin. You just saved me a lot of time & effort. There is nothing wrong with my 2 beautiful strats.

[@GuitarDoco]

Informative, but what is the remedy to this unwanted noise?

[@jazznotes3802]

I just installed some “noiseless single coils” and had this happen to me. When I touched the handle on my amp the sound disappeared and I wasn’t sure if it was my soldering, or if some wire was touching something it shouldn’t be. Now (thanks to your video) I know what it is👍🏻.

[@abhinavaggarwal4062]

Its actually the exact opposite for me. My single coil strat is totally quiet whereas my les paul has this exact noise issue.

[@aeiounix]

New les paul. So much noise. Only partially diminished when touching the guitar. Another no name les paul type guitar is perfectly silent. But it doesn't cut the distortion when rolling back the knob.

[@DianaTR00]

to me it's the same. my Strat is very quiet and my Les Paul is quite noisy. have you found any solution?

[@fuchsia5899]

Strange, single coils tend to be more noisy than Humbuckers

[@abhinavaggarwal4062]

@@DianaTR00 not yet ! from all the research on internet, apparently its all the frequencies from other electricals in the room like lights that the guitar is picking up and making it noisy.

[@sixslinger9951]

@@DianaTR00 the solution is don't stop playing and play loud. 😆🤘 but yeah, I have 3 LP's and sometimes they drive me insane with the electrical noise!

[@stevebadachmusic]

thanks for this. it double confirmed I have some elusive grounding problem.

[@Insert_Bland_Name_Here]

I've got this problem, and I was actually hoping you would provide a solution. But either way, it's good to know that it's not a grounding-issue

[@NKDBLR]

Thank you for posting this, the noise has stopped me from even wanting to record anything because I always felt it was going to sound horrible, good to know its just normal and Its not too much to worry about 🤙

[@elnyoutube123]

This happens on all the guitars I wire myself. I test the connections and they're all perfect but it doesn't happen on any factory guitars I have.

[@amerallic]

Loads of thanks for pointing out this issue. It would be great if you made another video about possible solutions,

[@DrKevGuitar]

The point is that it's not a problem with the guitar, the solutions are to find to source(s) of the noise and switch them off. Might be fluorescent lighting, a dimmer switch, old TV or computer monitor, transformer, etc. may not even be in your home or building, could be outside.

[@mojosmoke]

I don't think the noise is being caused by your body. If you set the guitar down and leave the room, the sound doesn't improve.

[@DrKevGuitar]

It does for me. Does not vanish, but obviously drops.

[@gibby8141]

Same issue. Even when my guitar is on its rack, it continues with annoying hum. Sorry, but there has to be another reason.

[@J.C.Ky.ridgerunner1955]

That's exactly what I said. Walk out of the room. See what happens. Wish I had an answer. Driving me crazy

[@TG20102]

There’s radio waves all around, so if it’s not picking up your body’s immediate waves it’s getting something else. You ever pick up the radio station through your pickups ??? Lol

[@mojosmoke]

@@J.C.Ky.ridgerunner1955 I painted my pickup cavities with conductive paint and put shielding tape on the back of the plastic covers. It completely solved my problem, and now my guitar is dead silent with hands off or on.

[@thebeaner687]

My Gibson les paul isnt noisy but when i plug in my other guitar it gets noisy unless i touch the strings. i have checked to see if the bridge was grounded and evrything is fine. I even installed new JB pickups in the guitar. the only difference is the Gibson pcb inside the guitar. And that i used MG Chemicals Super Shield Silver conductive paint inside the guitar cavities. i put several coats instead of using copper foil. the paint works as a shield and as a huge resistor too.

[@dsmedic10]

Thanks for the video. Your proof was what I needed so I didn't take my whole guitar apart trying to find a "hands off" buzz. I found a solution for you however; I bought an ESD strap (something you would have if you're working on computers or electronics) to discharge static electricity. I wrap it around my ankle and attach the other lead to literally anywhere else (metal end of a patch cable in my pedal board). Problem solved! Another thing you can do (which I did while waiting for said ESD strap) was plug a patch cable into my other amp's input and literally slide the other end of the cable in my sock. I promise you, it sounds weird but it worked. And that solution costs you nothing. You could in theory tape the end of the patch cable to the metal part of another patch cable that's on your pedal board instead of plugging it into another amp. I happen to have two amps, only one of which I would be using at any point in time. The amp doesn't even need to be on. What you're trying to do is replicate the 'touching another piece of metal' idea without using your hands (so you can play the guitar, of course). The wrist strap (which I wrap on my ankle) works perfectly for me. Thanks again for the video!

[@DrKevGuitar]

Many people have mentioned the wrist strap. Thanks for your comment!

[@kineasx]

I've just bought a Gibson Les Paul standard 60's and it has this issue. Why is it that I can plug in my 30 year old Epiphone Les Paul and it doesn't hum at all? Why is it that my American strat has a hum constantly, but it doesn't go away when I touch the metal parts?

[@TDDmusique]

I don't know. Since your guitar is so perfectly grounded, doesn't this only show that there are secondary factors playing a role? A maxed out distortion pedal introduces a lot of self-noise, yes. And your body will always act as ground, that is basic electronics. Why didn't you just walk away from the guitar to show the difference? That to me would be a much stronger proof. As I said, I don't know. This raises more questions than it answers.

[@TheTektronik]

I have the same thing with my guitar every time I turn on the distortion there was buzzing but when I touch the strings it goes away. I was thankful I stumbled across this video because I could have taken my guitar controls and rewired them and still gotten that buzzing sound. Electrically noisy environments are something I have to learn to deal with every time I plug my guitar in.

[@neilmcnasty]

Finally someone who can think clearly instead of deeply! This is as logical as it gets! As usual: Nature's logic is inverse to human logic! Reverse our thinking and we start getting stuff right!

[@jeffberg8015]

If the buzz was not there originally, but becomes apparent gradually over time it indicates that it's not your body that is causing that buzz. The most likely culprit is indeed a flaw with the grounding, which is why touching metal parts of the guitar will lessen the buzz by creating a separate path to ground through your body. Electrical contacts oxidize over time causing loss of conductivity. If the noise lessens by touching any grounded device on that circuit, as shown in this video, indicates that the grounding flaw is affecting that whole circuit and is probably an issue with the connection at the main box. The first thing to try when addressing a buzz issue is unplugging any connections between the amp and the wall outlet several times so the friction can scrape away any oxidation on the plugs and make a better contact. This fixed the buzzing problem I had been having. If that doesn't solve it you might need for an electrician to check out the grounding at the main.

[@DrKevGuitar]

Touching something electrically connected to ground with your body *grounds your body*. You can test this easily: Sit on a chair, feet off the ground, so you certain you are not actually grounded. Touch something grounded. If noise goes away the sound is coming from your body.

[@jeffberg8015]

@@DrKevGuitar I'm not saying that your body doesn't have some electromagnetic effects, which I think are usually negligible, but am saying that most guitar buzz comes on gradually over time which indicates that the most likely culprit is oxidation of the electrical connections, which indeed was the problem in my case since rubbing the connections solved it.

[@eljestLiv]

Thank you so much! This issue has been driving me nuts for weeks.

[@DrKevGuitar]

You're very welcome. And thank you for taking the time to leave a comment! Much appreciated.

[@acabassist4904]

Thanks alot for explaining, it's driving me crazy when i do home recording with my single coil j bass

[@jooyoonchung3593]

Absolutely mind-blowing. Great explanation and proof. One thing though -- so I have this guitar with passive humbuckers. Noise is just as loud as my single-coil Tele. Noise goes away when I touch the strings / ground my body. So, basically it's the noise you're discussing in this video. Why would humbuckers be picking up / producing as much noise as a single coil?

[@DrKevGuitar]

It’s very difficult to say without having the guitars in front of me, but I would be looking at differences between cavity shielding between the two guitars and also I would be looking at a humbucker wiring to make sure it’s done correctly. Thanks for your comments and good luck!

[@AveragePoké]

Yeah I thought it was the new pedal I just bought only because I needed more distortion. But yeah that's what it is but I put a noise gate at the start of the chain and it stops the initial little noises when I don't have the strings muted, but as soon as I play it is noticeable in the notes I do play. I moved the noise gate to after the cab and I get the noise both ways. But when I touch the bridge and play there is way less. So I think this is the issue.

[@DrKevGuitar]

I think you’re probably right. But also remember, it’s an important skill for every electric guitar player, especially when we play with distortion, to make sure that we are touching the strings and roll the volume control down to zero when we’re not playing. It needs to become second nature, immediate instinct.

[@linksfiery22]

THANKS! this as very informative for me. (heavy distortion player)

[@kevmay21]

I have this really bad. This was quite helpful. My solution is to secure a wire under a screw going into my mixer. I then make sure I am standing on the wire. I have the wire in a pretty long bundle. Nice big target to stand on.

[@DrKevGuitar]

Remember, there's a noise source somewhere, so spent some time trying to find it. Might be a dimmer switch or fluorescent light, an old TV or radio or computer screen, or a transformer somewhere. You may be able to find it.

[@kevmay21]

Thank you!

[@Carsonchildersmusicnow]

This is a great video and helped me as a starting place. Hilariously, I took jumper cables and attached it to conduit in the studio. Then I attached the other end to a metal stand. Then I took my bare foot and touched the base of the stand. And now I was grounded hahahaha.

[@DrKevGuitar]

Ha ha! If it works, it works! Just make sure the conduit has a correct ground and not into a device/appliance that could have a wiring fault. Thanks for your comment!

[@Carsonchildersmusicnow]

@@DrKevGuitar I did this with an electrician. Also, removing a dimmer fixed 90% of the problem. This grounding solution fixed the other 10.

[@DrKevGuitar]

@@Carsonchildersmusicnow OUTSTANDING! Great job!

[@CharvelLloydNS]

Hey, thanks for the video and explanation of the problem. Question: what if the noise doesn't even depend on the pickup? I have it both on single coils and humbucker. (Fun fact: the bridge humbucker + the middle pickup make less noise that the humbucker itself with autosplit wiring; same with neck + middle single) I'm currently plugged into the soundcard that doesn't have a ground pin on its plug and it goes into the laptop that's connected to the mains properly having three pins, so it definitely has grounding. So I used your tip with touching different parts of the chain: I touch the soundcard's case made of metal the noise gets slightly suppressed, touching the laptop helps even more in combination with the previous action. I actually blame the audio interface not having the ground pin. BUT. When I plug in a Squier Affinity Strat this higher hiss is way lower. I'm confused a bit.

[@DrKevGuitar]

@@CharvelLloydNS it’s really hard to diagnose something like this without being in the room with it. But if the full humbucker is making more noise than split coil plus a single coil I think there’s a problem with the humbucker or the wiring. In general, I wouldn’t be looking for faults in the audio interface either. It’s possible, of course, but low probability. It may be a good idea to bring your guitars to a professional to have their wiring checked out and ensure that the cavities are correctly shielded. It may help the situation, and even if it doesn’t make a much difference to the actual noise, you’d have peace of mind that everything is done correctly and working as intended. Try asking pro musicians and music teachers in your area who they trust with their instruments and go to them.

[@izackpaz]

im learning some noise is normal but recently ive noticed, specially with the tone knob up, this type of clicking or popping sound when i first put a finger on a string, its honestly distracting. im guessing its not a ground issue but im not sure what to do about this, its the same behavior with different guitars and amps in my apartment

[@J_Braz_]

I thought it was my cable. Got a new one, still buzzes when metal isn't touched by me. I can touch the metal on my amp, a line 6 spider 75 watt, and it stops the buzzing. All my guitars do it. I'm convinced it's the amp at this point.

[@aeiounix]

Good video. Thanks. I am experiencing a noise, separate and beyond the grounding of my person by touching the instrument. There's another band of sound in there that that isn't diminished when touching the guitar. Another guitar I have is by comparison perfectly silent, touching or no at the same levels of gain.

[@samtheman123]

I just got a Tele and it’s awesome but it does this and is gradually pissing me off more and more so thanks for explaining this.

[@patrickparmer1648]

0:54 well i must have noisy body because everything is grounded and even when i touch the strings it doesnt change anything. Doesnt matter what im plugged in to. Hum. All day. Everyday. Havent tried playing my guitar without being close to it. Might try that next.

[@DrKevGuitar]

Is it just good old fashioned 60/50 cycle hum you are hearing (i.e. does the noise change depending on the direction the guitar is facing)?

[@markkilley2683]

Very informative . Thanks. Would a DI Box help?

[@DrKevGuitar]

No. The issue is a noise source somewhere else, e.g. transformer, dimmer-switch, appliance, fluorescent lighting, etc. A DI box will make no difference at all at all.

[@timehunter9467]

This has been driving me mad! I have two bass guitars, ones that is active eq yet passive pickups that doesn’t hum, yet I have a cheap passive P bass that does! I’ve tried re soldering, shielding and making sure it definitely is grounded. I’m so glad it’s not my bass or anything broken. Thank you for making this video!

[@steinbsand]

i have been going crazy for weeks thank you for explaining.

[@DrKevGuitar]

You're welcome! Thanks for the comment!

[@timurt1988]

Thank you. I tried to re-solder my new SD Hot Stack set for about 6 times… Thought it was a grounding problem. I just don’t understand why SD promotes those pickups as Noiseless (humcancelling) on their website? This leads to wrong expectations and disappointment 😢

[@meriwoo7382]

shielding all the cavities solved this issue for me. Though once in a while when someone repositions their router or something 2 floors above, the noise does creep back, but not nearly as bad as without shielding

[@DrKevGuitar]

Shielding always helps but can never remove noise completely. The pickups themselves stick up through holes in the shielding for one thing!

[@bobless5517]

Ok! But I have a paradox. There are two guitars, one is homemade, made of pine boards and cheap spare parts from Aliexpress, Open humbuckers, noise at high gain - 24 dB. And then there's the Harley Benton SC-550. The noise level on the same path is -12 dB. I replaced the pickups with open ones with the brand name humbuckers - noise, bought others on Ali humbuckers with covers, noise -12 dB. Bridge, strings, switch - everything shows 0 on the ground wire. It's just the cry of my soul! I do not know what else to do... Thanks!

[@satevo462]

When I touch the bottom screw on the middle pick-up on my strat, I get a little static click. How do I fix that? And I hear it on a clean channel.

[@VictorianRecords]

Well, that's depressing. There's nothing I can do about it. Yet on the other hand, I don't have to chase expensive cables, power conditioners (which made no difference), or other expensive stuff. I am currently using noise reduction pedals and that helps a lot. Thanks for solving the mystery, even if it was not wha I wanted to hear.

[@DrKevGuitar]

Yes, cables and power conditioners won’t change the fact that the pickups are picking up noise from somewhere. Your body is just making it worse. But if you can find the source of the noise, it may need repair or replacement or maybe you can just switch it off while you play. Other than that, yes, you’re absolutely right. Thanks so much for your comment. I really appreciate it.

[@Imposibilitron]

Thank you! Saved me some time that I would have spent re-soldering all the pots in my bass.

[@AndresMari11]

so shielding the interior would fix it?

[@DrKevGuitar]

Maybe but not perfectly. As I said in the video, my guitars are perfectly shielded. BUT, remember that the pickups are poking out of a hole in the shielding. Nothing can be done about that.

[@timfischer03]

So i can’t do anything about this except for getting rid of unnecessary electricity in my room?

[@romeovelasco4151]

Very nice observation...thanks

[@metal571]

It's great to know that none of my passive guitars are broken as this behavior has always happened to them. Thanks for the clear explanation. It's also probably worth noting that active guitar pickups that don't require a ground wire at all don't seem to suffer from this at all, interestingly. They're just always quiet as if you're always touching the strings. Wonder if you have experienced that difference before with, for example, EMGs. My active EMG guitar doesn't seem to do this

[@jawadrahman5454]

I got a LTD guitar with active EMG pickups and I got these problems😥😥 unlucky me then😢

[@romanshredz]

@@metal571 This is exactly what I was thinking… none of my Active pickup guitars with Floyd’s have the buzzing noise happening… however exact opposite with my passive pickups on a hard tail tune o matic bridge 🤔 it’s driving me nuts . Did you ever find out why ?

[@jeremywinnett6352]

If one was convinced this was their issue, one could get an esd floor mat and ground it to your grounded pedal board. You would have to direct couple through a strap or play barefoot though. BUT, curious if this could create ground loop through you.

[@DrKevGuitar]

Through your pedalboard, no, no ground loop.

[@tntidr]

I use an audio interface to my laptop, when the laptop is charging, it creates the sound, thanks

[@DrKevGuitar]

@@tntidr Well done finding the source! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@rebanosagra]

I have 4 guitars, only one of them have this problem, why is that?

[@guitarman123456789]

Exactly. I don’t buy his explanation. There’s some problem with his guitar.

[@real2rek]

So basically name of the game is good equipment grounding and good feet isolation?

[@chrischris7180]

if you have this problem just use TRS cable instead of mono cable.. Just solved my issue today

[@BrandonKJohnson]

Really? That's interesting! How does that work?

[@chrischris7180]

@@BrandonKJohnson Not sure but trs cable has two signals and the noise gets canceled when it reaches the output.. doesn't work for all noise though

[@BrandonKJohnson]

@@chrischris7180 hmmm interesting!

[@gibby8141]

@@chrischris7180 You said it "solved [your] issue" but also said, it "doesn't work for all noise though." Could you explain?

[@Chuck-Bob]

Thanks man. I was double-checking myself, and the amount of disinformation on the internet was driving me nuts. I DO have a ground problem, touching something that should be grounded has no effect.

[@Chuck-Bob]

Lol, I forgot all about having to re-orient yourself in order to get a decent take.

[@generalawareness101]

My brand new guitar has hum when I do not touch the strings, but not my 16-year-old guitar using the same cable, both have humbuckers, and amp with no peddles just the cable from guitar to amp. I am stumped, but after testing grounding etc... I bet it is the humbuckers being different, but I have no idea.

[@MrMinima86]

Thankyou for this, instead of pissing about with shielding im just going to invest in a gate pedal.

[@hanzhsun9827]

My Gibson SG Standard 61 has this problem for a long time! It really turns me freak. I decide try to use a wire to connect my body to one of metal parts on the guitar. So weird.

[@AhrnNilsson]

Thanks for the video! Please help. Why dose my guitar hum alot when even at 0 volume? And my other guitar doesn't hum at 0 volume most is at 10-80% volume but less at 100%? But everything is completely silence when I use battery from pedal. I do use a battery powered speaker. Im so confused I use a 1 spot power supply..

[@DrKevGuitar]

@@AhrnNilsson Hi Ahrn. One of your guitars almost certainly has a wiring problem or faulty volume pot that needs to be fixed. The other one might do also, or the one spot may be faulty, I cannot diagnose over the Internet. You need to bring them to a professional and have them checked out.

[@AhrnNilsson]

@@DrKevGuitar Hi again I have tried a lot of things new cables and power supply. It hums only on bridge pickup. So I guess there a problem somewhere in that circuit the neck is completely silent even with distortion...

[@douglasreynolds8842]

Really interesting. However, I have 3 identical home-made lap steels, all with identical electronics and aluminum bridges screwed into the wood, (not grounded to anything). Only one of them buzzes and touching anything metal stops the noise, including touching the non-connected bridge after taking strings off. Any ideas?

[@DrKevGuitar]

Clearly, if only one of them buzzes, one of them is not identical. Sadly, no, unless I had them on a bench in front of me, there is no way I can diagnose it.

[@derekamarpreet]

No solution except move?

[@philcal2000]

I have this problem with a telecaster I built , if I use a standard guitar lead I get hum , plug in another similar guitar hum not there ... My solution was using a wireless transmitter/receiver I am using ROWIN WS-20

[@pulktheband9106]

Well i play at home Zero noise go ton the band rehearsal room at our drummers house with same guitar pedals and amp guess what ? Lots of noise leads me to belive it has more to do with mains power than anything else however I do have some pedals on a battery pedal board that are noisey?….bit of a mystery 😵‍💫🧐

[@DrKevGuitar]

@@pulktheband9106 As I’ve said before, it’s very often an appliance, or fluorescent lighting, or dimmer switch, or transformer.

[@msi1985]

It's definitely interesting... Makes me wonder how companies like Fishman and EMG have solved this problem with their active humbuckers and single coils? I've recently been trying some classic single coil stratocaster style guitars & and I was experiencing the same noise or worse on my clean channel! Where as my other 2 guitars that have active circuitry have absolutely no noise in the same environment and using the same amp & cables etc.

[@DrKevGuitar]

Fishman and EMG use different designs. e.g. EMG uses very low wind coils and electronics to boost and shape the frequencies to make it sound "right".

[@DenisVolga]

Trying to record an electric guitar i have lots of noise. To minimize it i have to find a certain position, i have to face away from computer, hold a guitar in unnatural position (not even 90 degrees, more like 100-110 degrees), and any deviation from that "safe zone" causes noise in my headphones (monitors are off, of course). It is either with single-coiled pickups or humbuckers (the first ones, obviously, worse). The StudioOne shows quite a high level of noise on a recording channel /quite hearable -33 to -44dB/ even with no sound coming through (when i don't produce sounds on guitar and/or when guitar is in "safe from noise" area). I am thinking about getting Electro-Harmonix Hum Debugger pedal... (?) What would you recommend to do and what products to use? That's the main question. Also... ~ I have too much noise when i turn the mix (comp/in) knob towards instrument (1) and a very little headroom for recording, either the signal is too weak or, after moving the gain knob just one little degree, i get distortion, noise and clipping (2). It is either with single-coiled pickups or humbuckers (the first ones, obviously, worse). PreSonus iTwo has a very little headroom, but i suspect that this is not the sole cause: maybe by increasing the gain i increase the noise (interface limitations+ground loop). (1) - waiting for a new interface Topping E2x2 (could/can't record anything with PreSonus iTwo or, recently, SSL2...SSL2 supposed to have a very low noise, but in my case (? why) i had even more noise...returned it while i could). (2) - waiting for a new interface and a ground loop breaker usb power injector for the interface C-port. For recording with a physical amp (Katana) i plan to get a Morley Humno Noise Eliminator. DI boxes (active and passive) seems like do nothing in my case (or make things worse): Behringer active DI20 gave lots of noise; DI Dolamo a bit Increases the noise compared to direct connection (TRS a bit more compared to XLR), but in nut-shell, it does not decrease the noise. Don't have any Gate pedal and not planning because it is tricky and i hardly play heavy music. In recorded track the noise is increasing in quiet times. I have a power conditioner Furman m8x, everything is connected there and it goes to one outlet. No noise-cancelling devices for pc or USB ports or 9V supply. All my guitars are in tact (grounded and shielded). The lights: no lights, some lights, big lights - not much difference. Thank you

[@DrKevGuitar]

When the sound changes with orientation of your guitar the pickups are picking up that noise. You need to find the source of the noise and eliminate it. Sounds like it could be outside the room you are in.

[@DenisVolga]

That does not help. I will keep on searching and trying. Thanks for attention.

[@deandee8082]

I have a guitar that when I touch the strings it calms down, however I can walk into my bedroom and the noise is still there but does not quiet at all, so I was curious, I rana wire into my bedroom connected it to the bridge, go into bedroom noise persists touch wire and it calms down, most my noise is amp generated, when I increase volume it amplifies it, increase gain its amplified.. so for me its not my body being an antenna, however, when I am close tot he guitar and its making the noise, I can walk around the guitar like sneak behind it and the noise modulates as if I am an antenna like you say, but why doesn't it go away when I leave the room? I am going to rig a switch so I can turn it all on from my bedroom and see if the noise persists, maybe its the noise gets generated by the amp and its stuck in a cycle cuz my body was acting as a an antenna as you say, so if I turn everything on with no body around it should not start.. this is one of the only guitars out of a hundred or more it does this, and a huge difference is it has an all aluminum plate which acts weird on certain equipment like real metal sounding ice pickish.. I bet I remove the aluminum guard it goes away? have to test that as well and get back, so remotely turn on everything from another room so no bodies are around to create noise, see of that's true or false, then remove aluminum guard if the answer is false, then it would most likely be the guitar? but it very well may not make noise when everything is turned on remotely with no bodies or antennas around, I'll shut everything off, TV wireless router, computers no0 phones around nuttin, fact I'll unplug everything..

[@SahiranBeatz]

2:54 is that noise normal? I am using an audio interface and I play my guitar on the pc and I have a noise like that, it's driving me crazy. All recordings are noisy like that. Distortion makes it worse. But it doesn't dissappear when I'm touching the strings. I don't have any buzzing that dissappears if I touch the guitar. It's rather a continuous noise, gets louder if I turn up the gain on the audio interface. But even with minimum gain it's noisy. Is there anything I can do to minimise it? Is it about the environment like you said on the video?

[@DrKevGuitar]

That noise in the video is because my distortion pedal is a full gain. If you set up a completely clean tone on your PC amp modelling, do you get any noise?

[@SahiranBeatz]

@@DrKevGuitar yes, but not like a bzzz noise, more like a hsss noise. and if I don't even use any plugin (I am using amplitube 5) I can hear the noise. very low but it gets louder with amplitube, even with clean amps. and one other thing, input comes from the right channel only, I don't know if it's related.

[@DrKevGuitar]

@@SahiranBeatz A clean sound at normal volume should be just about noise free. Why you only get right channel I also don't know. I really can't diagnose this at a distance. Sorry!

[@SahiranBeatz]

@@DrKevGuitar ok, thank you for your answers

[@enriquerosado7446]

@@SahiranBeatz just in case you still have the problem, it might be also that ur computer feeds electromagnetic noise into your pickups, try standing a couple meters away from it or turning your guitar 90 degrees from the computer.

[@johnpatitucci7919]

DI box with a ground lift switch... works like a charm

[@DrKevGuitar]

No, in this case, it’s NOT a ground problem so ground lift switch won’t do anything.

[@RockG.o.d]

ok I have a problem. My fav guitar, les paul standard 60s, spec year 21, didn't have any real hum/buzz when plugged into any amp, even in a marshal jcm 900 on clean channel. for the past 2 months, I have had unbearable buzz unless touching some metal. I also have a cheaper guitar with single coils, a line 6 variax standard, which doesn't have nearly as much buzz even with the heaviest distortion, but that guitar electronics are also shielded. If I shield my les paul electronics, could that potentially help with the hum when not touching the strings?

[@DrKevGuitar]

My first thought is "what changed that the buzz occurs now that didn't before"? My first y guess is something nearby is producing interference. Shielding could help, especially if you shield the pickup cavities (though remember they have to grounded to the rest of the circuit). How much it will help I cannot say and I don't have the guitar in front of me to diagnose any issue with the guitar.

[@RockG.o.d]

@@DrKevGuitar there is something else with the les paul, when I touch the back of it, there is a static sound when plugged in. Don't really know if that is good info for this, but my other guitars, none of them act like this. my bc rich warlock with active emg pickups are also quieter as far as hum. could it be me causing the hum?

[@DrKevGuitar]

@@RockG.o.d Check this video out the wonderful Uncle Dave @DavesWorldofFunStuff ... kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZpmQnpWmip10rqc

[@basicpl15]

How to interpret if it's getting noisy while touching the humbuckers? I an hear quiet buzz normally but it's getting loud when touching the currently active humbucker.

[@DrKevGuitar]

If the hambucker is covered, the cover may not be grounded.

[@stockholm1752]

Ok, how about this: I have two Fender Telecasters. Both have identical Fender Noiseless pickups. One makes a buzz unless I touch the strings, metal parts, etc. The other makes no buzz at all, it is dead quite whether I’m touching it or not. Explain that.

[@piregonpire7925]

Hello I never had background/static noise but now all of a sudden, my two guitars have it. When I turn to my right / left the sound increases. I literally went to the woods with a multiprocessor unit powered by batteries and the pickups of the two guitars behave the same way than when I am at home. The strange thing is that I didn't have this problem before and I changed nothing in the house. Some days ago, there was a storm, I really don’t know what to do. Thx!

[@DrKevGuitar]

I don't think the storm had anything to do with. Possible likely a electrical transformer somewhere near your house? If you can find, call your electric supply people and ask them to fix it. It's often a fixable fault. The direction you face when the noise is at its strongest is the direction to look (either directly in front or behind you).

[@GuilhermeSantos2003]

2 brand new guitars and a new bass do this noise, tried with various amps and different outlets, it continues? what can i do?????

[@DDFYO]

Thanks man, I just got a new Gibson standard SG and thought it was the guitar. I left my guitars on the stand, and tested this by touching various metal objects in my room, turns out it's me lol

[@alfieboy1]

My issue is with the volume down on my guitar it hums (when I'm not touching the guitar) and when I put my hand near the output jack area it hums louder. This is with volume on 0

[@DrKevGuitar]

That's not right. That suggests is a wiring problem somewhere.

[@danielodland]

But why does only one of my guitars buzz like that?

[@myron9307]

Glad you explained everything simply, you earned a new sub

[@Joel-cl8qd]

Thanks for the vid but can I stop the noise?

[@DrKevGuitar]

Ultimately, you may just have to find the source of the noise and switch it off.

[@etherealessence]

I was about to argue... then in the course of trying a different outlet i unplugged my plasma tv by accident when trying to unplug my amp... the buzzing stopped. Touche my friend. Touche.

[@DrKevGuitar]

*SMILE*

[@garypotter2743]

I had exactly the same problem, drove me crazy! I took the pickup out to trash it and decided to try this. I soldered an extra ground to the back of my pickup (a humbucker), and just for laughs, wrapped it in aluminum foil. NO MORE NOISE!

[@dans.8198]

About the noiseless single coils, it would be interesting to hear what happens if you turned the guitar 90 degrees, i.e. toward the camera.

[@DrKevGuitar]

While I stay still? Good question! Unfortunately, I don't have them in the guitar anymore.

[@Ikkun_]

Im bougth a new cable instrument for doing an DI my acoustic guitar that have an amp on it, when im connecting to my audio interface (steinberg ur 22mkii i was gain the volume up i become buzz very loud too) but when i touche the metal on the jack it goes down when i put off my hand it goes noisess again what should i do?😢

[@DrKevGuitar]

I'm sorry but that's not the kind of thing I can diagnose over the internet, I would need to have the instrument in front of me. Contact the guitar manufacturer or the preamp manufacturer and see if they have any ideas.

[@HansaGBB]

It hurts the back of my hand when touching the strings, is this normal? I just realized this after 3 months of playing

[@Steven9675]

Take the guitar and set it on the stand away from you, does it still buzz?