Sons first guitar, getting a background noise?
Discussion
My son has just bought his first electric guitar (epiphone) and a vox amp.
With the gain up a bit there is a very distinctive hum when he's not touching the guitar. It immediately stops if he touches the strings, or the lead where it connects to the guitar.
Is this normal, and if not what's likely to be the problem?
The guitar, amp, and cable are all brand new, but from different sources.
With the gain up a bit there is a very distinctive hum when he's not touching the guitar. It immediately stops if he touches the strings, or the lead where it connects to the guitar.
Is this normal, and if not what's likely to be the problem?
The guitar, amp, and cable are all brand new, but from different sources.
That's pretty normal. It's called 50 Hz Hum and is annoyingly common with most setups.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_hum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_hum
glazbagun said:
That's pretty normal. It's called 50 Hz Hum and is annoyingly common with most setups.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_hum
Ok thanks.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_hum
Its a bit crap to be honest though. If it can be stopped by putting a finger on the cable then it should be easy to stop all the time.
200Plus Club said:
Also if you have a mains extension lead near the cable , amp or guitar it can pick up him from a fair distance
Its in a clear room with the cable plugged directly into the wall. We unplugged everything else to eliminate that.I'm going see if I can to jury rig a cable to eliminate the noise rather then a finger. It will look a bit s
t but at least we will have no noise!I'm amazed this is considered normal!
;-).singlecoil said:
Sounds like the strings are not earthed. There should be a wire leading from the bridge (or tremolo spring anchor) to the earth side of the pickup electrics. You should check that it is there and making a proper connection. Sort that out and the problem should go away.
Lights are a big cause so you can check that but have a listen to some live shows on youtube and listen just before or after the songs - lots of famous guitarists have this problem and it is part of the electric guitar skill to mitigate it (muting strings and rolling the volume on/off for example).RHCP (after the feedback stops): https://youtu.be/FmrGz8qSyrk?t=1m46s
enjo said:
singlecoil said:
Sounds like the strings are not earthed. There should be a wire leading from the bridge (or tremolo spring anchor) to the earth side of the pickup electrics. You should check that it is there and making a proper connection. Sort that out and the problem should go away.
Lights are a big cause so you can check that but have a listen to some live shows on youtube and listen just before or after the songs - lots of famous guitarists have this problem and it is part of the electric guitar skill to mitigate it (muting strings and rolling the volume on/off for example).RHCP (after the feedback stops): https://youtu.be/FmrGz8qSyrk?t=1m46s
singlecoil said:
Not really relevant to my point though. The strings are either earthed or they aren't, and the OP should check this.
Sorry - didn't mean to quote you there! I was going to go off on a tangent about singlecoils and humbuckers but decided it was irrelevant to your point too!singlecoil said:
enjo said:
singlecoil said:
Sounds like the strings are not earthed. There should be a wire leading from the bridge (or tremolo spring anchor) to the earth side of the pickup electrics. You should check that it is there and making a proper connection. Sort that out and the problem should go away.
Lights are a big cause so you can check that but have a listen to some live shows on youtube and listen just before or after the songs - lots of famous guitarists have this problem and it is part of the electric guitar skill to mitigate it (muting strings and rolling the volume on/off for example).RHCP (after the feedback stops): https://youtu.be/FmrGz8qSyrk?t=1m46s
We're also going to try the whole kit in a neighbours house to eliminate house wiring issues.
98elise said:
It certainly sounds like an earthing problem to me. I'll get the multimeter out tonight. I assume I should be able to track the earth from the plug earth pin right to the strings?
Not necessarily to the plug if the amplifier is 'double insulated' i.e. has only two conductors in the mains lead. But there should certainly be earth continuity between the strings and the earth side of the jack socket. We now tried it in the living room and it's much better. No noticable noise/hum at all 
The living room is a recent extension while the rest of the house is 1960"s so it looks like it's going to be a dodgy earth in the old wiring, or possibly wiring under the bedroom floor inducing the hum.
Now that we know the kit isn't broken we can sort out whatever is causing it in his bedroom.
Thanks for all the advice.
The living room is a recent extension while the rest of the house is 1960"s so it looks like it's going to be a dodgy earth in the old wiring, or possibly wiring under the bedroom floor inducing the hum.
Now that we know the kit isn't broken we can sort out whatever is causing it in his bedroom.
Thanks for all the advice.
I use one of these when playing metal fully. Cranked up, massivly reduces feedback.
https://www.andertons.co.uk/boss-ns-2-noise-suppre...
If your getting it at moderate gain/volume levels its probably an earth issue.
https://www.andertons.co.uk/boss-ns-2-noise-suppre...
If your getting it at moderate gain/volume levels its probably an earth issue.
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