[Unrelenting Les Paul Static... Bad Wiring?]

One of them has a 57 Classic/Angus Young combo in it and the other 59 Tribute Humbuckers and trust me I almost never play with my tone at 10.

Both are pretty bright even in the neck position.

Shielding doesn't affect the sound.

 

You recommend copper tape over shielding paint?

[Unrelenting Les Paul Static... Bad Wiring?]

Herein lies the problem.

 

Everyone has different opinions (which I appreciate), but this problem should be identified AND solved by Gibson.

 

Some say that shielding the cavities take off high end. I don’t want to do anything that would hurt the sound without a guarantee that it will work.

[Unrelenting Les Paul Static... Bad Wiring?]

Read what I said to do above

 

I’ve gotten rid of the static, but it’s just a temp fix. It keeps coming back.

[Unrelenting Les Paul Static... Bad Wiring?]

Just called Gibson again, the static is getting worse.

 

They told me to rub dryer sheets on the guitar.. which of course doesn’t actually address the problem, only helps for a couple minutes until it builds up again.

 

This is ridiculous. Gibson should be ashamed. How can I purchase another Gibson or recommend anyone else does so when I can’t even play the one I have? And I can’t even sell the one I have here.

[Unrelenting Les Paul Static... Bad Wiring?]

So im at my witts end. Home now and took the les paul to the best tech in the cuty. He has no clue. And im not throwing money away for him to chase ghosts.

 

Why woukd Gibson sell sonething like this? I can’t even get rid of it as no one woukd ever buy this mess of static popping,

 

What do I do?

[Unrelenting Les Paul Static... Bad Wiring?]

I should clarify my intent, as I came in here with my first post essentially complaining.

 

I absolutely love my LPC. I have been through a lot of guitars, and have scaled down to my favourite three that I want to keep for good. The Les Paul is one of them. I just want it to be playable without so much static that it's distracting.

 

I already had a scare when I damaged the back with anti-static spray (didn't let the cloth dry when I sprayed it on and it chewed away at the finish), but thankfully I was able to recover with 3000 grit sand paper and polishing compound. It was a bit of a relief, really. Now I don't have to baby the guitar to a fault, while it is still in exceptional shape.

 

I will be heading out of town for a couple of weeks, but when I return I will be taking the GT to the top guitar tech here in Edmonton.

 

 

 

[Unrelenting Les Paul Static... Bad Wiring?]

It's the nitro finish. It does this while it's curing and especially when there's low humidity. Some guitars are way worse than others. Not the electronics. The nitro. Save yourself lots of trouble and get past the "it's the grounding" thing. No amount of rewiring or shielding will keep the nitro from building up a charge. Once the nitro cures and the surface gets scuffed up it will get better and eventually disappear. [thumbup]

 

I can definitely say that the nitro on my guitar is not cured. When I was testing different things, I temporarily taped the back cavity cover on with painters tape (so as not to put screws in and out, wearing the holes). I even used the yellow painters tape, which is the delicate version of what is meant to not peel paint off the walls.

 

Well, when I pulled it off, the tape had left an indent on the finish! I had to use 3000 grit sand paper and swirl remover to polish it out. You could actually feel the impression when you ran your hand over it!

 

So are you confident that this will go away over time? Respectfully, I've heard so many answers to this question I don't know which way is up...

[Unrelenting Les Paul Static... Bad Wiring?]

I think this is not just a Gibson problem. However I will admit my Epiphones (owned three) all were electrostatic painted in the control cavities and pickup routes and that is where I first noticed NOT hearing static or grounding problems. I’d plug in my Gibson and would hear that annoying noise.

 

The electrostatic paint is cheaper than copper and in my opinion easier to apply and use. Good luck hunting ‘the noise’. Believe me it’s annoying.

 

I've read that the electrostatic paint doesn't last overly long. Any experience in that?

[Unrelenting Les Paul Static... Bad Wiring?]

they all do this, SGs Les Pauls, My es-135. I have 6 Gibsons, the only one that doesn't do it is my SJ200. I'm surprised the guys at the store have never noticed before. The only one I had to do something about was the 2002 standard, but once I had all the pots properly grounded, it vastly improved.

 

It really has nothing to do with the QC @ Gibson. The Nitro finish is the culprit.

 

As you said "once I had all the pots properly grounded, it vastly improved"

 

Does this not imply that it DOES have something to do with the QC @ Gibson?

[Unrelenting Les Paul Static... Bad Wiring?]

Here we go again

 

I'm a huge fan of Gibson. I really want this guitar to work, however at the same time I am not afraid to call a product out for being flawed. If I can fix the problem (that many of these have) by adding shielding/grounding than it is obviously something to be concerned with.

 

The next 2500 bucks I have lying around will not be drawn from my pocket buy an instrument that was pushed out the door before it was finished.

 

It's common sense.

[Unrelenting Les Paul Static... Bad Wiring?]

It sounds like you are describing 60 cycle hum that you get from a poor AC ground.

 

Does your LP Classic have P-90's?

 

Do you use a lot of overdrive?

 

Have you tried an AC hum eliminator?

 

see hum eliminator search

 

I use a Ebtech Hum X.

 

You may need to check your cables that they are all in good condition high quality and patch cables as short as possible.

 

It's not the 60 cycle hum I'm referring to, it's crackling and popping from static electricity.

 

My Classic has '57 Classic pups.

 

I went to my local shop today to show my guitar to the tech. He was blown away and never heard of it before. Then we tested a few Gibsons in the shop: a Les Paul Standard, a Les Paul Studio, an Explorer, and a SG... through two different amps.

 

All 4 of the guitars had the same static issues as mine! They were not quite as bad, but they still had it. The tech (and a couple of customers) were shocked (excuse the pun) that they had never heard this before.

 

So at this point I'm going to pull everything apart, add copper shielding and ground to that. I'm in the middle of a very intense course for work, so it will be a couple of weeks before I can get at it.

 

It's pretty sad that I have to finish the production of a 2300 dollar guitar. Without messing with it (like I will have to), it seems the only solution to the problem is to buy a PRS...

[Unrelenting Les Paul Static... Bad Wiring?]

Hi guys, long time guitar owner, but first time on this forum.

 

I have a 2017 Gibson Les Paul Classic (bought it used) and have had constant static electricity problems with it. If you're not familiar, there are many discussions on the topic and videos where just by running your hand up and down the neck, or rubbing your hand across the back (more so over the cavity covers) you can hear popping and crackling through your amp.

 

Gibson themselves recommend that you rub dryer sheets to discharge the guitar. Others recommend increasing the relative humidity as dry air exasperates the problem.

 

Here's the thing, I can get rid of the static, but I can't keep it from coming back. There's not enough dryer sheets made to keep the guitar static free.

 

I friend of mine (who has a PhD in physics) said that it actually sounds like a grounding issue with some of the Gibsons. He said that a dryer sheet essentially chemically coats everything you touch it with positively charged ions, which combines with the electrons statically built up and grounds them. Same as the humidifier, the electrons are grounded through the air. All this because the guitar can't ground itself properly.

 

Has anyone else experienced this? Is there a specific weak spot in the wiring that could be causing this?

 

Thanks! Hopefully this will lead to a good discussion.