Unrelenting Les Paul Static... Bad Wiring?

[budglo]

Shielding the covers and pick guard did not help me. It wasn’t until I shielded the cavities as well did the static problem go away. Now it is dead silent.

[William Baerga]

Hey All 

I believe I found the answer and a fix for the static problem on Gibson guitars it has nothing to do with the Finish on the Guitar or the pickups
the first thing is you have to do is shield the entire guitar control cavity, switch cavity, jack cavity the plastic on the jack             

the switch plate  the pickup cavity neck and Bridge I mean all of it also you then have to check continuity with a multi meter there are videos on you tube that show you how to shield your guitar

now once this is all done if you have Gibson original controls in your cavity there are wires that are on the  claw that 

have to be corrected the wires that are coming from the switch have to be redone, the thin Black wire has to be by itself

on the left prong if you have two wires connected to that prong meaning the black and a ground you must remove the bare wire

now once you remove the Bare wire you must connect it with the green wire that is on the right side of the prong with the black wire that is coming from the jack

the bare wire sometimes has a yellow shielding on it you must braid them together and connect to the prong on the right 

before you put back your cavity cover check all your connections to make sure no other wires came loose or disconnected 

the plug your Guitar and check to make sure its working properly meaning Volume and tone for both pickups if so then put your covers back on making

Sure the the screws tighten up and they are not stripped if so use a toothpick insert it in the screw hold and break it off as close as possible

the put the cover back and screw it down to make contact.  now with your meter check to see if all the screws are grounded if not make sure you overlapped your shielding

properly is so plug in your guitar and give a test run making it's all working the rub your hand all up and down the back of the neck and back of your guitar

you should be static free and the guitar should be quite when you let go of the strings

Good luck hope this works it did for me. it should look like this.

thank you 

 

   

[badbluesplayer]

9 hours ago, William Baerga said:

Hey All 

I believe I found the answer and a fix for the static problem on Gibson guitars it has nothing to do with the Finish on the Guitar or the pickups
the first thing is you have to do is shield the entire guitar control cavity, switch cavity, jack cavity the plastic on the jack             

the switch plate  the pickup cavity neck and Bridge I mean all of it also you then have to check continuity with a multi meter there are videos on you tube that show you how to shield your guitar

now once this is all done if you have Gibson original controls in your cavity there are wires that are on the  claw that 

have to be corrected the wires that are coming from the switch have to be redone, the thin Black wire has to be by itself

on the left prong if you have two wires connected to that prong meaning the black and a ground you must remove the bare wire

now once you remove the Bare wire you must connect it with the green wire that is on the right side of the prong with the black wire that is coming from the jack

the bare wire sometimes has a yellow shielding on it you must braid them together and connect to the prong on the right 

before you put back your cavity cover check all your connections to make sure no other wires came loose or disconnected 

the plug your Guitar and check to make sure its working properly meaning Volume and tone for both pickups if so then put your covers back on making

Sure the the screws tighten up and they are not stripped if so use a toothpick insert it in the screw hold and break it off as close as possible

the put the cover back and screw it down to make contact.  now with your meter check to see if all the screws are grounded if not make sure you overlapped your shielding

properly is so plug in your guitar and give a test run making it's all working the rub your hand all up and down the back of the neck and back of your guitar

you should be static free and the guitar should be quite when you let go of the strings

Good luck hope this works it did for me. it should look like this.

thank you 

 

   

Cant really see your pic, but what you did has nothing to do with the issue of static buildup on the finish.  What you're doing there is a solution to a completely different problem.  

[Vistavette]

I bought a new 2020 Les Paul Standard 60s and the static is driving me nuts.  My $300 Harley Benton is silent, but my $2,000 LP pops and cracks.   Unreal that Gibson doesn't care and can keep selling guitars like this.  I tried getting a hold of somebody at Gibson, I sat on hold for literally an hour. Got disconnected, called back, sat on hold and finally got somebody who said to bring it to guitar center for warranty work. I took it to guitar there, they confirmed the noise and said they had to contact Gibson. Their contact at Gibson never responded. They cc'd me on a few emails, but they never heard back. The store I bought it from offered to have me ship it back to them at their cost, which I did. They got it and said they never heard anything wrong and sent it back to me. So, I have essentially a brand new Les Paul with static and pops and nothing I can do about it other than start investigating shielding etc. Such a major disappointment. I can't believe Gibson allows guitars out like this.

Edited April 13, 2021 by Vistavette

[kidblast]

59 minutes ago, Vistavette said:

I bought a new 2020 Les Paul Standard 60s and the static is driving me nuts.  My $300 Harley Benton is silent, but my $2,000 LP pops and cracks.   Unreal that Gibson doesn't care and can keep selling guitars like this.  I tried getting a hold of somebody at Gibson, I sat on hold for literally an hour. Got disconnected, called back, sat on hold and finally got somebody who said to bring it to guitar center for warranty work. I took it to guitar there, they confirmed the noise and said they had to contact Gibson. Their contact at Gibson never responded. They cc'd me on a few emails, but they never heard back. The store I bought it from offered to have me ship it back to them at their cost, which I did. They got it and said they never heard anything wrong and sent it back to me. So, I have essentially a brand new Les Paul with static and pops and nothing I can do about it other than start investigating shielding etc. Such a major disappointment. I can't believe Gibson allows guitars out like this.

we've all had to deal with this, it's the nitro finish,  and yes, it can drive you insane.

I have 6 Gibsons, they've all done this to one degree or another as the nitro slowly  cures, it will start to go away.

I'm not saying not to be pissed, I am saying I learned to live with it.

[NighthawkChris]

Do people understand the difference between static and EMI? Shielding is what helps EMI, not static. I don’t understand why people shield when they are trying to fix static issues... Static is when you build up a charge and touch something conductive at lower energy level (potential) to discharge. How does shielding fix that I wonder? I’m guessing it doesn’t do a thing. 

@kidblast I agree with your previous comment here to just live with it. It goes away and never noticed this crap before until I started commenting on this forum. Apparently there’s YouTube videos about it and all sorts of crap. I’m not buying it though and actually believe shielding a guitar GENERALLY to be a waste of effort. I’ve never seen a guitar before and after that has been shielded correctly make a HUGE difference. Fenders, Gibsons, etc. 

Edited April 14, 2021 by NighthawkChris

[kidblast]

34 minutes ago, NighthawkChris said:

I’m not buying it though and actually believe shielding a guitar GENERALLY to be a waste of effort. I’ve never seen a guitar before and after that has been shielded correctly make a HUGE difference. Fenders, Gibsons, etc. 

@NighthawkChris yea, kind of with you here.. shielding can help to tame down the 60 cycle buzzing from single coils in strats and teles, but it's still going to be audible to some degree.  It's just what single coil pickups do.  It won't do a thing to reduce or eliminate static that Vistavette is asking about. 

The Harley Benton mentioned,  is finished with Polyurethane,  those kind of finishes will never have this problem.

Try a "used once" anti static dryer sheet and rub the surface areas on the back of the body and neck, you'll probably notice it's not as bad.

I agree it's discouraging when you drop a load of cash down on a new Les Paul, but there's really nothing wrong with it.   it's annoying,... but it's harmless.

 

 

Edited April 14, 2021 by kidblast

[rct]

Shielding became a thing in the 90's when everyone started sitting 5 feet from their Commodore 9000 trying to upload 32 second clips of themselves wanking over canned midi rhythm sections and discovered that computers are giant noise machines.  Shielding has never helped an actual guitar player actually using an actual guitar in the actual places in the actual way they are actually used.  But MAN people bit down hard on that one!  lolz

Static was never a problem or an issue until the internet gave audience to people that never actually use guitars they just buy them and study them and compare them to everyone else on the internet who is doing the same thing.  It's static.  Get over it, just like the guitar will.

Those two things are my experience and are not at all intended to hurt anyones feelings.

rct

[kidblast]

32 minutes ago, rct said:

Static was never a problem or an issue until the internet gave audience to people that never actually use guitars they just buy them and study them and compare them to everyone else on the internet who is doing the same thing.  It's static.  Get over it, just like the guitar will.

Those two things are my experience and are not at all intended to hurt anyones feelings.

rct

well c'mon now,, if it's on the inner'net it has to be true??? 

Shielding at it's best it takes that 60 cycle buzz done from 10 to about 8.5... that's about it..  it's really not worth the trouble.   

[SteveFord]

It must be my breath or something but I've never had a static issue with a Gibson.

I've had output jacks with problems and pots with issues but no static.

[NighthawkChris]

I get a crackle on probably all of my LPs when I rub my hand behind the pickups - back of guitar. And I once bought a new LP Classic that crackled when I touched the strings so I believe the whole nitro-static thing, but it must get better because I buy used nearly all the time; few years old guitars don’t get plagued with any static issues whatsoever. 

And that static is iconic stuff don’t you know?

[SteveFord]

I feel gypped.

To make up for it, my  Marshall DSL40 does make weird oceanic noises every so often and the push buttons on the front seldom function.

[kidblast]

8 minutes ago, SteveFord said:

I feel gypped.

To make up for it, my  Marshall DSL40 does make weird oceanic noises every so often and the push buttons on the front seldom function.

sounds like a blast or two of Deoxit is in your future. 

I have a DSL 40 combo too,  I dig it,  I'm gassing big time for the 100wat head and a 2x12 marshal cab.

Need has nothing to do with it either..  🙂

[wlb]

I have 3 Gibsons. a 30 year ES-335, a 2017 Les Paul Standard T,  a 2019 Junior DC. They all crackle with static. None my Fenders or PRS guitars have static....not even my Elite Strat, which is said to be a 'nitro' finish.

[Pinch]

Ignorance is bliss. I remember back when I just... played. 

*Breaks into "Memory"* "Life was beautiful theeen..." 

(The Asparagus Rex is the only dinosaur capable of singing songs from musicals. And boy, do we get a ribbing from the T. Rexes about that.)

[Sgt. Pepper]

5 hours ago, Pinch said:

Ignorance is bliss. I remember back when I just... played. 

*Breaks into "Memory"* "Life was beautiful theeen..." 

(The Asparagus Rex is the only dinosaur capable of singing songs from musicals. And boy, do we get a ribbing from the T. Rexes about that.)

How do they get the microphone up to their mouths with those little baby arms?

[kidblast]

3 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

How do they get the microphone up to their mouths with those little baby arms?

why head set mics of course!  

[Pinch]

35 minutes ago, kidblast said:

why head set mics of course!  

That's it! 

I, um, think... 

[merciful-evans]

On 4/14/2021 at 1:41 PM, SteveFord said:

It must be my breath or something but I've never had a static issue with a Gibson.

I've had output jacks with problems and pots with issues but no static.

 

Same here. Small easy fix signal issues only. I've only had two Gibsons mind, though both were bought new (2015). It just seems another reason not to use nitro. I know that is not a realistic option, but it wouldn't bother me at all.

[rct]

2 hours ago, merciful-evans said:

 

Same here. Small easy fix signal issues only. I've only had two Gibsons mind, though both were bought new (2015). It just seems another reason not to use nitro. I know that is not a realistic option, but it wouldn't bother me at all.

Polyester is just as bad, some think it is even worse, but it dissipates faster.  Look at old pictures of my old teles, we would cut out the pickguard loop around the control plate so the plastic didn't touch the metal.  It worked, it did simmer down the static, but man we were dumb.  All we had to do was wait a while.

rct

[NighthawkChris]

@rct, you mean polyurethane right? 

[Pinch]

52 minutes ago, NighthawkChris said:

@rct, you mean polyurethane right? 

Polyester is pretty bad too. 

[kidblast]

4 hours ago, Pinch said:

Polyester is pretty bad too. 

hey now...

I have a few powder blue leisure suits that resent that remark!!  !LOL!

[rct]

5 hours ago, NighthawkChris said:

@rct, you mean polyurethane right? 

<Peter Sellers>

Yes, that's what I said.

</Peter Sellers>

 

[Pinch]

1 hour ago, kidblast said:

hey now...

I have a few powder blue leisure suits that resent that remark!!  !LOL!

Leisure Suit Larry ruled.