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Possible groundwire problem


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My 2010 Firebird was delivered last week and I have noticed a problem and need some advice.

 

Firstly some background we are currently building a house that will be ready in October and in the meanwhile living in an old farmhouse with very suspect 2 pin electricity....

 

When playing my Firebird inside in the evenings, when I not playing and take hands away from the strings there is a distinct hum/buzz however if I plug my $130 SG beater with humbuckers its fine.

 

If I plug in my Firebird out on the porch away from the kitchen which has fluorescent lights then the Firebird is fine.....

 

This is really confusing the guitar is brand new and I doubt it has a ground problem unless it has took a severe knock in transit....

 

Any experienced Firebird owners out there are Firebird pickups less humbucking than full size humbuckers (especially on $130 korean beaters...)

 

This hum/buzz has me baffled....

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I may be wrong and I'm sure the more senior members will call me out if I am. My Les Paul has the same buzz and I believe this is due to the pups being much hotter than your beater guitar. I notice the hum/buzz fades when I play cleaner settings.

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You might be right about that. there are a number of different reasons for hum. I get hum with both Gibson and Fender guitars. It might be the electrical line itself. How much is connected to that line? An older line may not have enough power going though it.

the type of insulation on the older wire. The power maynot be stable. I would suggest that ,if you can, try the guitar and amp somewhere else and see what happens. It could be your cable and your getting noise for the lights. I'd try another line first. There is a reason it happens in that 1 area.the problem is there.

 

 

 

 

 

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Thanks guys we live pretty remote and it aint that simple as just plugging in somewhere else....I have a two hour round trip in the car to a guitar tech but he has another guitar of mine at the moment. So when I pick that up I will take the 'bird with me and let him run his eyes and ears over it there.....

 

As for the Firebird pups being hotter I thought they were supposed to be around 6 or 7k but maybe their humbucking capability is not as pronounced as the full size buckers. What makes it even stranger I have a Zephyr Blues Deluxe with 3 P90's and that don't make a sound.....I am baffled

 

I thought my Gibson would be the safest bet not to hum and buzz......

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It's not your guitar. You probably having a grounding issue (or no ground) on certain outlets. The hum from the fluorescent lights is normal. I had a ton of issues in my house--poor grounding, dimmers.

 

I wouldn't do a thing until you move back into your house. I ended up getting my Les Paul shielded...it is a quiet a mouse now.

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Just a thought here...

 

If you have a tube amp' date=' you might wish to hit the polarity switch to see if that makes a diff.

 

m

[/quote']

 

I have 3 valve amps (see signature) but aint got a clue what a polarity switch is...???

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I picked this up on another forum. There probably should be a polarity switch on your amps - you may wish to check your manuals. My old Fender DR had one, so does my big mid 70s "valve" amp.

 

Said a writer on the other forum: "That switch connects the chassis to one side of the plug or the other, through a capacitor. This is intended to reduce the amount of hum. If the cap is healthy, it will work as intended, but if is shorted, and the polarity switch connects it to the 'hot' side of the plug, the chassis then becomes 'hot'. Which means the jack and the strings of your guitar are at line voltage. Touching anything that is grounded can then KILL you!"

 

I always knew there was a problem if I got zapped by our low-powered by today's standards PA through the mikes while touching my strings. Flip the polarity switch and it was ok. It never killed me, but it made me take notice.

 

It may be listed as a "ground" switch on your amp... I'll wager that at least your older Epi amp has one on the back somewhere.

 

When the three-prong wiring became common in the US, the problem supposedly would have been solved. Supposedly. So... if any of your amps have the switch, it'd almost certainly be on the older Epi. Apparently some newer designs lacked it, although my mid 1970s valve (tube) amp had one.

 

Yet another forum had this note: "The switch actually connects a capacitor between the line and ground or the neutral and ground. This configuration worked for both two prong and three prong plugs, With the three prong, the ground lug was connected to the chassis at all times.

"I remember that prior to three prong plugs, we would reverse the plug at the wall socket. Many an amp had 110 volts sitting on the chassis. Hands on the guitar strings when your mouth accidentally touched the mic was an enlightening experience."

 

That help???

 

m

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Thanks Milod

 

I am not going to start switching polarity on any amps. I have to put this into context....yes the old farm house I am currently temporarily living in has a dodgy electrical system.....The only guitar that hums/buzzes is the most expensive....my Gibson Firebird

 

I will just play my quiet $130 Korean Samick SG beater until I have had my Firebird checked out......

 

Been living here a while and will be here until October then we move into a brand new house with a brand new electrical system.

 

All the times I have played my Sheraton, Zephyr and SG in this house it has not been an issue.....

 

Spend a lot of money on a beautiful Gibson and when I take my hands away from the strings it sounds like a prop in cheap Frankenstein movie....

 

Oh hum......

 

I will just wait and get a good electrician and guitar tech to look things over.....

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Sounds exactly like my problem. I ended rewiring my Les Paul and shielding it. Chasing a hum can be pretty frustrating. It might be something as simple as the wiring on the jack.

 

You guitar, though, it properly grounded. If it wasn't grounded, you would still get a hum when you touched the strings.

 

Gibson does use pretty cheap wiring. A really good tech should be able to help.

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Yeah, you may wanna check the house.

 

I had one that seemed even to have "ghosts" in the hallways at night with sparkling dust motes.

 

Turned out the house was not grounded. Didn't notice it until another issue arose, and we'd have a half dozen computers going simultaneously, pretty much all electric house... But apparently when there was an addition to the house, things were changed around and the ground was not done.

 

Bottom line is we could have been electrocuted and didn't know it.

 

m

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Sounds exactly like my problem. I ended rewiring my Les Paul and shielding it. Chasing a hum can be pretty frustrating. It might be something as simple as the wiring on the jack.

 

You guitar' date=' though, it properly grounded. If it wasn't grounded, you would still get a hum when you touched the strings.

 

[b']Gibson does use pretty cheap wiring. A really good tech should be able to help.[/b]

 

This a brand new 2010 Gibson Firebird.....I would expect to change the harness on a $400 Epiphone......but if you are saying I should expect to change the harness of brand new Gibson that sucks......

 

Yeah' date=' you may wanna check the house.

 

I had one that seemed even to have "ghosts" in the hallways at night with sparkling dust motes.

 

Turned out the house was not grounded. Didn't notice it until another issue arose, and we'd have a half dozen computers going simultaneously, pretty much all electric house... But apparently when there was an addition to the house, things were changed around and the ground was not done.

 

Bottom line is we could have been electrocuted and didn't know it.

 

m

 

[/quote']

 

No PA's, mic's here, just a guitar and one of 3, reasonably small amps, 25watt class A, 10watt, 0.1watt, and as I say the only issue is the Firebird........

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First, I have very little experience with wiring inside homes, so I might be way off. I bet it's just an issue with the wiring in your house. I live in about a 100 year old place, and I used to get all kinds of weird noises when I played. -If my neighbors turned on their vacuum cleaner, I heard it though my amp, if I took my hands off the bridge/strings, I got all kinds of buzzing sometimes. I bought an inexpensive power conditioner (shaped like a power strip) and it really helped with the noises I was experiencing.

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