Details52 Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 I just purchased a brand new Gibson LP Traditional Pro in Vintage Sunburst. It is a beautiful creature and the sounds that come out of her are amazing. I just have one problem. I am picking up a horrible buzz that sounds to me like a short in something. I thought it was my practice amp and cables. So in order to make my LP reach its potential I went out and bought a brand new Peavy Classic 30 tube amp and high quality cables. Once again, I am highly impressed with the sound. However, the buzz is still present when the guitar is at rest. It will stop when I either touch 1 string or touch the washer on my guitar's input plate. I am new to electric. Is this something that I should turn in for warranty or is it something that I have to live with. Its not real loud but it is annoying. Thank you in advance. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZuWa Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Are you using pedals or going straight into your amp? Try moving your amp and guitar well away from your computer and fluorescent lights. Try plugging into a different outlet in a different part of your house as sometimes outlets are wired improperly. Also, try facing different directions and see if the buzz fades in and out as you move. Your guitar is properly grounded if the buzz goes away when you touch the strings so the problem is noise is getting in elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Details52 Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 I am going straight to the amp most of the time. Im still learning and getting the feel of the electric world after 10 years on my acoustic. Trying to add a new dimension to my music (I'm country and western mostly). I have noticed that the buzz will change as I walk around and turn in different directions. The sound does not really increase in volume when sitting idle. I have heard that with a few guitars over the years. Do you think it is just the interference in my house? It is a new house so the wiring should be good. But I am a gadget guy, so there is wifi, tv's, computers, etc... I attached a pic. Probably just cause I love this thing. Ive always wanted one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZuWa Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 The pickups on your Traditional are uncovered and that will let noise in. The pickup covers are there to prevent exactly what you are describing. Try moving to a room without computers and fluorescent or neon lights and let us know what happens. I've had a ground wire come loose in my controls once and the hum was so bad the guitar was unplayable until I fixed it. It doesn't seem that you have that severe of a problem. I've also had a ground wire making a poor contact to the stoptail from the controls but when that happened touching the strings did not make the hum go away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 There's nothing wrong with it. It's going to buzz till you touch the string or other metal parts that are connected to ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renegade6 Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Agree with Warren_Z being external interference ie TVs, computers, etc. I experienced the same Issue (to include an iritating tick,tick,tick...that got louder the closer my hand was to the pick up. Then realized I was wearing my wrist watch). I run a Boss NS 2 in between my guitar and amps which helps significantly (as well as taking off my watch) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZuWa Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 I was rehearsing with my band once at a studio we had used for years. We couldn't get any of our usual rooms that night so we used a small room we hadn't booked before. My Tele was humming so bad the band wanted to kill me. I had to stand like a statue, facing a certain way, to get through the first few songs. I inspected the room for what could be causing the problem and I found it. The room we had booked contained a large electric panel, containing all of the circuit breakers for the studio. It was behind sound-proofing so we didn't know it was there. I got as far away from it as I could, and we got through the rehearsal. We never booked that room again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angellus Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 sounds like ground earth issue to me if it was the earth from your mains it would buzz regardless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvar Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Sorry, but as you say you are new to electric, I have to ask: Since this is a Trad Pro, are you in single coil mode? in other words, are the volume pots pulled up? Those on the Trad pro are push-pull pots- up for single coil- down for humbucking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Details52 Posted January 16, 2012 Author Share Posted January 16, 2012 Im not that super new to it. I get the same buzz when I have the pots in or out. I did a little experimenting last night. The buzz stops when I touch any metal piece of the guitar. i.e. tuners, bridge, pickup mounts. I did get louder and more quiet as I turn and walk around. It seems like the further I get from the amp, the louder the buzz gets. Like I said, its not extremely bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZuWa Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Im not that super new to it. I get the same buzz when I have the pots in or out. I did a little experimenting last night. The buzz stops when I touch any metal piece of the guitar. i.e. tuners, bridge, pickup mounts. I did get louder and more quiet as I turn and walk around. It seems like the further I get from the amp, the louder the buzz gets. Like I said, its not extremely bad. You must be walking toward the source of interference when you notice it getting louder. Look around - start turning lights and electronic equipment off (except for your amp :) ) and see if the problem goes away. Compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) generate noise and standard rod style fluorescent lights have ballasts that can be very noisy especially if they start to go bad. Try shutting off everything you can - play in the dark - no computer - no cell phone/wireless/wifi - no TV - and see if it stops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Details52 Posted January 16, 2012 Author Share Posted January 16, 2012 I will def do that Warren. Since its a new house, every light is a CFL and I never thought about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CajunBlues Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Im not that super new to it. I get the same buzz when I have the pots in or out. I did a little experimenting last night. The buzz stops when I touch any metal piece of the guitar. i.e. tuners, bridge, pickup mounts. I did get louder and more quiet as I turn and walk around. It seems like the further I get from the amp, the louder the buzz gets. Like I said, its not extremely bad. Ground issue.... Check all the ground connections in your cavity... If you don't know how to do that, have a technician do it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Do not open your guitar and start digging through the wiring. There is no ground issue. There is nothing wrong with the guitar. You have a noisy power system in your house. Transformers, florescent lights, dimmers, TVs. All these things create noise and when you take your hands off the strings (or other grounded metal parts of the guitar) it will buzz even though it has humbuckers. You can buy a 15 or 20 foot cord and walk about the room to see where the noise is less prevalent but the cure is to not take your hands off the guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Details52 Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 I did my trouble shooting. LP on different rig gives same result. Talked to the guitar tech, he said it sounds like the normal buzz that comes from an electric. He would still like to check the grounds just to be sure. Thank you all for the advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 That's for letting us know what it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Issaquah99 Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Do not open your guitar and start digging through the wiring. There is no ground issue. There is nothing wrong with the guitar. You have a noisy power system in your house. Transformers, florescent lights, dimmers, TVs. All these things create noise and when you take your hands off the strings (or other grounded metal parts of the guitar) it will buzz even though it has humbuckers. You can buy a 15 or 20 foot cord and walk about the room to see where the noise is less prevalent but the cure is to not take your hands off the guitar. The problem I have is my kids $99 squire is perfectly quite. I plug my $2000 gibson into the exact same setup, same room, lights are off and I get the horrible buzz. Touching the strings does reduce is but this seems unfortunate. I have push/pull volume knobs and when I pull them out it gets even worse. Sadly it seems to be the same response from everyone one, so I'm guessing it correct but I just can't get over the cleaner sounds from my kids $99 squire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderchild Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 My house is over 50 yrs old and none of the outlets are grounded. Every elec. guitar I own {9} hums when it's plugged into any amp I have {10 of them}. When I touch the strings the hum goes away. I play out and plug my amp into a grounded outlet...clean & quiet. I would change outlets or even rooms and check that before I'd tear into a brand new guitar. {congrats, she's a beauty} Good Luck, TC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Issaquah99 Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I wasn't one of them, and I'm no guitar wiring expert, but there is something wrong with this picture..... When I first tested my Dot after replacing the pots, switch and jack, it worked but had a bad hum. I discovered a bad solder joint and redid it. Hum gone. Would the hum become less if you touched the strings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Check to make sure, if your house has any flourescent light dimmers, that they're all either turned all the way off or all the way on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 The problem I have is my kids $99 squire is perfectly quite. I plug my $2000 gibson into the exact same setup, same room, lights are off and I get the horrible buzz. Touching the strings does reduce is but this seems unfortunate. I have push/pull volume knobs and when I pull them out it gets even worse. Sadly it seems to be the same response from everyone one, so I'm guessing it correct but I just can't get over the cleaner sounds from my kids $99 squire. The OP stated that his guitar hummed only when his hands were off the strings of his Les Paul but the guitar was silent when he touched the strings. Silent.... This is normal. There is no problem to fix. Every hum issue is unique. I can't tell you why your $2000 Gibson hums on the same rig and in the same room as your sons silent $99 Squire without seeing all the factors. Could be that you have a ground issue on the Gibson. Could be that the Squire has such a weak output that the buzz is not noticeable. Could be any of an almost infinite number of possible issues . What I can tell you is that my $2000 Gibson Country Gentlemen has only the slightest hum on my 30W 1961 Premier Club Bass combo when my hands are on the strings but my $140 active Squire jazz bass buzzes to high hell if I solo either pickup on that same amp in that same room. This is normal. There is no one proper fix for buzzing and humming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldBlue&Blondie Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 I use a noise reducer. Helps, especially with my strat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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