Confused and lost with issues regarding grounding and shielding

imkeith

imkeith

Banned
Hi it's 2 early in the morning, I've just came to a stop after 4 hours of freagging reading walls after walls of text and watched tons of youtube videos regarding "grounding and shielding". but sadly in which I've simply got even more confused and worn out from fatigue of reading blindly i guess.
After coming across links after links I came across soft and fyi i did use the search function for available threads, but I've really yet to find the issue with my guitar.
Okay hoping that any kind soul out here would be nice enough to not get uber technical as i'd shit bricks after hearin'em.
Yea so erm I'm using an
Ibanez Rg350EX
floating bridge
Problem: When ever i turn on the distort there's that extra horrible humming sound, but if i rest my finger on the strings it goes off, the same when i rest the back of the guitar to my body.

As stated above i've read quite a few sources and they've pointed out the problem could be resolved either by grounding or shielding.
Dont mind me Im really not very familiar with the eletric guitar parts and stuff but I cant really seem to find any info with super strats but instead alot of the examples shown are related to stratos so i was wondering if the info on the web is still applicable to my ibanez?


thanks for the time and the patience :D
 
separate the 2 terms out,

grounding is grounding

shielding is shielding

grounding is not shielding

but shielding involved grounding as well.

The reason why example for shielding mainly deal with strat is because, typical strat is with 3 single coil pickups and single coil pickup will induce hum in general(unless using noiseless pickup).

Be it sheidling a strat or shielding your guitar, the point is to understanding why and how shielding is done. Once you know this, then it doesnt matter whether is it a strat or your guitar. Only thing different is just the guitar model(which doesnt changed the theory and application of shielding)

Same goes to grounding. Knowing why is there a need and how grounding is done. We dont have to care what model of geetar is it. The way to ground is still the same, only thing different is the internal wiring of the pickups, selector switch pots etc.

To explain some of the things, theres no way that we can escape from tehnicality. You will need to have a basic understanding of the working of guitar electronic or at least electronic/electrical theory in general, if not, it will be hard for anyone trying to explain to you and you trying to understand.

anyway, If you have any difficulties trying to understand the info you read online, imho

1) Find a guitar tech(plenty of recommendation in the forum here), arrange a date, bring down your instrument and distortion pedal to him, replicate the same problem you are facing at home, seek his service and advice on the theory and application on grounding and shielding. Even though its a paid service, it will save you lotsa time

2) If dont want to find guitar tech and wanna learn, diy, list down the particular lines/sentences of the info which you dont understand, then perhaps there will be people who can help to explain.
 
Weet ^^^^. I learnt something there~

My grounding issues seems to come and go. Once in a while I get it, my Tele buzzing unless i touch the control plate or knobs. Then after I complain about it, it goes away, with me not realizing it went away until after the rehearsal/performance and when everything silent and I go hmmm wait a minute it healed itself!

Loose solder?
 
i dont think there is nothing wrong with your guitar or circuit... its probably wired in a way such that YOU are the ground when you touch the strings..

im with pathinerain.. just bring it to a tech to re-solder or shield the cavities if necessary...
 
from my understanding now is that this 2 solves unwanted humming noises except for the 60cycle hum which then again im dont really get what that "60 cycle hum"means but i read some stuff they say its just something u have to deal with and it aint gona go away/
but shielding involved grounding as well
Click to expand...
so does this mean shielding should solve the problem?
regarding the wiring and stuff but im not very clear where as to the concept behind the wiring then after researching i find many ppl complaining on the difficulty to get the copper sprays/tape altho there are suggestions of using alluminium foil but i believe its rather weak a material ?
oh btw i did check out SV for sheilding service they said it cost $50 + pick guard shielding is the pricing alright?
and erm is there really a need to sheild the pickguard if so is there any added advantages behind it? or is it just an extra labour ?

Pardon my noobness i really know nuts bout these kinda stuff :(
 
60 cycle hum is technical term. basically your pickup is a magnet that "picks up" vibrations from your guitar strings. It picks up other things as well that contribute to the noise/hum e.g. stage lights especially.

btw.. have u tried using a different dist pedal...?
 
taypeng81 said:
60 cycle hum is technical term. basically your pickup is a magnet that "picks up" vibrations from your guitar strings. It picks up other things as well that contribute to the noise/hum e.g. stage lights especially.

btw.. have u tried using a different dist pedal...?
Click to expand...

my axe and my amp is all i need!! MUAHAHAHHAHA
just kidding haha i dont own any pedals or efx im kinda entry lvl
 
the 60 cylce of hum or to be more accurate, in singapore context, is actually 50 ycle of hum, aka 50 hertz.

To understand where this 50 cycle of hum is coming from , we will have to look at the power supply rating in singapore context, aka 230vac, 50 hertz.

This 50 cycle of hum is invisible, but around us, from the 230vac household voltage supply we are getting. Single coil pickup will pikcup up this invisible frequency and present itself to us, as the hum we hear, for single coil pickup. Other than our main voltage supply, this invisible frequency, is also present in crt monitor, lights etc.

Anyway, if wanna know more, just google for it, theres plenty of info on this 50hz/60z(cycles fo hum) and its the basic of certain engineering text/info.

and the next thing, whether do shielding get rid of the noise and hum.

The thing is you will have to know why and where does the noise and hum originated from

1) If you are using single coil pickup(and not noiseless pickup) then hum is part of the majik of the single coil. You can reduce it, but never totally get rid of it. If you use lotsa distortion, the distortion will "enlarge" whatever small hum into really audible ones.

2) Grounding issue- If not done properly, what will happen is the "touched metal part and hum/noise will be gone" issue. le

these 2 can be the main problem for the noise/hum issue we have.

why would you think that aluminium is a weak material? Anyway, the idea is not whether the material is strong or weak, but in general, conductible(check with multimeter set to continuity). Another thing why copper tape is prefered for the shielding is also because theres a need to solder the ground wire from the guitar bridge to it(shielding involved grounding part is this).

If using aluminium foil or tape, theres no way we can solder the bridge ground wire to it(yes, althought we cant solder, but theres alternative ways to attach the bridge ground to the aluminium foil/tape)

the reason behnd shielding the pickguard plus sheilding the pickup cavity, is to "boxed" up the area where we have the pickup, pots, selector switch, output jack. Shielding is basically creating a box(where we have the guitar electronics contained within) to keep out radio interference and stray frequencies which are invisible, but around us.

In a bigger picture, its creating a faraday cage. Anyway, i have mentioned bout faraday cage in another thread regarding shielding. If wanna more info, just google for micheal faraday, faraday cage etc.

And for 50bucks, imho, just pay for the service. Its actually really really really cheap, if you know how troublesome it can be, to do a good job.
 
yea i learnt bout the faraday cage thingy already just that yea i dont think i can figure out the prob so i guess i think its best i leave it to the techs :(
better have someone screw up my guitar than to screw it up myself haha
erm so with all that said regarding the pickguard am i right to say that pickguard completes the box while the other guitar model w/o pickguards is simply a left open box which sheilds partially ?
 
heh, screwing up few times on own guitar is the key to learn diy-ing.. best way to learn definitely, by screwing up and troubleshooting it..

anyway, depending on the guitar model(whether is it humbucker or singlecoil pickup, induce hum or noisy from within etc), theres no need to shield every guitar out there.

Shielding is always a complete box. Theres no half shielded guitar, coz it will defeat the purpose of shielding. We need a box to contain the guitar eletronics and block out the frequencies. If theres theres any opening, its as good as no shielding at all.
 
gsonique said:
Its the freakin amp ....or whatever crap you got guitar plug'd into.... oh my goodness !!!
Click to expand...

i just changed the 2pin to a 3pin but there's still that hum especially when i nearly turn the gain to the max fyi im using a 20w laney
err but there's something diff now by touching matter parts of the guitar it doesnt stop the noisy alr but touching the string works

any clue anyone ?
 
You changed the pin but does it have a three core wire ???

Tube or solid state ?

Distortion from amp or pedal?
 
Last edited:
heh, yes, i have a clue

arrange a date with any recommended guitar tech you have in mind and bring the instrument to them to check, change or upgrade anything you wanna.

Guessing in forum is not going to solve any problem nor efficient at all.

we can give a list of thngs for you to play with/check, but sadly, we dont have the guitar right infront of us to tinker with, so theres still no way to know, what happen.

So yeah, arranged a date bring the geetar to the tech. Solve the problem by starting in the right direction!

Rock on!
 
PatheinRaindropMoe said:
heh, yes, i have a clue

arrange a date with any recommended guitar tech you have in mind and bring the instrument to them to check, change or upgrade anything you wanna.

Guessing in forum is not going to solve any problem nor efficient at all.

we can give a list of thngs for you to play with/check, but sadly, we dont have the guitar right infront of us to tinker with, so theres still no way to know, what happen.

So yeah, arranged a date bring the geetar to the tech. Solve the problem by starting in the right direction!

Rock on!
Click to expand...

i just brought my guitar down to SV mike said there was nothing wrong and told me to get my amp grounded with 3pin, but the condition pretty much the same i cant go full with the distort or volume via the amp's control

guitar tech from? i had some bad experience with techs... so yea..
hoping it wouldnt be exp or atleast the problem would be solve sigh
 
Hey Keith, if i were you i wouldnt bother trying to go full on distortion or volume. your 20W Laney is low voltage and there isnt enough headroom for you to blast at full. I would roll back the knobs to a level where my distortion does not actually become unwanted noise.. Hope that helps!
 
rock-fied said:
Hey Keith, if i were you i wouldnt bother trying to go full on distortion or volume. your 20W Laney is low voltage and there isnt enough headroom for you to blast at full. I would roll back the knobs to a level where my distortion does not actually become unwanted noise.. Hope that helps!
Click to expand...

oh i thought it was possible so it's normal that it doesnt hit the max?
but even the clean w/o distort it cant reach the max :( if gets all hummy and squeally
 
The same theory applies, have the clean stay around 6-8 o'clock at most.. try playing any 10-20W amp at full vol clean, you're bound to have some 'natural' overdrive haha.. in some cases if the amp really, well to put it, sucks.. it may even hum. Which is what is happening in your case. And what are you doing trying to crank your volume up! You do know there is a volume knob on your guitar right, keep that one at max!
 
rock-fied said:
The same theory applies, have the clean stay around 6-8 o'clock at most.. try playing any 10-20W amp at full vol clean, you're bound to have some 'natural' overdrive haha.. in some cases if the amp really, well to put it, sucks.. it may even hum. Which is what is happening in your case. And what are you doing trying to crank your volume up! You do know there is a volume knob on your guitar right, keep that one at max!
Click to expand...

yea i kinda notice what i did is kinda not orthodox haha i simply assumed that i could just go full distort haha good think i came across this forum, god knows i might have blown my amp to to smithereens smokes :x
hmm do most ppl keep their guitar volume knob at the max? cos normally i keep it like a quarter or half while i up the amps instead
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
Guitar Lessons - Beginner and Fingerstyle
Replies
0
Views
240
caguitar
C
W
Band Looking for Bassist and Vocalist
Replies
0
Views
154
whatever
W
L
Keyboardist and vocalist wanted
Replies
6
Views
841
linkinmind
L
M
Rock Band Looking for Vocalist to Write and Record With
Replies
0
Views
2K
MTaleon
M
A
FS: Sire P7 Tobacco Sunburst
Replies
0
Views
2K
AyselChin
A

Latest posts

Share this page

Back
Top