Sorry, I can’t remember what the deal with that issue is, whether its normal or a grounding issue.
I have a cheapy Ibanez gio with humbuckers, and its volume pot became loose. So I took the plastic knob off, tightened and accidentally overtightened the nut, buggared it or the thread but got it tight enough to stay in place.
In the meantime I may have knocked the volume pot about in the back of the cavity. It was turning round as I was tightening the nut on the topside, lols.
Amateur hour aside, I finished my but butchery.
Anyway when plugged in to le amp with gain, there is buzzing which does get quieter when I touch the strings.
Hell it could have been like that before, but as I noticed it after I fcked with it, I’m now convinced I’ve made matters worse and somehow messed with the grounding of the guitar.
So final question, if it sounds like the grounding or wiring needs to be checked, is it safe to play in the meantime, or is a bad ground dangerous?
I plug into my pedalboard, powered by a zuma, into a katana.
I did notice if I touch a metal chassis of a pedal or the metal jack connectors on the end of a patch cable, or the zumas metal casing, the buzz subsides as it does when I touch the strings of the guitar.
Fanx all!
The only easy day, was yesterday...
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A bad ground in a guitar is never dangerous, it’s actually the opposite! The danger is from a bad ground in an *amp* leading to the guitar ground becoming the ground path - via you.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Lots of stuff can cause buzzing.. PC fans, fridge motors, dimmer switches, fluorescent lights... All sorts of stuff...
Some people find shielding the cavities helps a bit.
With a grounding issue often when you touch the strings it gets worse. By touching the strings and it getting better it at least shows that your bridge has a ground wire.
If you had single coils it would be way worse (even though I love my P90s).
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That is almost always the most dangerous combination - because the mixing desk (where the mics are connected to via the multicore) is usually at the other end of the room from the stage and so can sometimes be on a different ring main.
The surprising thing to most people is that what makes it so dangerous is the guitar being grounded - because it completes the circuit from the live circuit to the earthed circuit via you. Contrary to popular belief, guitar grounding is not for safety, it’s to reduce noise, and it would be safer for them not to be.
Also, it makes no difference if you use an RCD on your gear, because the earth remains connected. An RCD will stop a fault with the supply to your own amp killing you, but not from another source.
I had a similar shock when I was setting a band up once - between a guitar and a bass with amps plugged in on opposite sides of the stage... I held the bass while the bass player did something and got a shock from it to my guitar which my other hand was resting on. Since then I always remove the direct string ground connection on my instruments by fitting a high-voltage cap in line - that maintains the shielding while preventing shocks, at least from the strings. (The jack and other metal parts are still a risk.)
But don’t worry *too* much - modern electrical regulations are much tighter than they were and it should be very rare to find a venue with this sort of hazard now.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein