I'm always amazed at the comments for such an old video! I stated a while back that I agreed with many of you in that I thought the issue was a ground wire going to the bridge post (missing or broken), but this was NOT the issue. I took ALL the wire out and re-wired the entire guitar and the guitar is very quiet now. I believe it was likely just a poor wiring job/cold solder joints that was the issue. I could never pinpoint the exact joint, so I just re-did the entire wiring. I'll have to post a follow-up video to illustrate how it sounds now. Thanks for the questions and comments!
Stephen Lima So is it fixed? Only asking cause I saw so many "suggestions" here... for example, saying that the ground wire going for post was broken... if it was, it shouldn't do a damn thing to that noise, but it did when you touched the strings right?
He stated above that he resoldered all of his connections and the noise is largely gone, I have this problem with the tone control of a guitar I just built.
(disregard my bit about asking if you fixed - hadn't made my way down through the comments yet. it's a shame your vid hadn't popped up sooner, or your followup if you made it. that would have been SO helpful!!! ---rewire the damn thing. lol)
Also 5 years late. Despite some of the pundits claiming that shielding humbucker equipped guitars does nothing, shielding does work. If the noise bothers you enough, shielding paint works very well, even the cheaper carbon based stuff when properly applied. But I would not use it on a Les Paul or other expensive guitar. Use copper tape that has a conductive adhesive. It's removable unlike the paint. Need to be thorough and do the main control cavity, switch cavity and pickup cavities as well as the back of the covers. And, the top of the pot and switch cavity edges so the foil on the covers makes contact when they are re-installed. Of course it's a moot point if you cannot pull the electronics yourself unless you are willing to pay a tech.
My Les Paul Standard 2012 with push/pull pups also hummed and buzzed everytime I was not touching the strings or any metal part of it. I did a test, connecting it to a battery powered amplifier (Roland AC 33) and it didn't make any noise, so the noise that the guitar made when the amplifier was connected to electricity was not (just) the guitar, but the electrical installation , namely a groundless plug to which the amplifier was connected. I connected the amplifier to a GROUNDED plug and the guitar is SILENT. However, it is also true that my Fender Telecaster connected to the same amplifier and on the groundless plug is silent, which also proves that my Les Paul pickups (burstbucker) are more sensitive to electrical interference (and much more powerfull). My advice is, take the battery powered amplifier test before opening the guitar (shielding or something else), and if the guitar is SILENT, try to connect your usual amplifier to a good grounded plug or other plug in the house. Good luck!
I've done a lot or rewires/mods in my day throughout my career as a musician. I've done work for friends, bandmates, and others from word of mouth. I have never had an issue wiring guitars/basses, etc. Never had a problem with ground/hum like this. Until an actual Les Paul fell into my lap to do for someone. The guy wanted a treble bleed. but I could not get the hum to go away. So thinking it was something I may have goofed, and almost $200 worth of parts later, I gutted it in pure frustration trying to figure it out. I still have yet to get it to stop. I'm about to give it back and say burn the piece of shit.
My brand new guitar has hum when I do not touch the strings, but not my 16-year-old guitar using the same cable, both have humbuckers, and amp with no peddles just the cable from guitar to amp. I am stumped, but after testing grounding etc... I bet it is the humbuckers being different, but I have no idea.
I have 500T with treble-bleed, too. It has coil-split options. The crazy thing is it's noisier with the humbuckers than the single coils. The added buzz of the humbuckers are greater than the 60s single coil hum.
@@waranghira I found my issue a few weeks ago and it was a bad wire from ground to the bridge. I measured the resistances and every wire was 0 (direct short) but this one was 0.4ish. Replaced it with a 22awg wire and hum is gone.
@@waranghira I have the Identical problem with my les paul classic I just bought. My other guitars are clear and quiet. Way too much money to be dealing with this
@@toneleudy most likely same case with @generalawareness101 . A case of a bad ground wire (Haven't have, yet, checked mine if same). But yeah, you justifiably shouldn't have to deal with that if you paid for an actual Les Paul Classic.
I had the same problems years ago. Two issues: The Les Paul probably has an ungrounded bridge. It is relaying static to the pickups. When you touch the strings, the static discharges through your body and the noise diminishes. However, your AMP should discharge most of this static down the grownded power plug (to your house's ground wiring). My amp had a ungrownded power plug (two prongs). I replaced it with a new 3-prong plug (Home Depot) and the noise was gone for good. ( I did NOTHING to the guitar.)Good luck...
thanks, will try in the house... I noticed that when I practice at home with a speaker on a table & power plugged frm an extension power brick, the same noise is always present.. but whenever I bring my LP in Church to play, I realised that that noise disappear... will try your tip at home then :)
Same experience: when I play my les paul just via my multi-fx and earphones there is hum, because it is not grounded. When playing at the amp, there is no hum.
I have the same problem that you are describing with the amp power cord. The power cord is a 2 prong plug & 2 wire cord that is hard wired to the amp unit rather than a 3 prong plug and a 3 wire cord that plugs into the amp. Like a computer power supply does. The amp is a Pyle PVAMP 60, it was $ 70 brand new, so it's not like the most expensive name brand you can buy from the traditional brands you would see at a Guitar/Music store. The guitar itself is the Epiphone Les Paul Special I P90. The guitar itself on a higher end amp is quiet, since the Pyle is a practice amp I can play clean and at lower volumes and it's not a big issue. I think if I paid more for the amp and was performing with it, this would be unacceptable. But since it's a practice amp and played at low volumes, it adds character, kind of like a buzzing ballast for a florescent light, like a vintage 1970's amp ?
The beauty of the Epiphone LP Special I P90 is that the bridge is a single piece that the strings go in from the front, then wrap over the bridge and up to the tuning knobs. It really feels more comfortable just resting my wrist on the bridge and the noise goes away. The 2 P90s being single coil units have some hum inherently because they are single coil pickups. But with both pickups active the 2 P90s generally act like hum buckers with dual coils. So I can live with the amp & the un-grounded bridge. The wrap over bridge is simpler and there is no penalty to resting your strumming, plucking & picking wrist/hand on the bridge like other guitars. You can see the differences: images.samash.com/sa/G08/G08790391.fpx?cvt=jpg vs static.music123.com//derivates/18/001/658/154/DV016_Jpg_Large_H77433.002_worn_TV_yellow_bridge.jpg
I have had my lespaul studio for half my life. Recently refinished it and installed gibson super 57 classics set. All grounds are connected. I even shielded the cavitys... Still humming exactly like this
feels silly commenting on such an old video but for anyone looking here for quick solution... when the noise stops when you touch the strings, this usually means a grounding issue with the bridge not being connected. shielding as described in video if more to deter radio interference like from an old nokia. these days using wifi cables such as nux etc can actually solve the problem. but this case is also pretty dangerous as can lead to electric shocks through the amp.. another sidenote ive found to be wary of is that cheaper nicklepated chrome pieces often may not have good continuity especially as they age. so while the screws may not be plated, they may not be making full connection with a poorly chromed bridge to even reach the signal of the strings. this can happen with cheap strats etc too specially hard tails. noiseless red neutrik connectors definitely help here too. but best not to use one if fixing somebody elses guitar because they might find problems you missed when they use their regular cable. the shielding would have helped if the sides were also lined to make contact with the cover plate and not just wired to. all the cavities such as where the tone switch is need to be wired together for full grounding continuity.
I'm dealing with exactly this with my old BC Rich. My old Kramer, and new Dean are silent as death, but the Warlock is noisy af. I don't know much about electronics, but I understand the basics of guitar wiring, and, as far as I can tell, it's wired correctly.
Hi everyone, this video keeps getting comments. I posted this 8 years ago... LOL. I have a new account now (hammers and chords). But the ANSWER is simply that guitar was noisy. I did re-wire it with a simple set-up and is was quieter, but the point is WHEN YOU TOUCH THE STRINGS AND THE HUM GOES AWAY IT IS NOT, NOT, NOT A GROUND PROBLEM. If you have persistent hum that doesn't go away THAT is a ground problem.
My Epiphone les paul 50's standard gold top does have a ground issue i think. When I touch any metal part it gets even noisier. The wiring looks good. No disconnected ground wires or anything. Only thing I can think of is that mine isn't shielded on the inside walls either and maybe that is it. (I bought this guitar used in excellent condition from Ebay)
Overlapping pieces of aluminium foil may not provide proper continuity, and therefore grounding, as it is very unlikely to have conductive adhesive. I've had great success with self-adhesive copper foil (you can get it from luthier suppliers). Just make sure that it is real copper foil tape, some look like copper but may be made from a type of metalised plastic: always check for electrical continuity using a test meter! Even if it is advertised as having conductive adhesive, it is always better if any overlapping pieces are connected electrically using small blobs of solder (you can also do this on the rear of pickguards as well: the soldering iron will only be in contact with the copper foil for a couple of seconds). It is very important that the copper tape in the controls cavity overlaps the guitar top in at least two places, specifically where pickguard screws will be able to hold the pickguard and cavity layers of tape together, and therefore provide a reliable electrical connection. Finally; to correctly earth the copper foil to the common ground point on the rear of the volume control, use a short length of wire with a ring terminal soldered to one end: secure this to the copper tape using a small brass round-head woodscrew (best to drill a suitable sized pilot hole in the side of the control cavity, as the wood may be difficult to screw into). After fitting the copper tape, always remember to check that the earth wire connected to the bridge is refitted, and making good contact. If you do screen any other cavities in the guitar body, remember that these all need to be connected to the rear of the volume pot, otherwise they will not work properly. And NEVER, EVER disconnect the earth connection to your amp just to try to reduce earth-loop hum: the earth connection is there for your safety!
There should be a ground wire from the lower tail piece insert to the back of one of the pots( the neck volume pot) to ground the tailpiece saddle and strings. That wire can be broken or missing causing this problem. Take a VOM and measure the resistance from the outside of the jack. That is ground, to the tail piece. If you do not have a short, 1ohm or less that is your problem or part of it. As it is when you touch the strings and the noise goes away your body is acting as a shield and filtering the 60hz radiation from the guitar. You have to pull the insert and add a wire or repair the wire that is there to correct this.
If that guitar has split coils on it's circuit (and I asume yes because of those push pull pots on it), turn around the magnet of one of the pickups could helo to solve that hum/buzz issue, depending of the pups combinations. I think this because is so weird that level of noise in humbuckers.
just wondering if you ever got to the bottom of the big hum problem. I also have a big hum problem on my les paul when not touching the strings, and grounding is perfect with no faults, but the humbuckers are not wax potted and there is no shielding because its a standard 60. It also has a lot of static when I touch the back of the guitar body. My other guitars don't have this problem.
@@pipespeeps5349 sort of, it just disappeared, so its back to being quiet like before. I don't know what happened, but for quite a few months there was constant buzzing, and I didn't change anything, still same pedal board into a Marshall, or Vox or boss katana. even helix floor had buzz and also my line 6 dt25 which is in a different room. for months it kept buzzing and driving me crazy, but almost 2 weeks ago it stopped. I really don't know what it was, and tried a battery powered amp, and there was still some buzz, like when I went direct into dirt channel of Marshall or boss katana. I never tried my guitar in another location outside of the home, to see if it was my electrics, because it didn't seem like the same electrical hum I'd get sometimes depending on how I plug things in. Though I am wondering If I was some static charge with me, due to something, because there is now no static when I touch the back of the guitar, the guitar is just like all my others, its a joy to play again. something you could try, lay your guitar down on a bed or floor, and see if there is still that hum, next thing would be to unplug everything and go direct to the amp, just to try rule out something on your pedal board, then maybe take your guitar to a different location. This still has me scratching my head because I can't recreate it.
@@JimmyKay1976 hope you figured it out but if not then you can screw a screw from the wiring cavity to the direction of the bridge, and once it is touching stop and solder a wire to the screw. Unless its already wired which it should be. can tell if it is or not by touching the strings. if the hum goes away, then its doing what it should.
My Epiphone Les Paul Custom Blackback got the JP mod with 4 push-pull pots and Seymour Duncan pups, and I got the same hum noise. The hum goes away when I touch any conductive part in the signal chain, from strings, guitar jack, cable plug housing, amp metal switch, to even headphone jack on pedal... I looked at lots of pages and forums. Yeah, I know there's something wrong with the grounding. But what and where?? Then saw your post in SD forum back in 2012 which led me to this video. Exact sympton. I looked through all pages on that post. I do agree since the very beginning that it is not a bridge ground connection issue. And I did measure all conductive parts on guitar to output jack with
I found your post looking for a solution to my issue - same nose, only I am using a Warmoth parts homemade with the same bridge tailpiece arrangement as the LP. I have heard if you can ground the tailpiece (or bridge) at the ground point it will eliminate the noise when not touching the strings. I have seen it mentioned here a few times, and in you tube videos, though no one shows how to go about doing it; but I plan to try it as it makes sense from an electrical perspective. Notice that Strat's ground their bridge - interesting.
My SG does this exact same thing too. I touch strings or Bridge and the noise stops. I will get it sorted out and hopefully remember to post what I did to fix it. The one thing I presumed might have been causing it was the ground wire to the tail piece grommet was not making a good connection to the TP, but when I extracted the insert from the body, and reset it, the noise was still there. I will see what I can come up with using a test meter and other things and see if I can solve the issue.
BTW - after much research I can honestly tell you this: IF YOUR GUITAR HUMS AND YOU TOUCH THE STRINGS AND THE HUM GOES AWAY YOUR GUITAR IS FULLY GROUNDED. The web is full of misinformation. Trust me, if your guitar is quiet when you touch the strings the guitar is grounded.
That sounds like a broken ground between the tail stop and the back of a pot. Check inside the control cavity to see if Gibson installed a ground wire from the pot to the tail stop. I have a 79 Les Paul custom that did not have this at all and I removed the tail stop and bushing, drilled a hole through the control cavity to the tail stop hole and installed a ground wire. The ground wire just presses between the bushing. Then solder to the back of the neck volume pot. Should fix your problem!
The way emi waves pass through you need to seal the cavities with the conductive tape. If there is a section where it is not blocked by the tape the EMI waves will contribute to the noise or "interference" The wires will emit electromagnetic waves, a conductive "box" will block the waves. I have designed electomagnetic enclosures and the way to reduce the noise is to seal all the emitting objects in a conductive wrap. but I need to do this to my single coil les paul, probably next time i restring it.
I had a friend bring me his brand new Gibson Les Paul Standard to set up. I haven't owned a Gibson since the late '70s, but I now know EXACTLY why so many people complain about Gibson's quality control. A $3000 guitar with high action, pickups almost flush with the pickup covers and it's intonation way off? I've seen many $300-$500 imports set up better, fresh out of the box. But those things can be adjusted. It was when I plugged it into an amp when I was finished that Gibson crossed the dubious line of unacceptability for me, and subsequently, it's owner also. Ridiculously hum when not touching the strings.
I have one that does the same thing and I did shield the whole cavity and it still does it. My thinking is that the bridge isn't grounded right because they are chrome and a ground in the peg hole does't do it
In my experience (2 tries) shielding just doesn’t work. How about making sure the bridge is grounded. You can tack a ground to it and run it to a pot. If that works, go ahead and rework the normal ground. Those strings are just antennas for noise, so it seems like a ground issue, with the LP, because the carbon doesn’t have the issue.
After having three Les Pauls give me this issue, I’ve determined the issue is due to the orange drop capacitors. If you turn your tone pots down all the way, the hum goes away. They’re great pickups, but damnit, those caps make a lot of noise.
Did you every figure it out? Sounds like EMI, as I THINK I have the same problem with my Les Paul. I don't know why the Les Paul is more susceptible. A good test would be to run a long extension cord outside as far from possible from you house and other, and try the guitar there. Nice dogs!
I recently purchased a 2nd handed Les Paul Signature T, and it has the exact same issue as yours. However, after moving to a new place, the noise magically disappeared.
I suggest you take it back to the luthier and have him fix it right! I had a luthier do a similar less satisfactory job on my guitar awhile back. After it kept up the problem, I was told it couldn't be fixed. After my frustration with his answer, I eventually figured out how to fix it myself & it didn't take too long once I knew where to fix it at. Guitar repair guys!!!
Bro I feel your pain, im in the middle of completely redoing my Epi SG to get ride of the noise. It has a Dimarzio Super 2 neck pup & Super distortion bridge, so granted they are fairly noisy/hot. The SG has shielding paint from factory, decent job was done, but i mixed up my own with paint & graphite and gave 3 coats to the wiring cavity & pickup cavities. I will also connect each section with a ground wire & screw it into the paint. Completely new wiring after that & hopefully it should do the trick. Copper foil tape is another way to do it. But my guitars dont have super smooth routing jobs in the cavities so getting the tape to stay stuck is not happening.
I have the epiphone Les Paul and it has a bad pickup buzz when overdrive is on our at high volume it's a constant buzzing had a vox amp took it ball and get a fender mustang and buzz still can take my hand and put on the two screws on the last pickup and it gets a hell lot quieter is that a ground issue with the pickup?
Often introducing complicated wiring creates more chance of interference. That hum is not 60cycle him but electro static interference. Humbuckers wont get rid of it. The out of phase and series parallel circuits and switching I find always increases that interference noise, which you can get rid of by turning off spot lights or strip lights, computers, anything else with transformers. And your amp - move a couple of meters away and that might help .
Re ground the stop bar/tail piece/posts in the rear. This will effectively use the guitar pots as the ground if wired properly, and not you as the ground (when you touch the strings).
I got a 1980 LP Standard going through the same thing. I just used a day testing polarity and phasing and orientation of pickups. Sound improved, but hum still coming through. If you get it, let me know.
It could be the quality of the wiring. I have a Washburn Parallaxe and when its plugged into my Mesa Boogie with high gain....you hear nothing......My Epiphone Les Paul sounds like his Les Paul. Shutting off the lights makes a big difference so Its interference in my case. But, when I look at the inside of the cavity in both guitars the Washburn is so neat but, doesn't show any signs of the cavity being shielded unless the paint inside has something in it but, the wiring is so neat looking. the Epi, the wires are all over the place. And perhaps the wiring has better quality shielding . Don't know if the Semour Duncans, have something to filter it compared to the Burstbuckers but, its night and day between the 2.
Missing ground wire on the 3 way selector switch? Touching all metal parts gets quieter, except, it gets a lot louder if you touch the metal part of the selector switch. It really amazing how much that selector switch having no ground messes your guitar up. check it. Pull the selector switch cavity cover off. Easy, it's only three screws. With your guitar plugged in and making all that noise, touch some random piece of wire from the center lug to the bridge. It will go dead silent. Exciting? Now you know all you have to do is run a wire from the center lug to the ground at the pots. If you're confused at what the center lug is, it's the thick metal piece in the middle of the selector switch. It should be grounded, which means there should be four wires hooked up. If the ground is bad, or just not there, this is what it does.
Run a ground from the bridge pin to the inside of the guitar cavity, to a volume pot, and to the shielding, a simple jumper from the wire coming from the bridge, and run the jumper wire to the pot and shielding, this made my Chinese paul dead quiet, I hope this helps, the bridge has to be grounded or noise is inevitable. Mitchell Magee. Stafford Virginia.
I have always had a bit of a buzz in my 77 LP Custom. The only guitar I have that has zero noise has active EMGs. My 3 Strats have varying degrees of hum. The LP is the worst. As I've written to others it had been shielded from top to bottom and everything is grounded back to the volume pots and input. The only total fix is touching a metal part of the guitar. You're right not a thing fixed it. I'm an experienced technician darn it, I will fix it and send suggestions.....I hope.
Looks to me from the photos that there is no copper on the lip in order to make contact with the cover. Also, the same with the pickup cavities. They ALL need to have contact. Get some 3M copper tape, the best in my opinion, but also pricey but you won't have to solder between the tape due to their adhesive. Next, try using a shielded wire for your main input jack. Less cable and looks better. Also, not to be a nimrod, but the wiring also leaves a bit to be desired. Looks like an Italian pasta party going on in there. I've had the same problem until I ripped the entire guitar apart and started from scratch. Worked for me.
Yes i had the same issue on all my Gibsons and Gibson Customs at the guitar store, while 400$ LTD guitars were noiseless. I rewired them many times and even got one of them rewired by a reputable guitar tech. What finally solved it was applying shielding paint to the cavities. Now they are all dead silent \m/ Noticed the same issue on my friends SG, he tried the same and it worked for him too ;)
I’ve been dealing with the same problem for 3 weeks. I have a Gibson LP Classic/2016. It all started after installing covers on my 57 classic and 57 classic + zebra pickups. I removed the covers to see if the buzz goes away but no luck. I took my LP to a technician and there it was... no noise! Now I know I might be dealing with EMI or bad wiring at home but I can’t understand why my guitar never had this issue before installing the covers... I ended up buying a new pair of the same 57’s classic humbuckers. They came with covers already. I still have the same buzzing noise at home, but it goes away sometimes at day. It’s soooo weird! I’m thinking on shielding my guitar but knowing that I didn’t have this problem before, I want to give it a tray once again with another technician. I also checked the grounding with a multimeter. Everything it’s fine...
I've got a slight hum going on with my new set up as well. It wasn't there before, but just showed up one day. Same deal, tough the bridge and it cancels the hum. I did push pulls on the tone controls to split each humbucker. Weird.I loathe to pull out the wiring and do it over ...
Grounding wire to the bridge is probably Shite. you will have to remove the T.O.M. Bridge & Metal sleeve that the Bridge pins screw in to which is not easy. check there is a wire in the rout which touches the metal sleeve and should run through the guitar body and connect to a pot in the control rout.The buzz stops when you touch your strings, So this is the most probable reason for the buzz.Hope this helps.
imho you should check if wiring in your hardware isnt missing some grounding. find closest electrical wiring schema on the web and compare with your setup. Its a puzzle, but believe me - one missing/broken soldering can make this kind of buzzing
I had a similar problem with my Les Paul. Had proper grounding, fully shielded, potted pick-ups. Still noisy. Yet my Squier Classic Vibe tele has no issues despite being 2600$ cheaper. It must just be that Gibson "tone" I hear so much about. I will never buy another one that's for sure.
You must touch the strings or bridge to get rid of most of the hum, that’s how it works. Best way to tell if a Les Paul’s Mahogany body is one piece is to look at the side where the guitar strap button is. Since the grain on a tree goes in circles the grain on the guitar should go in the same direction. If it goes in opposite directions like ^ it’s probably a two piece. Gibson is very good at hiding seams.
I found another issue on the LP i have that also helped the buzz. The pots were not grounded. The tabs that hold the back case to the front of the pot develop a connection issue so they arnt actually grounded like they should be.
On UA-cam one gentleman took a copper wire and wrapped it around the ground prong of the amplifier, and then connected the other end of the wire to to outer shield of the 1/4" of the input jack or output jack. Either way worked great! I've got a guitar player with hum from his amp and I can't wait to try it. Let me know if it helps.
As others have said it defo is the shielding - I had exactly the same issue but possibly even louder and my tech shielded both the pickup select switch cavity at the back and most important did the large pot cavity as shown in the vid... My tech did it so it looked pretty much exactly as the other guitar and now my les Paul std is dead quiet. I was so fed up initially as the noise was so off putting, but now it's just perfect and is now the guitar I always dreamt of... If you have these issues try it...
i have this EXACT problem in a guitar i just got in! people are so quick to say it's "normal for a guitar to have noise" but that's BS when you have multiple guitars and they *don't* sound like this!!! so sometimes it seems to be a humbucker that has issues, but you changed yours. sometimes a specific part is ungrounded (get's louder upon touch not quieter) and you have to basically touch every metal bit. OR it's old strings doing something weird... OR a nut (at least in my case, i have sympatic vibration going on as well)........... or shielding. it's a damn headache and even this much time later, and the internet doesn't exactly have the answer. my thought is it HAS to be electronics. so then it gets down to maybe faults in the switch or pots.... did you ever figure it out?
You need to check all the grounds, it sounds like you have either a ground loop, or that one ground somewhere is not connected correctly. If I were you, I would do a complete rewire, and make sure all grounds from everywhere - switch, jack, pots, pups and so on go to the same place, and are connected to the ground wire from the bridge post.
Hi. Ive had the opposite of your problem. My guitar made more noise when i touched the strings. Solved the problem by redoing the string/bridge grounding. But prob varied at venues etc as different locations had different quality grounding
Hi just bought a standard 60s and i have the same issue 11 years later lol.i see a lot of comments but did any one ever find the problem to this and what to do ? Thanks
My Les Paul is dead silent on my 2 tube amplifiers , but loud on my modeling amp . Dont know if that is true with everyone but its my experience . Thought I'd pass it along
Had the same prob. with my 2000 Classic. My tech ran a cloth-covered ground from the backs of all pots to a screw put in the lower part of cavity. The screw runs through a piece of copper shielding tape and the tape runs up over the cavity lip. The cover plate has foil like yours and makes contact with the copper shield. Result: no hum and less static pops and clicks. MyLesPaul Forum member advises painting the entire cavities with copper shield paint too.
i am on my 3rd, 4th, and 5th les pauls, and there is never any shielding in the control cavity. My les pauls have always been very quiet. They are and have been les paul deluxes from the 70s and i have a 1998 standard. The bare wire going into the body is/should be going to the tail piece stud. Have you tugged on it to see if it is broken at the stud end? Also, were the original pickups noisy?
I had a Les Paul Studio with this hum. I would put a wire from the guitar and tuck it into my waistband against my skin. I have it now with a Jazzmaster when using pedals. It was really bad using a One Spot power supply, but I switched to a Snark and it's better, but still there. Playing clean it's fine.
It cant be his home wiring or why would it stop on the 2 other guitars that have no buzz? That eliminates that theory, it also cant be his ground to his bridge because when he touches the strings it stop so that tells you its grounded to the bridge fine. IMO the problem is the leads from the selector switch, thats a long run going the full length of the guitar. If its wired the classic way which i believe the jimmy page wiring is your running the hot signal from the pickups all the way up to the switch then back down to the output jack. IMO that hot lead from the switch should be shielded the best. I think all 3 leads should be shielded the runs from the pickups to the switch and the runs back from the switch. I was thinking the carvin had a different switch setup but i went back and it has the same setup as his Gibson so the carvin must run a different wiring setup then the gibson. I have an issue with an EPI studio (thats why im here), i just rewired the whole thing remelting the old solder and adding fresh new solder nothing has helped but i did notice that there are 4 wires running to the switch that have no shielding and thats my next step. Just my opinion though.
Is the two conductor wire that runs from the toggle switch to the input jack shielded (braided)? Is the braid of this wire soldered to ground someplace? If you take a multimeter to the guitar and do a continuity check from the stop bar, and touch all of the pots and bridge, does the meter indicate a connection?
I watched a video that had an older Les Paul and Gibson didn't ground the tail piece to the pots!!! Once they did that it removed the hum and noise that the guitar was producing!!
Check the ground wire at the bridge...also check the jack..i had the same problem with my Jazz bass...the jack was rusty inside ...when replaced it was dead quiet afterwards
I traded and brand out for the Gibson EpiPhone Special because I liked the lose strings. The plastic where the output plug went was busted up so I tried to fix it cause there was like a crash buzz if I moved wrong and then the output moved around and I tore something out wrong and so then I put in another plug output that was bigger and then grounded like in a diagram and put the thing back together. Buzz you know. I'd added some back plate shield tape. Good solder. So there is another diagram shows ground to tone and I will try that. I'm feeling a bit stupid for making the trade for the name you know really. I got these things I built with piezo cable work about better really.
Hi, I have the same problem with my cheap Epiphone Les Paul Special II. Did you eventually get the buzz fixed? If so, please share your method. Thanks.
Ric Canada Epiphone has pots mounted through the holes. Even you have a ground wire from bridge, you might want to start with neck vol pot - neck tone - bridge tone - bridge vol pot. Attach a ground wire in the harness I laid out. Zebra or uncovered pup's are also prone to hum, but most of all. Make sure your amp is connected to ground ( 3 pins in power cable) sould go into a 3 pole socket in the wall. Rock on!
I have a Vox Mini 3G2 and an LP 100. When I run the amp on batteries there is no hum. When I plug the amp into the wall socket using the adapter the amp hums. Hum goes away when I touch the strings.
My humbucker is more noisy than my single coil, what the heck. I double checked my wires everything is correct but the humbucker is very noisy. I followed seymour duncan's autosplit wiring. The values of my pots is 250k. Its strat with hss pickup. Please help
I have a Les Paul Studio and a Les Paul Standard, they both hum when I take my hands off the strings, so its not a one off fault. But the big thing is if I have the lights on, we have a dimmer switch which makes them buzzzzzzzzz, I am going to try shielding all of the cavities.
Hey man, found your post because I was looking to see what others did regarding a hum on their les Paul as my son's was humming horrible (2011 deluxe with humbucker split pots). Looks like you didn't find your issue but I found mine and wanted to pass along. Ground issue (like stated by everyone here). The Les Paul wires are super skinny and my son's ground wire from the switch to the pot ground was very loose and then broke off. Also, there was not continuity between the bridge and ground as the ground wire inside the cavity had worked itself out of contact with the bridge. And finally, and most important, the shield to the input (main ground) had ever so slightly come lose. It still had continuity when testing with the multi tool but dang the noise was still there. I reflowed the solder on that joint making sure that the solder was there to hold the two wires together and not to make the connection. I also resoldered the loose ground wire from the switch and made sure that the bridge was connected to the ground wire (back out the screw and push the wire in there and test with multi tool). I don't care if you had a luthier work on your guitar, these are things you need to be able to check so you don't get screwed and get irritated when you have a nice guitar. Good luck and hopefully you have solved your issue by now.
Thanks,maybe i need to look it over again,after gc didnt even use a multimeter,he just wired the pots together WHEN ALL THE POTS ARE ON A METAL PLATE😂,$10 later,I unsoldiered one wire at a time,checking it with the mutimeter and I didnt need no extra mess of soldier joints on my pots,but the wires are thin,and one of thecwires is grey that comes from the switch,my tail peice ground is good,atlest I hope,If I dont figure it out.How much would it be for parts and labor?Im so mad.Its 19 yrs old and barely was played.I cleaned the pots with deoxit D5,that helped my amp pots,but claning the lester's pots didnt help😡
I have a vintage burst les Paul standard ...and I have exact problem...its so damn depressing ...I desperately need help fix that thing ...If you get yours fixed ...post about how you got it fixed ..eagerly waiting for solutions
FYI - I bought a new Strat with Noiseless P/U No Noise. My 2013 Les Paul hums just like that. Gibson said it should not hum like that. the hum is slightly quieter on 10. Real pronounce if I try and reduce Volume.
My suggestion is to take the guitar to a qualified technician with a properly equipped shop who can use diagnostic tools such as volt meters to analyze your wiring, insuring the integrity of all solder joins & that the circuit is properly grounded. Guitar shielding should not be necessary in a guitar with humbuckers that are not coil-tapped or coil split. If shielding is used it needs to be installed properly with solder joins & then grounded. Shielded wiring is also a good idea.
We have a similar problem, if I hold the guitar and not touching any of the strings or any of the metal parts, the noise is there. As soon as I touch the strings or metal parts, the noise is gone. But if someone that is not holding the guitar touches the strings or metal parts the noise is reducing a single bit.
Mine does,it beeps on all pots,input,three way switch,its wierd,i first plug it in ,its dead quiet,then after 20 minutes itll start a static crackling noise,and ends up turning into that loud buzz he mentioned
Shells the cavity not just the covers, has to encapsulate the electronics. Maybe use copper tape then earth the shielding with a wire to a pots earth point.
Right now made it. changed cables inside my Gibson Les Paul and work perfectly. found that inside Gibson uses a cable with 4 cables in colors White Green Red black and all them are shielded and shield is grounded. replaced this cables with 4 cables separately for each comtact and my guitar doesn't have any Noise at all. Of course this will help if you know how to solder correct and of course if the humm goes away when you touch metal parts in your guitar. If anyone wants any help about it please let me know.. ljust want to share my happiness 😊
I have the same problem now after i changed the bridge pickup myself on my Ibenaz. I cleaned pots and output socket by electric component cleaner, doesn't work. I guess all pickups need do star ground which i didn't do it when i change the bridge pickup.
How ever did the pickup install messed up, I think one of the pickups. or a pot is not grounded, Or the signal and gound is reversed some where. Some times simple is better, I dont think in the 70s page was using coil tap and phase switching.
just my 2 cents, if you have the same noise with all the pickup changes and shielding that you've done,, theres a ground problem from the factory., few things to try would be run a ground wire to the tail piece. and also check for cold solder joints which basicly means go through the whole guitar and resolder every connection to ensure good contact. in a last dig afford you could rewire the whole guitar with "shielded wire" if its not there from the factory already. after all that I would be at a lost myself if it didn't work.
I have the same problem. I did not use shielded wire from the toggle to volume pots. Do you think this was the issue with yours, or do you maintain it was the amount of wiring or cold solder? I went thru mine again and it is not the bridge ground, or cold solder joints. I can only think that I need the braided wire going to toggle! Wiring, so simple, yet such a bitch! Thanks for posting.
Bridge ground, the bridge, at the tailpiece, correct to the other comment. It can be, unintentionally left out, when the electronics were installed, try it it will fix the problem my friend. And thanks for the u tube video. Mitch.
Get an Ohmmeter and check every control and ground to the Phono Jack. that goes out to the amp. This will tell you if there are any connections that are broken and which ones. Should read less then a five or six hundredths of an Ohm.
also wanted to add -- THANK YOU for making this. so damn glad i finally found it. this feels like the true answer and now i can stop losing my mind. i'll just sent the thing back. (was driving me crazy trying to figure it out. i'm a troubleshooter by nature and getting into guitar/luthier fix and build. i can now rest at peace.) PS do you have this video tagged so people like me can find it? : )
Wonder if buying 1 of those line 6 wireless systems would help reduce the hum to a normal level also when using the battery the back of the guitar still produce crackling sound
There is a UA-cam vid I just watched, where he shows you how to ground the bridge nut to I the Tone knob? Not sure, so by the sound of it, you need to ground the bridge nut. Includes some drilling. But if that is the factory’s fault, I suggest getting them to fix it for you
Hey dude! thanks for the video... I have a 54' Les Pauls Custom (Black Beauty) and I have the exact same problem... except that the hum doesn't goes away when I touch the bridge or any other metal parts. Anyways I don't dare to make any changes to the wiring so Im taking it to a luthier soon. Just wanted to know if you have a clue of what could be possibly going on. Cheers from margarita Island, Venezuela!
I'm always amazed at the comments for such an old video! I stated a while back that I agreed with many of you in that I thought the issue was a ground wire going to the bridge post (missing or broken), but this was NOT the issue. I took ALL the wire out and re-wired the entire guitar and the guitar is very quiet now. I believe it was likely just a poor wiring job/cold solder joints that was the issue. I could never pinpoint the exact joint, so I just re-did the entire wiring. I'll have to post a follow-up video to illustrate how it sounds now. Thanks for the questions and comments!
Stephen Lima So is it fixed?
Only asking cause I saw so many "suggestions" here... for example, saying that the ground wire going for post was broken... if it was, it shouldn't do a damn thing to that noise, but it did when you touched the strings right?
Hey i have the same issue with my classic did you fix the problem finaly?
He stated above that he resoldered all of his connections and the noise is largely gone, I have this problem with the tone control of a guitar I just built.
(disregard my bit about asking if you fixed - hadn't made my way down through the comments yet. it's a shame your vid hadn't popped up sooner, or your followup if you made it. that would have been SO helpful!!! ---rewire the damn thing. lol)
Also 5 years late. Despite some of the pundits claiming that shielding humbucker equipped guitars does nothing, shielding does work. If the noise bothers you enough, shielding paint works very well, even the cheaper carbon based stuff when properly applied. But I would not use it on a Les Paul or other expensive guitar. Use copper tape that has a conductive adhesive. It's removable unlike the paint. Need to be thorough and do the main control cavity, switch cavity and pickup cavities as well as the back of the covers. And, the top of the pot and switch cavity edges so the foil on the covers makes contact when they are re-installed. Of course it's a moot point if you cannot pull the electronics yourself unless you are willing to pay a tech.
My Les Paul Standard 2012 with push/pull pups also hummed and buzzed everytime I was not touching the strings or any metal part of it. I did a test, connecting it to a battery powered amplifier (Roland AC 33) and it didn't make any noise, so the noise that the guitar made when the amplifier was connected to electricity was not (just) the guitar, but the electrical installation , namely a groundless plug to which the amplifier was connected. I connected the amplifier to a GROUNDED plug and the guitar is SILENT. However, it is also true that my Fender Telecaster connected to the same amplifier and on the groundless plug is silent, which also proves that my Les Paul pickups (burstbucker) are more sensitive to electrical interference (and much more powerfull). My advice is, take the battery powered amplifier test before opening the guitar (shielding or something else), and if the guitar is SILENT, try to connect your usual amplifier to a good grounded plug or other plug in the house. Good luck!
I've done a lot or rewires/mods in my day throughout my career as a musician. I've done work for friends, bandmates, and others from word of mouth. I have never had an issue wiring guitars/basses, etc. Never had a problem with ground/hum like this.
Until an actual Les Paul fell into my lap to do for someone. The guy wanted a treble bleed. but I could not get the hum to go away. So thinking it was something I may have goofed, and almost $200 worth of parts later, I gutted it in pure frustration trying to figure it out. I still have yet to get it to stop. I'm about to give it back and say burn the piece of shit.
My brand new guitar has hum when I do not touch the strings, but not my 16-year-old guitar using the same cable, both have humbuckers, and amp with no peddles just the cable from guitar to amp. I am stumped, but after testing grounding etc... I bet it is the humbuckers being different, but I have no idea.
I have 500T with treble-bleed, too. It has coil-split options. The crazy thing is it's noisier with the humbuckers than the single coils. The added buzz of the humbuckers are greater than the 60s single coil hum.
@@waranghira I found my issue a few weeks ago and it was a bad wire from ground to the bridge. I measured the resistances and every wire was 0 (direct short) but this one was 0.4ish. Replaced it with a 22awg wire and hum is gone.
@@waranghira I have the Identical problem with my les paul classic I just bought. My other guitars are clear and quiet. Way too much money to be dealing with this
@@toneleudy most likely same case with @generalawareness101 . A case of a bad ground wire (Haven't have, yet, checked mine if same). But yeah, you justifiably shouldn't have to deal with that if you paid for an actual Les Paul Classic.
I had the same problems years ago. Two issues: The Les Paul probably has an ungrounded bridge. It is relaying static to the pickups. When you touch the strings, the static discharges through your body and the noise diminishes. However, your AMP should discharge most of this static down the grownded power plug (to your house's ground wiring). My amp had a ungrownded power plug (two prongs). I replaced it with a new 3-prong plug (Home Depot) and the noise was gone for good. ( I did NOTHING to the guitar.)Good luck...
thanks, will try in the house...
I noticed that when I practice at home with a speaker on a table & power plugged frm an extension power brick, the same noise is always present..
but whenever I bring my LP in Church to play, I realised that that noise disappear...
will try your tip at home then :)
Same experience: when I play my les paul just via my multi-fx and earphones there is hum, because it is not grounded. When playing at the amp, there is no hum.
I have the same problem that you are describing with the amp power cord. The power cord is a 2 prong plug & 2 wire cord that is hard wired to the amp unit rather than a 3 prong plug and a 3 wire cord that plugs into the amp. Like a computer power supply does. The amp is a Pyle PVAMP 60, it was $ 70 brand new, so it's not like the most expensive name brand you can buy from the traditional brands you would see at a Guitar/Music store. The guitar itself is the Epiphone Les Paul Special I P90. The guitar itself on a higher end amp is quiet, since the Pyle is a practice amp I can play clean and at lower volumes and it's not a big issue. I think if I paid more for the amp and was performing with it, this would be unacceptable. But since it's a practice amp and played at low volumes, it adds character, kind of like a buzzing ballast for a florescent light, like a vintage 1970's amp ?
The beauty of the Epiphone LP Special I P90 is that the bridge is a single piece that the strings go in from the front, then wrap over the bridge and up to the tuning knobs. It really feels more comfortable just resting my wrist on the bridge and the noise goes away. The 2 P90s being single coil units have some hum inherently because they are single coil pickups. But with both pickups active the 2 P90s generally act like hum buckers with dual coils. So I can live with the amp & the un-grounded bridge. The wrap over bridge is simpler and there is no penalty to resting your strumming, plucking & picking wrist/hand on the bridge like other guitars. You can see the differences:
images.samash.com/sa/G08/G08790391.fpx?cvt=jpg
vs
static.music123.com//derivates/18/001/658/154/DV016_Jpg_Large_H77433.002_worn_TV_yellow_bridge.jpg
I have had my lespaul studio for half my life. Recently refinished it and installed gibson super 57 classics set. All grounds are connected. I even shielded the cavitys... Still humming exactly like this
feels silly commenting on such an old video but for anyone looking here for quick solution... when the noise stops when you touch the strings, this usually means a grounding issue with the bridge not being connected. shielding as described in video if more to deter radio interference like from an old nokia. these days using wifi cables such as nux etc can actually solve the problem. but this case is also pretty dangerous as can lead to electric shocks through the amp..
another sidenote ive found to be wary of is that cheaper nicklepated chrome pieces often may not have good continuity especially as they age. so while the screws may not be plated, they may not be making full connection with a poorly chromed bridge to even reach the signal of the strings. this can happen with cheap strats etc too specially hard tails.
noiseless red neutrik connectors definitely help here too. but best not to use one if fixing somebody elses guitar because they might find problems you missed when they use their regular cable.
the shielding would have helped if the sides were also lined to make contact with the cover plate and not just wired to. all the cavities such as where the tone switch is need to be wired together for full grounding continuity.
I'm dealing with exactly this with my old BC Rich. My old Kramer, and new Dean are silent as death, but the Warlock is noisy af. I don't know much about electronics, but I understand the basics of guitar wiring, and, as far as I can tell, it's wired correctly.
Hi everyone, this video keeps getting comments. I posted this 8 years ago... LOL. I have a new account now (hammers and chords). But the ANSWER is simply that guitar was noisy. I did re-wire it with a simple set-up and is was quieter, but the point is WHEN YOU TOUCH THE STRINGS AND THE HUM GOES AWAY IT IS NOT, NOT, NOT A GROUND PROBLEM. If you have persistent hum that doesn't go away THAT is a ground problem.
what is it then?? when i touch the bridge and noise disappears?
Okay I know this is 8 years ago lol but what about fishman classic humbuckers in 2021 lol .......
My Epiphone les paul 50's standard gold top does have a ground issue i think. When I touch any metal part it gets even noisier. The wiring looks good. No disconnected ground wires or anything. Only thing I can think of is that mine isn't shielded on the inside walls either and maybe that is it. (I bought this guitar used in excellent condition from Ebay)
@@elijahfroment625 check if the jack output wires are correct and not swapped.
@@GuilhermeSantos2003 I did that yes. The other way round I get no audio except a buzzing sound.
That Traynor is a great amp. Can't get them in the States. Found one in a pawn shop for $125. Thanks for the tip.
its a grounding issue make sure its grounded to the tail piece
He took it to a luthier and had it rewired. Not the ground.
Overlapping pieces of aluminium foil may not provide proper continuity, and therefore grounding, as it is very unlikely to have conductive adhesive. I've had great success with self-adhesive copper foil (you can get it from luthier suppliers). Just make sure that it is real copper foil tape, some look like copper but may be made from a type of metalised plastic: always check for electrical continuity using a test meter! Even if it is advertised as having conductive adhesive, it is always better if any overlapping pieces are connected electrically using small blobs of solder (you can also do this on the rear of pickguards as well: the soldering iron will only be in contact with the copper foil for a couple of seconds). It is very important that the copper tape in the controls cavity overlaps the guitar top in at least two places, specifically where pickguard screws will be able to hold the pickguard and cavity layers of tape together, and therefore provide a reliable electrical connection. Finally; to correctly earth the copper foil to the common ground point on the rear of the volume control, use a short length of wire with a ring terminal soldered to one end: secure this to the copper tape using a small brass round-head woodscrew (best to drill a suitable sized pilot hole in the side of the control cavity, as the wood may be difficult to screw into). After fitting the copper tape, always remember to check that the earth wire connected to the bridge is refitted, and making good contact. If you do screen any other cavities in the guitar body, remember that these all need to be connected to the rear of the volume pot, otherwise they will not work properly. And NEVER, EVER disconnect the earth connection to your amp just to try to reduce earth-loop hum: the earth connection is there for your safety!
There should be a ground wire from the lower tail piece insert to the back of one of the pots( the neck volume pot) to ground the tailpiece saddle and strings. That wire can be broken or missing causing this problem. Take a VOM and measure the resistance from the outside of the jack. That is ground, to the tail piece. If you do not have a short, 1ohm or less that is your problem or part of it. As it is when you touch the strings and the noise goes away your body is acting as a shield and filtering the 60hz radiation from the guitar. You have to pull the insert and add a wire or repair the wire that is there to correct this.
If that guitar has split coils on it's circuit (and I asume yes because of those push pull pots on it), turn around the magnet of one of the pickups could helo to solve that hum/buzz issue, depending of the pups combinations. I think this because is so weird that level of noise in humbuckers.
just wondering if you ever got to the bottom of the big hum problem. I also have a big hum problem on my les paul when not touching the strings, and grounding is perfect with no faults, but the humbuckers are not wax potted and there is no shielding because its a standard 60. It also has a lot of static when I touch the back of the guitar body. My other guitars don't have this problem.
same, found a fix?
@@pipespeeps5349 sort of, it just disappeared, so its back to being quiet like before. I don't know what happened, but for quite a few months there was constant buzzing, and I didn't change anything, still same pedal board into a Marshall, or Vox or boss katana. even helix floor had buzz and also my line 6 dt25 which is in a different room. for months it kept buzzing and driving me crazy, but almost 2 weeks ago it stopped. I really don't know what it was, and tried a battery powered amp, and there was still some buzz, like when I went direct into dirt channel of Marshall or boss katana. I never tried my guitar in another location outside of the home, to see if it was my electrics, because it didn't seem like the same electrical hum I'd get sometimes depending on how I plug things in. Though I am wondering If I was some static charge with me, due to something, because there is now no static when I touch the back of the guitar, the guitar is just like all my others, its a joy to play again.
something you could try, lay your guitar down on a bed or floor, and see if there is still that hum, next thing would be to unplug everything and go direct to the amp, just to try rule out something on your pedal board, then maybe take your guitar to a different location. This still has me scratching my head because I can't recreate it.
1. Proper grounding of all non audio making metal parts (e.g bridge)
2. Avoid leakage current or ground loops in your power supply
How can one ground a bridge?
@@JimmyKay1976 hope you figured it out but if not then you can screw a screw from the wiring cavity to the direction of the bridge, and once it is touching stop and solder a wire to the screw. Unless its already wired which it should be. can tell if it is or not by touching the strings. if the hum goes away, then its doing what it should.
My Epiphone Les Paul Custom Blackback got the JP mod with 4 push-pull pots and Seymour Duncan pups, and I got the same hum noise. The hum goes away when I touch any conductive part in the signal chain, from strings, guitar jack, cable plug housing, amp metal switch, to even headphone jack on pedal... I looked at lots of pages and forums. Yeah, I know there's something wrong with the grounding. But what and where?? Then saw your post in SD forum back in 2012 which led me to this video. Exact sympton. I looked through all pages on that post. I do agree since the very beginning that it is not a bridge ground connection issue. And I did measure all conductive parts on guitar to output jack with
I found your post looking for a solution to my issue - same nose, only I am using a Warmoth parts homemade with the same bridge tailpiece arrangement as the LP. I have heard if you can ground the tailpiece (or bridge) at the ground point it will eliminate the noise when not touching the strings. I have seen it mentioned here a few times, and in you tube videos, though no one shows how to go about doing it; but I plan to try it as it makes sense from an electrical perspective. Notice that Strat's ground their bridge - interesting.
My SG does this exact same thing too. I touch strings or Bridge and the noise stops. I will get it sorted out and hopefully remember to post what I did to fix it. The one thing I presumed might have been causing it was the ground wire to the tail piece grommet was not making a good connection to the TP, but when I extracted the insert from the body, and reset it, the noise was still there. I will see what I can come up with using a test meter and other things and see if I can solve the issue.
BTW - after much research I can honestly tell you this: IF YOUR GUITAR HUMS AND YOU TOUCH THE STRINGS AND THE HUM GOES AWAY YOUR GUITAR IS FULLY GROUNDED. The web is full of misinformation. Trust me, if your guitar is quiet when you touch the strings the guitar is grounded.
hi man, i have the same problem the guitar makes noise, but when you touch metal elements the noise goes away, so how to fix it? thanks.
@@englfalafel955 did you manage to fix it mate? I have the exact same issue. Was hoping you fixed it in the mean time? have a good one!
@@killainmaccallan4700 no,problem still have ,my gibson lp noise .
That sounds like a broken ground between the tail stop and the back of a pot. Check inside the control cavity to see if Gibson installed a ground wire from the pot to the tail stop. I have a 79 Les Paul custom that did not have this at all and I removed the tail stop and bushing, drilled a hole through the control cavity to the tail stop hole and installed a ground wire. The ground wire just presses between the bushing. Then solder to the back of the neck volume pot. Should fix your problem!
The way emi waves pass through you need to seal the cavities with the conductive tape. If there is a section where it is not blocked by the tape the EMI waves will contribute to the noise or "interference"
The wires will emit electromagnetic waves, a conductive "box" will block the waves.
I have designed electomagnetic enclosures and the way to reduce the noise is to seal all the emitting objects in a conductive wrap.
but I need to do this to my single coil les paul, probably next time i restring it.
I had a friend bring me his brand new Gibson Les Paul Standard to set up. I haven't owned a Gibson since the late '70s, but I now know EXACTLY why so many people complain about Gibson's quality control. A $3000 guitar with high action, pickups almost flush with the pickup covers and it's intonation way off? I've seen many $300-$500 imports set up better, fresh out of the box. But those things can be adjusted. It was when I plugged it into an amp when I was finished that Gibson crossed the dubious line of unacceptability for me, and subsequently, it's owner also. Ridiculously hum when not touching the strings.
I have one that does the same thing and I did shield the whole cavity and it still does it. My thinking is that the bridge isn't grounded right because they are chrome and a ground in the peg hole does't do it
what about the pickup cavity ? is it shielded ?
In my experience (2 tries) shielding just doesn’t work. How about making sure the bridge is grounded. You can tack a ground to it and run it to a pot. If that works, go ahead and rework the normal ground. Those strings are just antennas for noise, so it seems like a ground issue, with the LP, because the carbon doesn’t have the issue.
After having three Les Pauls give me this issue, I’ve determined the issue is due to the orange drop capacitors. If you turn your tone pots down all the way, the hum goes away. They’re great pickups, but damnit, those caps make a lot of noise.
Did you every figure it out? Sounds like EMI, as I THINK I have the same problem with my Les Paul. I don't know why the Les Paul is more susceptible. A good test would be to run a long extension cord outside as far from possible from you house and other, and try the guitar there. Nice dogs!
I recently purchased a 2nd handed Les Paul Signature T, and it has the exact same issue as yours. However, after moving to a new place, the noise magically disappeared.
I suggest you take it back to the luthier and have him fix it right! I had a luthier do a similar less satisfactory job on my guitar awhile back. After it kept up the problem, I was told it couldn't be fixed. After my frustration with his answer, I eventually figured out how to fix it myself & it didn't take too long once I knew where to fix it at. Guitar repair guys!!!
Bro I feel your pain, im in the middle of completely redoing my Epi SG to get ride of the noise. It has a Dimarzio Super 2 neck pup & Super distortion bridge, so granted they are fairly noisy/hot. The SG has shielding paint from factory, decent job was done, but i mixed up my own with paint & graphite and gave 3 coats to the wiring cavity & pickup cavities. I will also connect each section with a ground wire & screw it into the paint. Completely new wiring after that & hopefully it should do the trick. Copper foil tape is another way to do it. But my guitars dont have super smooth routing jobs in the cavities so getting the tape to stay stuck is not happening.
I have the epiphone Les Paul and it has a bad pickup buzz when overdrive is on our at high volume it's a constant buzzing had a vox amp took it ball and get a fender mustang and buzz still can take my hand and put on the two screws on the last pickup and it gets a hell lot quieter is that a ground issue with the pickup?
Often introducing complicated wiring creates more chance of interference. That hum is not 60cycle him but electro static interference. Humbuckers wont get rid of it. The out of phase and series parallel circuits and switching I find always increases that interference noise, which you can get rid of by turning off spot lights or strip lights, computers, anything else with transformers. And your amp - move a couple of meters away and that might help .
Re ground the stop bar/tail piece/posts in the rear. This will effectively use the guitar pots as the ground if wired properly, and not you as the ground (when you touch the strings).
Shield the cavities with copper tape. Also,make sure the ground wire to the bridge is ok.
I got a 1980 LP Standard going through the same thing. I just used a day testing polarity and phasing and orientation of pickups. Sound improved, but hum still coming through. If you get it, let me know.
It could be the quality of the wiring. I have a Washburn Parallaxe and when its plugged into my Mesa Boogie with high gain....you hear nothing......My Epiphone Les Paul sounds like his Les Paul. Shutting off the lights makes a big difference so Its interference in my case. But, when I look at the inside of the cavity in both guitars the Washburn is so neat but, doesn't show any signs of the cavity being shielded unless the paint inside has something in it but, the wiring is so neat looking. the Epi, the wires are all over the place. And perhaps the wiring has better quality shielding . Don't know if the Semour Duncans, have something to filter it compared to the Burstbuckers but, its night and day between the 2.
Missing ground wire on the 3 way selector switch? Touching all metal parts gets quieter, except, it gets a lot louder if you touch the metal part of the selector switch. It really amazing how much that selector switch having no ground messes your guitar up.
check it. Pull the selector switch cavity cover off. Easy, it's only three screws. With your guitar plugged in and making all that noise, touch some random piece of wire from the center lug to the bridge. It will go dead silent. Exciting? Now you know all you have to do is run a wire from the center lug to the ground at the pots. If you're confused at what the center lug is, it's the thick metal piece in the middle of the selector switch. It should be grounded, which means there should be four wires hooked up. If the ground is bad, or just not there, this is what it does.
Run a ground from the bridge pin to the inside of the guitar cavity, to a volume pot, and to the shielding, a simple jumper from the wire coming from the bridge, and run the jumper wire to the pot and shielding, this made my Chinese paul dead quiet, I hope this helps, the bridge has to be grounded or noise is inevitable. Mitchell Magee. Stafford Virginia.
Yes , and if you input jack is not new , roll up a piece of sandpaper and lightly sand the inside of the input jack , blow it out carefully.
I have always had a bit of a buzz in my 77 LP Custom. The only guitar I have that has zero noise has active EMGs. My 3 Strats have varying degrees of hum. The LP is the worst. As I've written to others it had been shielded from top to bottom and everything is grounded back to the volume pots and input. The only total fix is touching a metal part of the guitar. You're right not a thing fixed it. I'm an experienced technician darn it, I will fix it and send suggestions.....I hope.
Looks to me from the photos that there is no copper on the lip in order to make contact with the cover. Also, the same with the pickup cavities. They ALL need to have contact. Get some 3M copper tape, the best in my opinion, but also pricey but you won't have to solder between the tape due to their adhesive. Next, try using a shielded wire for your main input jack. Less cable and looks better. Also, not to be a nimrod, but the wiring also leaves a bit to be desired. Looks like an Italian pasta party going on in there. I've had the same problem until I ripped the entire guitar apart and started from scratch. Worked for me.
Traynor amps kick ass!
Glad you got your issue sorted out!
Yes i had the same issue on all my Gibsons and Gibson Customs at the guitar store, while 400$ LTD guitars were noiseless. I rewired them many times and even got one of them rewired by a reputable guitar tech. What finally solved it was applying shielding paint to the cavities. Now they are all dead silent \m/ Noticed the same issue on my friends SG, he tried the same and it worked for him too ;)
I’ve been dealing with the same problem for 3 weeks. I have a Gibson LP Classic/2016. It all started after installing covers on my 57 classic and 57 classic + zebra pickups. I removed the covers to see if the buzz goes away but no luck. I took my LP to a technician and there it was... no noise! Now I know I might be dealing with EMI or bad wiring at home but I can’t understand why my guitar never had this issue before installing the covers... I ended up buying a new pair of the same 57’s classic humbuckers. They came with covers already. I still have the same buzzing noise at home, but it goes away sometimes at day. It’s soooo weird! I’m thinking on shielding my guitar but knowing that I didn’t have this problem before, I want to give it a tray once again with another technician.
I also checked the grounding with a multimeter. Everything it’s fine...
I've got a slight hum going on with my new set up as well. It wasn't there before, but just showed up one day. Same deal, tough the bridge and it cancels the hum. I did push pulls on the tone controls to split each humbucker. Weird.I loathe to pull out the wiring and do it over ...
I feel like throwing my ''studio" through Gibson's front window, because of this....
And you’re a Rush fan! I like that. Having the same problem out of my LP, by the way. My Fender Strat is dead quiet.
It’s finding a path to ground in SOME place you’re having trouble finding. Definitely find a better luthier. I’ll do the same.
Grounding wire to the bridge is probably Shite. you will have to remove the T.O.M.
Bridge & Metal sleeve that the Bridge pins screw in to which is not easy.
check there is a wire in the rout which touches the metal sleeve and should run through the guitar body and connect to a pot in the control rout.The buzz stops when you touch your strings,
So this is the most probable reason for the buzz.Hope this helps.
imho you should check if wiring in your hardware isnt missing some grounding.
find closest electrical wiring schema on the web and compare with your setup. Its a puzzle, but believe me - one missing/broken soldering can make this kind of buzzing
I had a similar problem with my Les Paul. Had proper grounding, fully shielded, potted pick-ups. Still noisy. Yet my Squier Classic Vibe tele has no issues despite being 2600$ cheaper. It must just be that Gibson "tone" I hear so much about. I will never buy another one that's for sure.
You must touch the strings or bridge to get rid of most of the hum, that’s how it works. Best way to tell if a Les Paul’s Mahogany body is one piece is to look at the side where the guitar strap button is. Since the grain on a tree goes in circles the grain on the guitar should go in the same direction. If it goes in opposite directions like ^ it’s probably a two piece. Gibson is very good at hiding seams.
I found another issue on the LP i have that also helped the buzz. The pots were not grounded. The tabs that hold the back case to the front of the pot develop a connection issue so they arnt actually grounded like they should be.
On UA-cam one gentleman took a copper wire and wrapped it around the ground prong of the amplifier, and then connected the other end of the wire to to outer shield of the 1/4" of the input jack or output jack. Either way worked great! I've got a guitar player with hum from his amp and I can't wait to try it. Let me know if it helps.
I would stick a wire from the guitar to my waistband against my skin. Works but is annoying.
@@clayton56tube dude.... rly???
As others have said it defo is the shielding - I had exactly the same issue but possibly even louder and my tech shielded both the pickup select switch cavity at the back and most important did the large pot cavity as shown in the vid... My tech did it so it looked pretty much exactly as the other guitar and now my les Paul std is dead quiet. I was so fed up initially as the noise was so off putting, but now it's just perfect and is now the guitar I always dreamt of... If you have these issues try it...
i have this EXACT problem in a guitar i just got in! people are so quick to say it's "normal for a guitar to have noise" but that's BS when you have multiple guitars and they *don't* sound like this!!!
so sometimes it seems to be a humbucker that has issues, but you changed yours. sometimes a specific part is ungrounded (get's louder upon touch not quieter) and you have to basically touch every metal bit. OR it's old strings doing something weird... OR a nut (at least in my case, i have sympatic vibration going on as well)........... or shielding. it's a damn headache and even this much time later, and the internet doesn't exactly have the answer.
my thought is it HAS to be electronics. so then it gets down to maybe faults in the switch or pots....
did you ever figure it out?
You need to check all the grounds, it sounds like you have either a ground loop, or that one ground somewhere is not connected correctly. If I were you, I would do a complete rewire, and make sure all grounds from everywhere - switch, jack, pots, pups and so on go to the same place, and are connected to the ground wire from the bridge post.
I would also find a smarter and more reputable guitar tech
Hi. Ive had the opposite of your problem. My guitar made more noise when i touched the strings. Solved the problem by redoing the string/bridge grounding. But prob varied at venues etc as different locations had different quality grounding
Hi just bought a standard 60s and i have the same issue 11 years later lol.i see a lot of comments but did any one ever find the problem to this and what to do ? Thanks
My Les Paul is dead silent on my 2 tube amplifiers , but loud on my modeling amp . Dont know if that is true with everyone but its my experience . Thought I'd pass it along
Just bought a LP and am hearing the buzz on my Fender Mustang (modeling) as well. Will check the plug grounds tomorrow.
Vic Hardy hey buddy, I have the same gear as yours. Did you find the solution?
Had the same prob. with my 2000 Classic. My tech ran a cloth-covered ground from the backs of all pots to a screw put in the lower part of cavity. The screw runs through a piece of copper shielding tape and the tape runs up over the cavity lip. The cover plate has foil like yours and makes contact with the copper shield. Result: no hum and less static pops and clicks. MyLesPaul Forum member advises painting the entire cavities with copper shield paint too.
i am on my 3rd, 4th, and 5th les pauls, and there is never any shielding in the control cavity. My les pauls have always been very quiet. They are and have been les paul deluxes from the 70s and i have a 1998 standard. The bare wire going into the body is/should be going to the tail piece stud. Have you tugged on it to see if it is broken at the stud end? Also, were the original pickups noisy?
I got the exact same problem with my LP
Please post if you solve the problem 👍
Super cute dogs by the way🤗
is it entirely shielded or not ? is it just the control cavity cover ??
I have same problem in a Gibson Les Paul LPJ with Seymor Duncan P-Rail pickups. Keen to know how to fix if you find one
I had a Les Paul Studio with this hum. I would put a wire from the guitar and tuck it into my waistband against my skin. I have it now with a Jazzmaster when using pedals. It was really bad using a One Spot power supply, but I switched to a Snark and it's better, but still there. Playing clean it's fine.
It cant be his home wiring or why would it stop on the 2 other guitars that have no buzz? That eliminates that theory, it also cant be his ground to his bridge because when he touches the strings it stop so that tells you its grounded to the bridge fine.
IMO the problem is the leads from the selector switch, thats a long run going the full length of the guitar. If its wired the classic way which i believe the jimmy page wiring is your running the hot signal from the pickups all the way up to the switch then back down to the output jack. IMO that hot lead from the switch should be shielded the best. I think all 3 leads should be shielded the runs from the pickups to the switch and the runs back from the switch.
I was thinking the carvin had a different switch setup but i went back and it has the same setup as his Gibson so the carvin must run a different wiring setup then the gibson.
I have an issue with an EPI studio (thats why im here), i just rewired the whole thing remelting the old solder and adding fresh new solder nothing has helped but i did notice that there are 4 wires running to the switch that have no shielding and thats my next step.
Just my opinion though.
Is the two conductor wire that runs from the toggle switch to the input jack shielded (braided)? Is the braid of this wire soldered to ground someplace? If you take a multimeter to the guitar and do a continuity check from the stop bar, and touch all of the pots and bridge, does the meter indicate a connection?
Mine does,but has same problems,a 2000 lp classic
I watched a video that had an older Les Paul and Gibson didn't ground the tail piece to the pots!!! Once they did that it removed the hum and noise that the guitar was producing!!
Check the ground wire at the bridge...also check the jack..i had the same problem with my Jazz bass...the jack was rusty inside ...when replaced it was dead quiet afterwards
I traded and brand out for the Gibson EpiPhone Special because I liked the lose strings. The plastic where the output plug went was busted up so I tried to fix it cause there was like a crash buzz if I moved wrong and then the output moved around and I tore something out wrong and so then I put in another plug output that was bigger and then grounded like in a diagram and put the thing back together. Buzz you know. I'd added some back plate shield tape. Good solder. So there is another diagram shows ground to tone and I will try that. I'm feeling a bit stupid for making the trade for the name you know really. I got these things I built with piezo cable work about better really.
Hi, I have the same problem with my cheap Epiphone Les Paul Special II. Did you eventually get the buzz fixed? If so, please share your method. Thanks.
Ric Canada Epiphone has pots mounted through the holes. Even you have a ground wire from bridge, you might want to start with neck vol pot - neck tone - bridge tone - bridge vol pot. Attach a ground wire in the harness I laid out. Zebra or uncovered pup's are also prone to hum, but most of all. Make sure your amp is connected to ground ( 3 pins in power cable) sould go into a 3 pole socket in the wall. Rock on!
I have a Vox Mini 3G2 and an LP 100. When I run the amp on batteries there is no hum. When I plug the amp into the wall socket using the adapter the amp hums. Hum goes away when I touch the strings.
My humbucker is more noisy than my single coil, what the heck. I double checked my wires everything is correct but the humbucker is very noisy. I followed seymour duncan's autosplit wiring. The values of my pots is 250k. Its strat with hss pickup. Please help
None Ofyourbusiness same problem on my guitar too. Please let me know if u found fix. :(
Did you ever find the solution?
I have a Les Paul Studio and a Les Paul Standard, they both hum when I take my hands off the strings, so its not a one off fault. But the big thing is if I have the lights on, we have a dimmer switch which makes them buzzzzzzzzz, I am going to try shielding all of the cavities.
Shielded and earthed all of the internal cavities with copper tape and now no buzz, just super guitars.
Hey man, found your post because I was looking to see what others did regarding a hum on their les Paul as my son's was humming horrible (2011 deluxe with humbucker split pots). Looks like you didn't find your issue but I found mine and wanted to pass along. Ground issue (like stated by everyone here). The Les Paul wires are super skinny and my son's ground wire from the switch to the pot ground was very loose and then broke off. Also, there was not continuity between the bridge and ground as the ground wire inside the cavity had worked itself out of contact with the bridge. And finally, and most important, the shield to the input (main ground) had ever so slightly come lose. It still had continuity when testing with the multi tool but dang the noise was still there. I reflowed the solder on that joint making sure that the solder was there to hold the two wires together and not to make the connection. I also resoldered the loose ground wire from the switch and made sure that the bridge was connected to the ground wire (back out the screw and push the wire in there and test with multi tool). I don't care if you had a luthier work on your guitar, these are things you need to be able to check so you don't get screwed and get irritated when you have a nice guitar. Good luck and hopefully you have solved your issue by now.
I did everything here except use solder to only hold connection thank making the connection
Thanks,maybe i need to look it over again,after gc didnt even use a multimeter,he just wired the pots together WHEN ALL THE POTS ARE ON A METAL PLATE😂,$10 later,I unsoldiered one wire at a time,checking it with the mutimeter and I didnt need no extra mess of soldier joints on my pots,but the wires are thin,and one of thecwires is grey that comes from the switch,my tail peice ground is good,atlest I hope,If I dont figure it out.How much would it be for parts and labor?Im so mad.Its 19 yrs old and barely was played.I cleaned the pots with deoxit D5,that helped my amp pots,but claning the lester's pots didnt help😡
that is a grounding issue, could be solder joints too. Who did the work?
Same problem here with my studio. Whats happening Gibson?? Cheap wires???
there is quite a bit going on with jimmy paige wiring style. One piece of shielding or wire not grounded and its an instant antenna
I have a vintage burst les Paul standard ...and I have exact problem...its so damn depressing ...I desperately need help fix that thing ...If you get yours fixed ...post about how you got it fixed ..eagerly waiting for solutions
I have the same problem with my LP classic, but my Ibanez AR320 is super quiet. I believe it has to do with 6 pole and 12 pole pick ups. The bluesman.
FYI - I bought a new Strat with Noiseless P/U No Noise. My 2013 Les Paul hums just like that. Gibson said it should not hum like that. the hum is slightly quieter on 10. Real pronounce if I try and reduce Volume.
My suggestion is to take the guitar to a qualified technician with a properly equipped shop who can use diagnostic tools such as volt meters to analyze your wiring, insuring the integrity of all solder joins & that the circuit is properly grounded.
Guitar shielding should not be necessary in a guitar with humbuckers that are not coil-tapped or coil split. If shielding is used it needs to be installed properly with solder joins & then grounded. Shielded wiring is also a good idea.
We have a similar problem, if I hold the guitar and not touching any of the
strings or any of the metal parts, the noise is there. As soon as I touch the
strings or metal parts, the noise is gone. But if someone that is not holding
the guitar touches the strings or metal parts the noise is reducing a single
bit.
Yeah, missing the connection to ground between the tailpiece and the pot. I got the same issue
Mine does,it beeps on all pots,input,three way switch,its wierd,i first plug it in ,its dead quiet,then after 20 minutes itll start a static crackling noise,and ends up turning into that loud buzz he mentioned
Mine 50s tribute has got a ground connection to the tailpiece but i have the humming problem too but everything is grounded
Check your ground wire to the tail piece from your control pots. Run alligator clips from the tail piece ground around to the tail piece. Cheap check
Shells the cavity not just the covers, has to encapsulate the electronics. Maybe use copper tape then earth the shielding with a wire to a pots earth point.
So I've got a 2004 Les Paul classic and on bridge no hum , middle and neck same as yours not sure why , driving me nuts also
Right now made it. changed cables inside my Gibson Les Paul and work perfectly. found that inside Gibson uses a cable with 4 cables in colors White Green Red black and all them are shielded and shield is grounded. replaced this cables with
4 cables separately for each comtact and my guitar doesn't have any Noise at all. Of course this will help if you know how to solder correct and of course if the humm goes away when you touch metal parts in your guitar. If anyone wants any help about it please let me know.. ljust want to share my happiness 😊
I have the same problem now after i changed the bridge pickup myself on my Ibenaz. I cleaned pots and output socket by electric component cleaner, doesn't work. I guess all pickups need do star ground which i didn't do it when i change the bridge pickup.
SAme issue her but on my SG Standard. I changed both pickups and now i have this static hum. Did you solve it?
@@EduardoGrados Then I changed to be a bassist lol
How ever did the pickup install messed up, I think one of the pickups. or a pot is not grounded, Or the signal and gound is reversed some where. Some times simple is better, I dont think in the 70s page was using coil tap and phase switching.
just my 2 cents, if you have the same noise with all the pickup changes and shielding that you've done,, theres a ground problem from the factory., few things to try would be run a ground wire to the tail piece. and also check for cold solder joints which basicly means go through the whole guitar and resolder every connection to ensure good contact. in a last dig afford you could rewire the whole guitar with "shielded wire" if its not there from the factory already. after all that I would be at a lost myself if it didn't work.
I have the same problem. I did not use shielded wire from the toggle to volume pots. Do you think this was the issue with yours, or do you maintain it was the amount of wiring or cold solder?
I went thru mine again and it is not the bridge ground, or cold solder joints. I can only think that I need the braided wire going to toggle!
Wiring, so simple, yet such a bitch! Thanks for posting.
So did the problem get fixed??
Bridge ground, the bridge, at the tailpiece, correct to the other comment. It can be, unintentionally left out, when the electronics were installed, try it it will fix the problem my friend. And thanks for the u tube video. Mitch.
Get an Ohmmeter and check every control and ground to the Phono Jack. that goes out to the amp.
This will tell you if there are any connections that are broken and which ones. Should read less then a five or six hundredths of an Ohm.
also wanted to add -- THANK YOU for making this. so damn glad i finally found it. this feels like the true answer and now i can stop losing my mind. i'll just sent the thing back. (was driving me crazy trying to figure it out. i'm a troubleshooter by nature and getting into guitar/luthier fix and build. i can now rest at peace.) PS do you have this video tagged so people like me can find it? : )
Wonder if buying 1 of those line 6 wireless systems would help reduce the hum to a normal level also when using the battery the back of the guitar still produce crackling sound
There is a UA-cam vid I just watched, where he shows you how to ground the bridge nut to I the Tone knob? Not sure, so by the sound of it, you need to ground the bridge nut. Includes some drilling. But if that is the factory’s fault, I suggest getting them to fix it for you
The bridge was already grounded. Your solution would not do anything. Besides, he already fixed it.
Hey dude! thanks for the video... I have a 54' Les Pauls Custom (Black Beauty) and I have the exact same problem... except that the hum doesn't goes away when I touch the bridge or any other metal parts. Anyways I don't dare to make any changes to the wiring so Im taking it to a luthier soon. Just wanted to know if you have a clue of what could be possibly going on. Cheers from margarita Island, Venezuela!
Dude, I know it's an old video but did you fix this? I have exactly the same problem
How you fix your noisy guitar.. my guitar also have same problem.. can you told us how to fix..