Guitar buzzes,touching strings reduces buzz,touch tuners buzz gone.

[Standard 64]

The guitar has a buzz.If I put my hand on the strings the buzz reduces but is still audible.If I touch the tuners with my hand on or off the strings the buzz is completely gone.Both my guitars buzz(stock Ibanez).Also on the gibson if I hit a c bar chord I can hear the buzz in the background.Any ideas?Thanks.

 

[Witch-hat]

Are you near flourescent lights or a tv set?

 

[Jeff]

The guitar has a buzz.If I put my hand on the strings the buzz reduces but is still audible.If I touch the tuners with my hand on or off the strings the buzz is completely gone.Both my guitars buzz(stock Ibanez).Also on the gibson if I hit a c bar chord I can hear the buzz in the background.Any ideas?Thanks.

Is the amp grounded? Are your cords in good condition? Is your electrical outlet(s) grounded?

 

[Standard 64]

Not near flourescent light,tv is kind of nearby the amp(8 feet)but not on.I plug my amp into a power supply that plugs into the wall and a little green light says the ground is good.Monster rock chords seem to be fine.

 

[coreybox]

Try a different cord for sure. I had a monster cable that caused major ground problems. This hum thing doesn't seem at all abnormal to me.

I normally use p90s though, so maybe it is more exaggerated on my set up. The bridge/strings/tuners are all connect to ground, so when you touch it you are really grounding them through you body to the ground and reduce the hum.

 

[Mike Shaw]

A light dimmer will make 'em buzz too.

 

[Standard 64]

Don't have a light dimmer.I'll check the chords.

 

[DannyBoy]

The chord you play shouldn't make a difference, even if it's diminished AND augmented...

The cord you connect your guitar to your amp with may be a factor though.

 

[SoulShade]

I've also had the humming problem with a Monster keyboard cable- I'd double check it.

 

[jackhicks]

Standard 64:

If all of that doesn't take it away, you might have some poor soldering in your control cavity. My Custom did the same thing. I would touch the strings, hum goes away. Let off the strings, hum. Touch lightly, light buzz. It turned out to be a combination of cold solder joints and a few of the ground wires that connect to the back of the pots, "swimming" in solder; the wires were only making contact with the pot through the solder and not actually touching the back of the pot. Because I was going to re-solder everything, I decided to put an RS kit in. Problem solved. No more buzz.

 

[Standard 64]

Standard 64:

If all of that doesn't take it away, you might have some poor soldering in your control cavity. My Custom did the same thing. I would touch the strings, hum goes away. Let off the strings, hum. Touch lightly, light buzz. It turned out to be a combination of cold solder joints and a few of the ground wires that connect to the back of the pots, "swimming" in solder; the wires were only making contact with the pot through the solder and not actually touching the back of the pot. Because I was going to re-solder everything, I decided to put an RS kit in. Problem solved. No more buzz.

I had a RS kit put in a while ago and also pickups,by a guitar tech.How do I check for cold solder joints and swimming solder?Thanks.

 

[jackhicks]

Standard,

Cold solder joints look grey in color. They should be nice and shiny, almost "wet" looking. The swimming thing I described would be the wire in the solder but not actually touching the pot (or the part you want it connected to.) In other words, its the solder, not the wire that's actually making the connection. That's not really good, as solder itself is not as good a conductor as the wire is.

Here's one other thing you can try that might help to isolate the problem. Open up your cavity. Plug the guitar in to your amp and get it buzzing good. Take an insulated wire and make sure your hands are touching only the insulation, and use it as a jumper to see if you can get the buzz to go away. As an example, touch one end of the wire to the braided ground wire. Touch the other side to the pot directly. If your buzz goes away, it's probablly that connection that is causing the problem. It's probablly a good idea to only do this to things that should be connected.

Also, I noticed some people suggesting that it could be your guitar cable. One way around all of that, is to just substitute a whole different guitar. If it doesn't buzz on a different guitar, then you've eliminated the amp and guitar cable.

I hope this helps. I know firsthand what a downer that buzz thing can be!

 

[Standard 64]

Standard,

Cold solder joints look grey in color. They should be nice and shiny, almost "wet" looking. The swimming thing I described would be the wire in the solder but not actually touching the pot (or the part you want it connected to.) In other words, its the solder, not the wire that's actually making the connection. That's not really good, as solder itself is not as good a conductor as the wire is.

Here's one other thing you can try that might help to isolate the problem. Open up your cavity. Plug the guitar in to your amp and get it buzzing good. Take an insulated wire and make sure your hands are touching only the insulation, and use it as a jumper to see if you can get the buzz to go away. As an example, touch one end of the wire to the braided ground wire. Touch the other side to the pot directly. If your buzz goes away, it's probablly that connection that is causing the problem. It's probablly a good idea to only do this to things that should be connected.

Also, I noticed some people suggesting that it could be your guitar cable. One way around all of that, is to just substitute a whole different guitar. If it doesn't buzz on a different guitar, then you've eliminated the amp and guitar cable.

I hope this helps. I know firsthand what a downer that buzz thing can be!

I'll look for cold solder joints.I don't think I'll try the wire thing because I'll probably short something out.The buzz happens on my other guitar,but it is not as loud.So me being the ground must be normal.

 

[setenza]

Hi All,

New user here, nice to meet you all.

I just picked up a nice 05 Standard Premium + with a RS kit already installed.

Nice forum, found this good info after searching.

I am having this same buzzing issue so I think I will take a look at for the cold solder/swimming issue.

 

[Standard 64]

Hi All,

New user here, nice to meet you all.

I just picked up a nice 05 Standard Premium + with a RS kit already installed.

Nice forum, found this good info after searching.

I am having this same buzzing issue so I think I will take a look at for the cold solder/swimming issue.

I figured out minor buzz is normal.A boss ns2 noise suppressor eliminates some of that noise.So does a EQ.