Noise/Hum That Stops When You Touch the Strings

[H S]

Playing through different pedals, there's some noise/hum that stops when you touch the strings and some that doesn't.  What causes the kind that stops when you touch the strings?

[petemoore]

  Get hum, unplug guitar.
  Still hum, guitar is source.
  Cable test, same way.
  *DMM diode mode continuity check between cable sleeves, sleeves and strings. If your strings are grounded, touching them, ground would stay at 0v.
  Them little wires inside betwixed bridge and cavity...,I put one wire between the bridge post insert with a flattened solid core contact, it worked, also an above board wire to alligator clip I know works...don't ask me how I know that, I was dealing with a wire coming out of wood', side of cavity, not a wire coming out of a hole in the wood.
  'you'd better get those strings grounded' is what they told me

[Bernardduur]

YOU!

Yes, you are picking up disturbances around you and focusses them into your guitar wich causes it to hum. When you touch the string you "ground" yourself and therefor leading the disturbances away

[markr04]

Right on, Bernard. I read that somewhere a while back and it took me a day to wrap my brain around that... I mean, I touch the strings and the noise goes away? And I'm the problem? hehe... "right, crazy author."

Am I correct in assuming that because we are like antennae that the back side of the cavities (covers, mostly) are are the shielded parts on a guitar? I shielded my first guitar opposite... ie: I took the pots out and shielded that part of the cavity instead of the cover. Needless to say, I didn't solve my problem. 

[H S]

YOU!

Yes, you are picking up disturbances around you and focusses them into your guitar wich causes it to hum. When you touch the string you "ground" yourself and therefor leading the disturbances away

I did a few experiments and it looks like this is right.  Far out.  I was a long way from that answer.

(At first I thought you were trying to say that the hum was caused by body Thetans.  )

[Bernardduur]

(At first I thought you were trying to say that the hum was caused by body Thetans.  )

LOL

Check here for good shielding / wiring

[mathflan]

I had the same problem when I add a FET preamp on my guitar.
I resolve that by putting the Metal part of my pickup to the ground ,put the two screw of the pickup on Ground, and it's ok now...

[Fp-www.Tonepad.com]

Bernardduur, I had read that a few months ago in guitarnuts. I found it quite interesting.

Fp

[Bernardduur]

Yes, I know..... That's the place I got my info from

[i2k]

I have a hum problem after I rewired my guitar. It's a Peavey Generation XP HSH custom with piezo. All pickups are humbuckers (fyi, the "S" is a Duncan Duckbucker) Before, the connection is like this :
                         
guitar vol pot & piezo ------>preamp----------->output jack

It has a DPDT on-on switch to select between magnetic pickup or piezo. With this configuration, the guitar is noisy when I use a distortion pedal. I removed the preamp, connected the vol pot directly to the jack, like a normal HSH guitar config, as found on Seymour Duncan site. The noise gone, but I get hum which decreased (not disappeared) when I touch the string. Then I shield the guitar using copper shield, use star grounding as on Guitarnut site. The hum is now disappear when I touch the string. What I dont understand is that why I still have the hum when I don't touch the string ? I'm sure I have no ground loop (due to the star ground) and the connection between every ground point (from pickups, pots, any point of cavity shield and jack) to the bridge is OK (checked it with DMM continuity test). I havent put back my piezo preamp yet. The hum will increase when I turn on my computer.

I dont have this problem when the preamp is in. What's going wrong with my guitar Do I have to use bigger wire to connect to the bridge ground ? Humbuckers should cancel hum, right ? The hum intensity changes when I change my standing position. Test with different & shorter cable, same result.

Can somebody help me please ? At least I prefer to live with hum than with the noise. 

[i2k]

halooo...somebody please...I really need help on this...

[mathflan]

HI,

I had the same problem after I put a FET preamp into my guitar.
I resolve the problem by putting the metal part of th pickups and the Screw of the pickups to the ground.
Try that.
In fact sometimes on guitar, Metal part of pickups are note wire to ground...

bye

[nordine]

since we are on topic, i'd like to ask something...

i use a metal pick with my bass, so when i shield the strings i get noise everytime i contact the strings with the pick... is there a way to not get this noise? - besides grounding the pick  -

[dr]

...Nordine, I have that problem with an old strat-I took a jumper wire with an alligator clip, hooked one end to the bridge and the other end to a ring I wear a lot.....that way if you pull a "Pete Townsend" windmill trick, the clip will pop off....( I used to have a wire tied to the bridge permanantly, and on the other end I formed a ring out of the wire and soldered it....yep, windmill trick.....) ..........ouch......