Members ZachOmega Posted November 13, 2006 Members Share Posted November 13, 2006 I have a friend who just recently purchased a Shure SM58. He attempted to plug it into his Gibson GA1RT and Gibson GA18. Both amps are grounded (I assume properly). He said this lead to a nasty shock. Is lifting the ground on the microphone a proper solution? What other solutions are there? Thanks guys,-Zach Omega Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sir H C Posted November 13, 2006 Members Share Posted November 13, 2006 Get out a voltmeter and find out where the voltage is coming from. Whatever the culprit solve it there. Something in the system is not properly grounded. this is the one place where wireless systems really shine, you don't have that ground path to your amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ZachOmega Posted November 13, 2006 Author Members Share Posted November 13, 2006 I wouldn't even know where to begin to tell him to start searching for voltages with a microphone. -Zach Omega Originally posted by Sir H C Get out a voltmeter and find out where the voltage is coming from. Whatever the culprit solve it there. Something in the system is not properly grounded.this is the one place where wireless systems really shine, you don't have that ground path to your amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sir H C Posted November 13, 2006 Members Share Posted November 13, 2006 I use a voltmeter and set it for AC volts (200 volt scale) and touch one end to the mic while holding the other (10 MEG resistance inside keeps from getting zapped), and go around touching one end to the amps (metal chassis or the sleeve on the 1/4" going into the amps) and see who has more than about 1 volt on the ground. The culprit needs the fix. Or, since he is using two amps, try one amp (other completely out of circuit) and the mic, then the other with the mic and see if it zaps him for both or one or the other. If one or the other, that amp is the problem. Both, either both amps are bad or the mic is at fault. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ZachOmega Posted November 13, 2006 Author Members Share Posted November 13, 2006 I'm going to need to digest this a bit...but that sounds reasonable. -Zach Omega Originally posted by Sir H C I use a voltmeter and set it for AC volts (200 volt scale) and touch one end to the mic while holding the other (10 MEG resistance inside keeps from getting zapped), and go around touching one end to the amps (metal chassis or the sleeve on the 1/4" going into the amps) and see who has more than about 1 volt on the ground. The culprit needs the fix.Or, since he is using two amps, try one amp (other completely out of circuit) and the mic, then the other with the mic and see if it zaps him for both or one or the other. If one or the other, that amp is the problem. Both, either both amps are bad or the mic is at fault. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GuyCabellero Posted November 13, 2006 Members Share Posted November 13, 2006 It is also possible that your outlet is not grounded properly. Go to your hardware store and buy an outlet tester for $10. Just plug it into the outlet and it will tell you if the outlet is wired properly. I keep one in my gig bag and always test out the outlet I'm using unless I've used it before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bassplayinguy Posted November 14, 2006 Members Share Posted November 14, 2006 Originally posted by GuyCabellero It is also possible that your outlet is not grounded properly. Go to your hardware store and buy an outlet tester for $10. Just plug it into the outlet and it will tell you if the outlet is wired properly. I keep one in my gig bag and always test out the outlet I'm using unless I've used it before. Ive taken a few shocks from this before... bad outlets Ive also taken a shock to the teeth when some drunk chick spilt her beer on my pedal board power supply. It went thru my teeth and down my arm into my fingers... hurt like hell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Prog Posted November 14, 2006 Members Share Posted November 14, 2006 Originally posted by ZachOmega ... a Shure SM58. He attempted to plug it into his Gibson GA1RT and Gibson GA18.More info is needed to answer anything. Why 2 amps listed? Did he try to plug it into two different amps?What kind of cable to what kind of input(s)? It doesn't sound like either of you know what you are doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ZachOmega Posted November 14, 2006 Author Members Share Posted November 14, 2006 Two amps because after getting shocked on one amp he switched to a different amp to see if it was just the one amp. Standard XLR to mono 1/4". And if it were anything else, I'd say I knew what I was doing, but when it comes to the world of getting shocked on microphones, you are right, I have no idea what the hell is going on. It has never been a problem for me. -Zach Omega Originally posted by Prog More info is needed to answer anything.Why 2 amps listed? Did he try to plug it into two different amps?What kind of cable to what kind of input(s)? It doesn't sound like either of you know what you are doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Prog Posted November 14, 2006 Members Share Posted November 14, 2006 Originally posted by ZachOmega Standard XLR to mono 1/4". Just as I thought. You need to get a low-to-high impedance transformer/adapter. Guitar Center has them. About $15. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ZachOmega Posted November 16, 2006 Author Members Share Posted November 16, 2006 Problem turned out to be improper connection in the xlr to 1/4" adapter. Correcting this problem fixed everything. Thanks to you guys who gave some advice. -Zach Omega Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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