Can an amp cause guitars to hum...possible grounding issue?

[jakkim]

No matter what guitar I play through my amp, LP, Tele, Strat, ect... at least one position on the guitar seems to be ungrounded. I think this because there is noticable hum that goes silent if I touch the tuners, strings, switch, really any metal surface. Originally I thought my guitar had bad wiring, but after trying 3 guitars they all seem to have the same issue to some degree. As such I was wondering if the issue could be my amp somehow. Maybe it's not ground correctly and feeding back into the guitar? I really have no idea but something crazy like that seems less crazy then 3 different guitars having crap wiring.

[PancakeBunny]

Try playing with the amp and guitars in a different room.

 

Fluorescent lighting can create a big noise issue. So can plugging your amp into a wall socket near a dimmer switch.

 

I brought my new Super Reverb to GC today to test it out. Noisy as hell in their loud room. Brought it home and plugged it into my basement and no noise whatsoever.

[Roy]

 

Try playing with the amp and guitars in a different room. Fluorescent lighting can create a big noise issue. So can plugging your amp into a wall socket near a dimmer switch. I brought my new Super Reverb to GC today to test it out. Noisy as hell in their loud room. Brought it home and plugged it into my basement and no noise whatsoever.

 

yep. you can add power supplies and CRTs to that list. also, check the outlet ground.

[PanaDP]

Is the outlet itself properly grounded?

[docjeffrey]

Yeah ^^. A power conditioner may, or may not, solve the problem. It's a crap shoot. Sometimes they work, but if there's something in the room causing the noise like a CRT, a computer, etc., the power conditioner will do nothing. If it's in the AC coming from the circuit board of your house, the PC will work well.

[docjeffrey]

 

Is the outlet itself properly grounded?

 

 

Yeah. Stick your tongue into the socket.

 

Seriously, how can a normal, everyday, dude determine whether the power running through his house has been grounded properly? Unless it's a fairly new house, there are a lot of things that can be faulty. You need to hire an electrician to tell for sure. The outlet may appear to be grounded, but it may be meaningless.

[Roy]

 

Yeah. Stick your tongue into the socket. Seriously, how can a normal, everyday, dude determine whether the power running through his house has been grounded properly? Unless it's a fairly new house, there are a lot of things that can be faulty. You need to hire an electrician to tell for sure. The outlet may appear to be grounded, but it may be meaningless.

 

 

there are ground testers you can buy.

 

also, WITH THE CIRCUIT BREAKER OFF test the resistance between hot, neutral and ground. there's usually a bit of leakage but there shouldn't be too much.

[PanaDP]

Yeah. Stick your tongue into the socket. Seriously, how can a normal, everyday, dude determine whether the power running through his house has been grounded properly? Unless it's a fairly new house, there are a lot of things that can be faulty. You need to hire an electrician to tell for sure. The outlet may appear to be grounded, but it may be meaningless.

 

 

About $5. Available at any home depot, lowes, eagle hardware, and even office depot. Personally, I think no amplified musician should be without one.

[ugameus]

For a while I didn't realize I was living in an old ass house with grounding issues. I thought my amp was the issue. It wasn't the amp, just the {censored}ty house. At that time I also learned that there are some people that are screwed because of radio waves. The house doesn't matter, just your location in relation to the direction of the radio waves.

 

That is when I built a lair 643 ft. below ground level. Everything is totally silent now.