Guitar buzz noise conundrum

braindress · Tue Jul 21, 2020 1:18 am

So I have three guitars. One has a buzz if I don’t touch the strings but when I touch the strings it goes away and I barely need a gate even on high gain amp sims. The other too have the same buzz whether I’m touching the strings or not and the buzz kinda changes depending on which way I’m facing. Even if I get far from the computer it’s still loud. I have to find the perfect spot to minimize it but it never goes away.

Does anyone have any idea of what is going on here?

Guitar 1 is a jackson HH
Guitar 2 is an agile HH
Guitar 2 is a Squier HSH

PsychoCid · Tue Jul 21, 2020 1:19 am

No idea on the technical aspects but my first thought is, add shielding to the cavities of those guitars?

Good luck with it!

rrobbone · Tue Jul 21, 2020 2:39 am

Hard to say. Guitar buzz is a gremlin.

Could be your lights. Could be you need a power conditioner. Could be a bad cord. Or something else electrical causing the interference.

Sheilding the cavities as Cid suggests wouldn't hurt.

Flatline · Tue Jul 21, 2020 6:50 am

Buzz that goes away when touching the strings may be a grounding issue. Have you double checked all your wires to make sure a ground hasn't come loose or there is no cold solder joints?

I have a Duo Sonic HS that had buzz issues when touching the pickguard but not necessarily the strings. After I shielded the pickguard better with some copper tape it went away.

RiverDog · Tue Jul 21, 2020 9:57 am

[mention]braindress[/mention] said it happens with 3 different guitars so it's unlikely to be a ground or shielding issue. What's your signal? (pedals, etc.?) I was struggling with similar issues at 2 different times and after much research, I figured out with the first case that the dimmer switch for my ceiling fan/light was the culprit. Moving to a different room fixed it, although it was a pain to do. The other time, I had inadvertently plugged in one of the little power patch cables on my board wrong and I had to take the whole thing apart before I figured it out. Maybe look into those scenarios?

dabbler · Tue Jul 21, 2020 10:07 am

RiverDog wrote: ↑Tue Jul 21, 2020 9:57 am @braindress said it happens with 3 different guitars so it's unlikely to be a ground or shielding issue. What's your signal? (pedals, etc.?) I was struggling with similar issues at 2 different times and after much research, I figured out with the first case that the dimmer switch for my ceiling fan/light was the culprit. Moving to a different room fixed it, although it was a pain to do. The other time, I had inadvertently plugged in one of the little power patch cables on my board wrong and I had to take the whole thing apart before I figured it out. Maybe look into those scenarios?

Depends. If any/all of the guitars are not shielded, I would shield them, especially if they are single coils.

That said, orientation of the guitars having an effect does point to electric fields, which shielding would help with.

Also, if you have dimmable lights in the room, make sure that the dimmers are dimed (full up).

Rollin Hand · Tue Jul 21, 2020 12:59 pm

Shielding may help. They seem to be picking up something. Failing that a HumX or EH Hum Debugger may help.

I had the same problem -- all guitars almost unplayable due to noise. It went away when I moved, save for one guitar. That problem was solved with a new input jack.

fullonshred · Tue Jul 21, 2020 3:43 pm

braindress wrote: ↑Tue Jul 21, 2020 1:18 am So I have three guitars. One has a buzz if I don’t touch the strings but when I touch the strings it goes away and I barely need a gate even on high gain amp sims. The other too have the same buzz whether I’m touching the strings or not and the buzz kinda changes depending on which way I’m facing. Even if I get far from the computer it’s still loud. I have to find the perfect spot to minimize it but it never goes away.

Does anyone have any idea of what is going on here?

Guitar 1 is a jackson HH
Guitar 2 is an agile HH
Guitar 2 is a Squier HSH

I had phantom buzz problems even with several humbucker guitars, while others were dead quiet. It was strongly suggested by some AGF Vets that I had a poorly grounded outlet. Being hard-headed I did not accept that as a likely possibility for a while. When other avenues of action failed to improve matters I moved my amp plug to a "newer" outlet in the same room. That cleared up my problem guitars instantly.

I let the fact that only 3 or so of my 'bucker gits buzzed and the rest were fine keep me from the solution for a long time.

Tue Jul 21, 2020 6:00 pm

Bad cable(s)?