Guitar grounding issue

[Adrian R]

Hey, two of my guitars have this weird grounding noise.

Kind of obnoxious. Ground noise persists until I touch the guitar cable at the jack...or the jack plate. Cable looks good at the output jack.

Any ideas?

Oh, and have you ever seen a cable/wire soldered to the back of a control pot going nowhere?

 

[fitz]

Oh, and have you ever seen a cable/wire soldered to the back of a control pot going nowhere?

The back of the pots are ground.
Is there a wire going from a pot back to the bridge, into a hole toward the bridge, or to the trem spring claw (if applicable)?
More info on your guitars and/or a few pics would be helpful.

 

[MarshallDog]

Did your ground wire to the bridge fall off?

I had this happen to one of my LPSs!

 

[Trouble Free]

if the guitar is a few years old then old jacks can get some corrosion on the sleeve and won't make a good contact till you bump the cable around. I had to change one recently on a 2000 les paul

 

[dna9656]

If your strings aren't grounded (I believe) you'll get a shock, if it's just the cable I'd make sure the shield on the wire is well soldereed to the jack and make sure your jacks on your amps and effects are all properly grounded, check with your amp tech to be sure.

 

[RobS]

hey Adrian,

hope youre all well mate?

with my LP Traditional, it has the steel plate that all the pots are mounted to and a single ground wire soldered to the back of the neck volume. I had ground noise happening and found the only way to solve it was soldering a wire across the back of all the pots linking them together. The pots being 'screwed' to the plate is the ground and I dont think its a good ground

I think ill get rid of the steel plate and mount the pots direct to the body as it looks alot cleaner. My EPI has no steel plate, 30 yrs old and no odd noises whatsoever.

rob

 

[Marshall Arts]

I think you somewhat answered your own question.

Try to measure the resistance between the bridge and the jackplate. Continuity? In that case, your bridge is grounded as it should.
If nothing: You have a ground break on the bridge.
That must be the wire going nowhere.

 

[Chris-in-LA]

Not sure how important grounding the strings even is. My 82 LP was built without it and I never noticed for years. I’ve also heard that if the noise goes away when you touch the guitar, the ground works. Have you added any fluorescent or low voltage lights in your house recently? You might have some outside interference.

 

[JP2036]

Seems i saw a thread where the OP gutted the Gibson stock PCB push/pull pots and replaced them.
Would this be one of those guitars with the ground fault ?

 

[junk notes]

Hey, two of my guitars have this weird grounding noise.

Kind of obnoxious. Ground noise persists until I touch the guitar cable at the jack...or the jack plate. Cable looks good at the output jack.

Any ideas?

Oh, and have you ever seen a cable/wire soldered to the back of a control pot going nowhere?

What are they?

 

[paul-e-mann]

Hey, two of my guitars have this weird grounding noise.

Kind of obnoxious. Ground noise persists until I touch the guitar cable at the jack...or the jack plate. Cable looks good at the output jack.

Any ideas?

Oh, and have you ever seen a cable/wire soldered to the back of a control pot going nowhere?

Check this out buddy, this guy is a pro and knows what he's talking about.

https://www.fralinpickups.com/2018/11/12/understanding-guitar-grounding/

 

[fitz]

Check this out buddy, this guy is a pro and knows what he's talking about.

https://www.fralinpickups.com/2018/11/12/understanding-guitar-grounding/

Thanks - great info not normally included in a wiring schematic off the net.
I'm wiring up the Shorty mods today and need to combine 3 layout diagrams to get what I want.

 

[Adrian R]

What are they?

Both my V and Explorer exhibit ground noise. The V is worst. If I touch the guitar cable at the jack the noise goes away

 

[paul-e-mann]

Both my V and Explorer exhibit ground noise. The V is worst. If I touch the guitar cable at the jack the noise goes away

From that article I posted it shows a picture how to properly ground the pots, then a ground to the bridge, I think thats all you gotta do.

 

[mickeydg5]

Which Explorer and V?
How are they set up, electronic schematic wise?
Shielding?