Guitarist Dies From Electrocution

[XTRXTR]

^^ Crazy.. I posted this same time, similar solution

RIP, some serious ground issues going on with that.. I remember playing outdoors with my 73 59 stack ungrounded.. IIRC the outlet didn't have a ground so an adapter was needed.. Memories from those days are fuzzy, got a good jolt.. I rigged a jumper cable attached to the output jack plug, clamped a screwdriver and stuck it in the ground. .. Problem solved..

I lent a Malachi 6 channel board out to some friends to use at a local venue.. They returned it with fried chips, blown fuse. Turns it out they plugged into an outlet wired to 220.

that is crazy, but see there you go, good job on the fix!

 

[jmp45]

that is crazy, but see there you go, good job on the fix!

Insane the neighbors put up with it.. It was out back jamming with neighbors. Guess that was given us a pass.

Fun story, we jammed after hight school in my basement. The 1959, Andy Milton had a YB-3 preamping 4 2x15 standel powered cabs that was crazy loud. Brad Holzworth on drums, Kevin Reamy on keys (I think that day).. Mom came home early throwing a fit and chased everyone out. She said the front yard was shaking.

I dropped those names for google. I'd like to see what they are up too. Andy is gone though, He went on to play with Satriani with the squares. Andy was a good friend, passed away years later, an OD.

 

[AlvisX]

Stone the Crows - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[mickeydg5]

What amplifier was he using?
Was it updated?
Did he have enemies, anyone who would wanted to harm him?

So many questions.

Ground can be cut from source in so many places.

 

[ricksdisconnected]

Very sad.
And Rick is correct with Van Halen and the Brown M&M's.
Years ago at the age of 14 or 15, I had a Fender Deluxe Reverb, and if barefooted on the basement floor, I could feel electricity flow through my arm when rested on the tail piece of guitar.
Always bothered me, but never killed me...Thank God.
Very sad to read this.

dude, i had a fender.....Princeton (?) way back in like 85 that did the same thing.
whats up with that crap Fender?

 

[MP+]

If by any chance I get back into live gigs I'll be going wireless from here on. They suck some tone out but no more than a rack mount effects unit or even worse, any digital modelling setup. The ridiculous side to all this is that guitars could be easily protected from mains voltage with a couple of bi-directional zener diodes and fuses. Fuse wire is basically the same as the wire wound around the pickups, the set up would be electrically and sonically invisible. Electrical appliances go down the path of double insulation since there is normally mains voltage in the hand held unit. The fact that mains voltage should never get to the guitar makes it easier to protect since there should be no more than about 2 to 5 volts AC (output of the pickups, I've called up to 5 volts to allow for active pickups) at any time on the guitar cable. Tragic and avoidable, should not have happened in this day and age.

 

[XTRXTR]

That is the Death Cap.

Fender put a Cap between Line (hot) and Neutral to filter out highs on the on the line. So if the cap fails short, as they do, Chassis is now connected to what? Chassis is hot! If you happen to have your guitar plugged in? Well your guitar is grounded to the strings and via the shield going to the chassis. If you touch your strings in a shorted death cap condition and you are being casual going bare foot, Line current has a path to ground as follows: Wall (hot)-->Chassis-->Guitar Shield-->Strings-->hand-->heart-->foot-->ground--->Death aka Death Cap.

 

[MP+]

That is the Death Cap.

Fender put a Cap between Line (hot) and Neutral to filter out highs on the on the line. So of the cap fails short, as they do, Chassis is now connected to what? Chassis is hot! If you happen to have your guitar plugged in? Well your guitar is grounded to the strings and via the shield going to the chassis. If you touch your strings in a shorted death cap condition and you are being casual going bare foot, Line current has a path to ground as follows: Wall (hot)-->Chassis-->Guitar Shield-->Strings-->hand-->heart-->foot-->ground--->Death aka Death Cap.

Wireless is looking more and more like the front runner. The systems are getting better and more reliable / less expensive every few years.

 

[dodona]

could happen to all of us. R.I.P. bro

 

[Hired Goon]

Terrible news, extremely sad. Makes me wonder about using this old Gibson amp I have, as it's got a two prong cable.

 

[Meclazine]

R.I.P.

Maybe it's time to update my 2 prong lead Marshall 100W Super Lead.

 

[Brek]

A tragic event. In UK so many venues had really dodgy wiring back in the day.

Should not have happened, I have no idea about their health and safety laws over there, if that happened in UK someone could be facing manslaughter charges.

If I was to buy an amp woth a two pronger first thing I'd do is take it to a competent tech to be made safe.

I have an hand wired 5e3 amp (the death cap amp) and its grounded to chassis and standby removed. Which I hope is safe.

Wireless is certainly worth considering is you are playing in old venues.

I have a big capacity lifepo4 battery backup which i use for all sorts, camping trips ect, which will power a 20w head for two hours. I would consider using that with added benefit of no noise pollution from the venues mains.

 

[ScottJam]

Terrible news, extremely sad. Makes me wonder about using this old Gibson amp I have, as it's got a two prong cable.

Could always use an ohm meter to see which side of the plug is connected to chassis ground but this won't help if a death cap fails. Make sure the side connected to chassis goes in the large slot of the wall outlet. I'm sure you probably know this though.

 

[ScottJam]

How tragic this could've been avoided. Sounds like a venue ground issue to me but who knows I hope we find out the details so people can learn from this.

 

[WellBurnTheSky]

Wireless is looking more and more like the front runner. The systems are getting better and more reliable / less expensive every few years.

Yeah, that's one of the reasons why I always use a wireless when gigging. Got tired of getting shocks when playing and singing (though also using foam windscreen does help too) in some venues or outdoors when generators are used.
Plus it makes changing guitars faster (I use a Line6 G75, I can cycle through my 2 beltpacks and a wire using the footswitch), and I don't trip on cables anymore. And I can run around, obviously.
Taking cue from Angus Young here (he started using a wireless after getting -literally- thunderstruck)

 

[dro]

I've seen the dreaded 3" Blue Spark, more times than I care to admit.

Playing the intro at a new gig, slowly leaning into the mic, for the first line of the song, BAM

Thankfully I didn't have heart problems yet. A good Furman (P1800AR) will tell you allot about the power situation.

All times when I was young and dumb, and had no knowledge of AC power or how it worked.

Knowledge is power.

 

[ITburst]

Is this an issue only with old tube amps? Are solid state amps capable of the same thing?
My rig is all current (see what I did there?) kit. Marshall DSL20 with slant 2x12, Fender Deluxe Reverb Tone Master.
Pretty sure my home outlet is fine but just for fun I’ll stick the tester in there.
These kinds of stories can make one think

 

[Chrome]

I wonder if he was touching the mic? Usually a fatal shock requires the electricity to pass through your body to ground, like if you're barefoot or touching a mic.

Related anecdote, many years ago I was working at an event in Sri Lanka. It was in a huge event tent on the grounds of one of the big hotels in Colombo, can't remember which. Everything was running on generator power. One of our crew got a nasty shock from the metal tent frame. We reported this to the local crew and made it clear that it needed to be fixed. They fixed it... they put up a sign that said "Do not touch the tent."

agree, although a ground isn't always necessary to receive an electrical shock, in most cases, this is why people do get shocked. theoretically you can hold the hot wire of a 110vac circuit (I have personally done this, 35 years in the electrical maintenance field) and if you are well insulated from ground, you won't get electrocuted. that being said, a circuit with proper grounding protection will prevent you from getting shocked in the first place.

 

[Chrome]

more important is if the neutral for the power distribution wasn't bonded to ground would more likely be the case. when you don't bond neutral, you create floating voltage. it is in my opinion more dangerous.

 

[lordraptor1]

Singer and guitarist, 24, dies after being electrocuted by his own instrument

Singer and guitarist, 24, dies after being electrocuted by his own instrument

Luyan Lopes de Aguiar, 24, received a lethal bolt of electricity as he tuned his guitar shortly before his band was due to take to the stage and play to crowds

www.mirror.co.uk

maybe he should have not overpaid for that marshall amp and instead bought himself a nice vintage 80's peavey vtm120 head and cab. far better deal paying 1500 for a complete peavey half stack the wont kill you than a head only that will.