Guitarist Dies From Electrocution

[Norfolk Martin]

Negative. If anything, it's less safe because you seem to have a false sense of security... I'm not sure what your experience with electronics or guitar work is, but the majority of guitars that I have worked on and all that I have built have the bridge/tailpiece bonded to the guitar's ground/audio shield. It's industry standard. That means your strings and tuners are not isolated... they are actually directly connected to the guitar's ground. So what difference does it make if you use an EMG pickup when you are touching your strings and tuners that are bonded directly to the guitar's ground anyways? Also, saying EMGs have better tone is your opinion and a grossly subjective statement.

because emgs does not require grouding to the strings and tuners, if you have emgs and you are using a ground bus to the strings your installation is wrong.


no, but I´m an engineer. I´ve worked building ports.

I understand your point, but any "false sense of security" arises from installing the EMGS Improperly. The bridge is not really "bonded" to ground as I understand the word, but simply connected to ground by a wire coming from the control cavity, usually attached to the back of a pot. Because the EMGs do not need grounded strings to stay quiet , the tech/installer is supposed to disconnect the string ground. . EMGs and similar pickups do provide safety isolation, but only if you install them properly.

 

[Filipe Soares]

I understand your point, but any "false sense of security" arises from installing the EMGS Improperly. The bridge is not really "bonded" to ground as I understand the word, but simply connected to ground by a wire coming from the control cavity, usually attached to the back of a pot. Because the EMGs do not need grounded strings to stay quiet , the tech/installer is supposed to disconnect the string ground. . EMGs and similar pickups do provide safety isolation, but only if you install them properly.

the false sense of security is actually something you can control, just open your control cavity, look for a ground bus and cut it if you see one. every guitar player should know how to troubleshoot their instrument, as every driver also should be able to do it to their own vehicles.

 

[Derrick111]

Depending on your meter and what you're measuring, that could cost you the meter.

If you don't have the knowledge to properly operate a meter or understand the fundamentals of electronics, you have no business messing around with either.

 

[Derrick111]

I understand your point, but any "false sense of security" arises from installing the EMGS Improperly. The bridge is not really "bonded" to ground as I understand the word, but simply connected to ground by a wire coming from the control cavity, usually attached to the back of a pot. Because the EMGs do not need grounded strings to stay quiet , the tech/installer is supposed to disconnect the string ground. . EMGs and similar pickups do provide safety isolation, but only if you install them properly.

Life is too short to argue semantics... we are saying the same thing here. Plain and simple, the industry standard has been since pretty much the beginning of electric guitar manufacturing to tie the bridge/tailpiece to the ground in the guitar. Period. This means that the strings and therefor the tuners will also be connected. @Filipe Soares said that you are supposed to disconnect this connection if installing EMGs. That's fine if they make this 1000% clear to an installer expecting EMGs to provive them a safety measure. If not, it could be their life. Regardless, I can't stand EMGs and there are much simpler ways to protect yourself that doesn't involve you loosing your beloved tone.

 

[Filipe Soares]

Life is too short to argue semantics... we are saying the same thing here. Plain and simple, the industry standard has been since pretty much the beginning of electric guitar manufacturing to tie the bridge/tailpiece to the ground in the guitar. Period. This means that the strings and therefor the tuners will also be connected. @Filipe Soares said that you are supposed to disconnect this connection if installing EMGs. That's fine if they make this 1000% clear to an installer expecting EMGs to provive them a safety measure. If not, it could be their life. Regardless, I can't stand EMGs and there are much simpler ways to protect yourself that doesn't involve you loosing your beloved tone.

Let me rephrase it:

he industry standard for passive pickups is to tie the bridge/tailpiece to the ground in the guitar. Period. This means that the strings and therefor the tuners will also be connected. EMG in their installation manuals made very clear that do not have make this connection their pickups. therefore if you are not following their instructions you are probably a very special person that cannot follow simple instructions

 

[Derrick]

And all guitar DIY-ers are known for always practicing precise, methodical, attention to detail...

 

[PelliX]

And all guitar DIY-ers are known for always practicing precise, methodical, attention to detail...


View attachment 103039

Damn, when did Billy Blades get into custom instruments??

 

[franblanc]

If you see concert footage of Hendrix and The Who from the sixties. The microphone was heavily wrapped in foam or insulating tape in either case. I guess the technicians didn't trust their own work.

 

[Derrick111]

No, that was because The who's singer swings his mic around and they didn't want to loose it. When Hendrix was seen with it, it's likely he was just using the same mic or sometimes they taped two mics together since primitive recording techmiques back then didn't allow using the same mic to record AND go through the PA.

 

[purpleplexi]

Was playing in Spain a couple of years ago - multiple acts on stage. I had a Spainsh mains cable - they have an external earth prong. I could only see UK sockets so I asked the 'engineer' if there was a Spanish input. He said 'I'll sort that' and took the cable off me. I could hear buzzing when we started - didn't think it was my amp. I was a bit miffed because I usually get to sing a few songs but I wasn't asked. Went to pack my amp away and the sound guy had used a screwdriver to push the earth tag out of the way and jammed my cable into a UK cable so I wasn't earthed - the buzzing was me. If I'd touched the mike......
Trust no-one.
On a related tack my brother in law did some shopfitting and stuff. He was asked to fit some spotlights in a shop window in an old shop in the centre of London. He employed a Spanish (coincidence) electrician called Ramon. Ramon went down into the basement, pulled the isolators and started work. There was a flash and a bang and Ramon went 20 feet back across the room. The screwdriver he had touched a cable with melted completely. The surge took out the power to several shops and the traffic lights at the corner of the street. The resulting traffic jam made national radio. The electricity board had to come out to replace the fuse. They showed it to my brother in law and he said it was over an inch thick. At some point in history someone had wired in a separate set of isolators which were hidden from view behind piles of boxes. Spanish Ramon survived miraculously but went back Spain.