humming noise

sleeplikeadog

Hey. My guitar (I'm pretty sure it's my guitar and not my amp since it's done it on 2 amps) makes a humming noise. It's mostly when I'm on distortion and/or really loud. What is this, and is it expensive to fix? It's really annoying. Thanks for the help.

J.D.

What kind of guitar?

Does it have single coils?
Single coils can be noisy.

You may have a bad ground. If you touch some metal parts on th guitar is the hum reduced?
If so, that's a grounding problem.

Pearl Jam and toast

might be a grounding problem.

all dist., OD, fuzz, etc is prone to hum (how much depends on what amp, what guitar, what pick ups, and what pedal) so get used to it.

you could get noise reduction, which varies in cost from not too bad upwards.

check your cables. One of them might have a broken shield. The remedy, of course, is to buy a new cable . Switch them out and see if it's any better.

Also, florescant lights cause hum. Use lamps (or candles/laterns if you're classy ).

It also might be powerlines near your house.

Do this...

Hook everything up and then turn around with your guitar on... if the hum fades in and out than it's magnetic interference and not radio frequency interference... meaning that it's not a powerline thing.. If it is than i dunno what i can do that i haven't already listed.

who's_pearljam?

Yup,,, what type pickups do you have, and try to describe the hum. (When it happens, does it change if you move to a different room, is it constant when you're not playing, etc)

If they're single coil then like they say above, some hum is natural.

If you touch the strings or the bridge and the hum stops, then it's probably a ground.

Those are the most common hums, but if you describe when it happens and what you're pickups are, then I bet we can fix it!

harrisonmerwin

If its a strat (or copy) i know a few reasons, some obvious, others that are a bit overlooked sometimes. Some years of strats are really bad for grouding, sheilding, and over all wiring. If its a strat i will help you out sir!

Pearl Jam and toast

i do reiterate though, check the chords cuz it's probably the cheapest way to fix the problem if it's any kind of unnatural hum.