Hi bros, need your expertise on this:
When I plug in my electric guitar to an amp with volume up, there's an unwanted sound (irritating hum/rattling/distorted-like)
It stops completely or greatly reduces when I touch the 1st string.
Situation also gets better when I move the cables here and there to reach a "silent" state - sort of like adjusting the antenna for a radio.
I've done basic troubleshooting and can confirm that it is not the amp.

Can it be the cable that is causing this problem?
I'm using a normal cheap cable. Can anyone help or advise? Thanx!!

its normal bro, i dont know about moving the cables but most amps do make hums. this comes from the high gain that you use, the single coils, or merely standing tooo close to the amp. theres also power wattage that contributes to this, far as i konw my old practice amp would hum if someone bathes with the heater.

Oh, is normal?
Ok, if I used lower gain, it should be alright? But if lower gain, sound out got no kick la... haha...
I'm on humbucks btw... and there is a reasonable distance from the amp when i play.
Plus, sometimes, i just use headphone out from amp, the irritating sound is still there... supposedly no feedback already rite?

Got replies from elsewhere that I should check on pickup grounding... what you think of that?
Or can it be just the cables?

Anyone else facing similar problem? Any suggestion for solutions?

Get a better guitar cable and improve the shielding in your guitar... But there will still be a bit of noise when you are playing with high gain..

u need proper shielding and grounding.

u say your cables are cheap cables. try getting better ones and see whether the problem goes away.
if the problem still persists, then the circuitry in your guitar is the one causing the problems. its not being grounded properly.

Feedback is cool, noise is not.

i'm pretty sure this is not about feedback. . am i missing something here?

I thought it's pretty common lar...
Whenever i dont want the hums, i just switch off the volume.

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Added on October 21, 2008, 2:16 pmAfter reading your post for the second time, have you checked your guitar jack ?



This post has been edited by aaron5829: Oct 21 2008, 02:16 PM

Bros, this is definitely not about feedback. It's unwanted annoying rattling distorted sound, nothing like the sound we're looking for.
When you expect total silence, even with all fx turned off, just clean, also can hear that stupid sound. Bloody annoying. Guitar jack and circuitry visual check all ok, soldering all ok. I think it's just the cables. I gotta wait til weekend to get new/better cables.

u say u touch it then the sound disappears right?

thats grounding problem. maybe your amp is not being grounded properly.

2 pin power plug?

probably just a cable prob.. or could be your guitar jack too.

Try troubleshooting it with different cable, guitar, amp, and see which problem persists.

Some pedalboards allow you to turn on the noise gate, which can greatly reduce the hum you're getting (at the cost of some tone loss). If you have one of those, you could use that feature.

yeah i think you are right..
its about grounding...
nothing els

yup, 2 pin power plug. any way around this?

means its not being grounded properly. er i dont think there's really any way around this since the amp is built that way.

actually, another source of problem is the power source. have u tried changing plugs? if the power is not clean, the lack of grounding will allow the noise to go up all the way to your amp, and all the way to your guitar too.

change the plugs, i remember doing this. however theres a certain risk to it naturally

i guess u can change it to a 3 pin plug.
but if your cable doesnt have an earth wire, its no point right?
u can just put it there, but there is no grounding which defeats the whole purpose of having a 3pin socket.

nimrod2, exactly my thoughts at first, the reason why i asked if there was a way around this.

I managed to get a good cable last night, and I did some touch up on the solder works. a hell lot better now.
The irritating sound is still there, but if I don't focus on it, it can be ignored.
Thanks for all the help and if there still are any more suggestions, welcome welcome!!!

Are u using any effects pedal ?? If yes, are your amp and pedal effect plug into the different power outlet ?? If u using two different power source, it will get earth loop which will cause your amp to hum.. try using a multiplug for your amp and pedal...

haha i believe its the grounding issue. did u try using the amp in another room yet?

since your cables are better grounded now, it will help in the reduction of the noise. i believe there is no way around it, as far as my limited knowledge.

grounding problem...

my friend did: he open the back plate, tied a wire across not sure where to where....then settled....

try googling for help..i'm sure it'll help...

I'm using a cheapo RM 30 cable on a cheap amp and I don't get the hum whether I use the single or humbucker pickups. I agree the reason is the grounding because my amp at home is wired to the ground pin too. However when I play with the amp at my former college, the amps are not wired to the ground pin, thus they have that irritating hum.

Just to note, some amps have internal grounding, so they don't need to be wired to the earth on the plugs. If it's done well, you can avoid the earth loop and headaches figuring out where the noise is coming from.

actually what is grounding problem?
can anyone explain for me?i' m new in guitar thingy^^
T_T,i' m also facing the same problem as the thread

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Added on November 29, 2008, 7:00 pmactually what is grounding problem?
can anyone explain for me?i' m new in guitar thingy^^
T_T,i' m also facing the same problem as the thread
HELP ME PLS

This post has been edited by zxV: Nov 29 2008, 07:00 PM