Help with strange static electricity issue

[Desertdawg]

You mean just bare cement or cement under the flooring? Either way, I don't play many gigs on cement floors! :dang

 

[Highroller]

<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--> Hello All,
My self and others that have this static electricity issue appreciate all the help and I hope that ideas keep coming, nothing like brainstorming and idea. At present I have 2 other guitars, using the same amps cables etc. A PRS Single cut and a hot rodded strat, neither of these 2 guitars have any of the problems the Les Paul has and I have owned at least 12 other Les Pauls over the years and none have had anything like this.
So I have come to a few conclusions in my quest to solve this issue.

1. Gibson used a crap switch wiring harness, that cause a 60 cycle style hum – Corrected with new switch and harness.

2. The static electricity issues, may have multiple reasons.
A. During finishing at Gibson, I hear they use an electrical charge when painting.
B. Process they are using to quick dry the wood used.
C. Mother Nature, just one of those anomalies that may never be correctable.

I feel there should be some way to once and for all, completely discharge the guitars static charge, but I have yet to figure it out. Even if it’s only discharged for a few hours at a time to make it playable would be a plus.

Come on guys and gals, put your thinking caps on!

We have a challenge at hand!


Regards


Highroller

 

[Yelly]

Gibson using static charge to paint is highly unlikely. That is a car industry thing. You connect a negative voltage to metal car body shell. You then put a positive charge onto the paint at the nozzle. This has 2 benefits: it stops the paint droplets sticking together (you get uniform droplet size and less orange peel effect); the droplets are attracted to the car body so less paint is wasted. This leaves no static behind on the car at all. You can't do it with wood.

BTW yesterday a friend brought a Telecaster to me complaining it was suffering from static. He then showed me the "static noise". It turned out to be a shitty contact on the selector switch (neck position - which he hardly ever used). Whenever you dug into a note and made the guitar vibrate enough, you got a crackle along with the note. Contact cleaner cured it immediately. As you have already changed the harness/selector switch it can't be that. BUT bear in mind only one part of an LP wiring harness is common to both pups.....the wiring from selector switch to output jack. Have you tried something as simple as cleaning the jack socket?

 

[Kristine]

 

[Desertdawg]

Well, here's a surprise. I installed a new set of Curt Mangan strings, which are a tad rough to the touch, so thought that I'd try a can of "Finger Ease." Sprayed the strings, fingerboard and back of the neck as suggested on the can and it did indeed help. Surprisingly though, it also removed the static that I was getting as my hand moved up and down the neck.

Tried it on the body back and around the switches where it substantially removed the crackle too. It's not a permanent fix but sure works well in a hurry....and it isn't a bad polish / cleaner either!

 

[RocknRollShakeUp]

Try a laundry static sheet/pad like you toss in the dryer to stop static cling on clothes. These eliminate static electricity. Wipe the guitar surface.

Yeah static electricity! That's what I would have to do, when I lived in a house with carpet where my practice room was. This was esp. bad with a non reverse firebird that had the big control cavity cover and big pickup cover (both plastic). But Les Pauls did it too. I'd wipe the plastic down, and also the back of the body and neck, with a Bounce dryer sheet (fragrance free ). It would resolve the problem for up to a few weeks for me. Now I play on wood floors and don't have the problem at all.

 

[Desertdawg]

Tried that years ago but didn't like the residue that the dryer sheets left on the lacquer of my Les Paul. It did work though, as you say, for a few weeks at a time.

So far, the Finger Ease is doing the trick, and is lubricating the strings and polishing the neck and top as a bonus!

 

[RocknRollShakeUp]

Tried that years ago but didn't like the residue that the dryer sheets left on the lacquer of my Les Paul. It did work though, as you say, for a few weeks at a time.

So far, the Finger Ease is doing the trick, and is lubricating the strings and polishing the neck and top as a bonus!

Cool. And you know what, I am now just realizing that the product Finger Ease is actually meant to put on one's fingers! Or am I wrong? I've seen it in the store and I assumed it was to be spread on the strings/fretboard, or some such!

I must admit I didn't notice any residue, but I did rub pretty lightly, just enough to lightly touch the guitar and lift the charge off the guitar, especially the plastics.

 

[Desertdawg]

According to the directions on the can, "While not for application to hands, residue transfers from strings to fingers and conditions callouses, keeping them soft and smooth without snags."

I can't really say that I've noticed any difference myself but it does seem to be an inexpensive cleaner with the anti-static bonus! I also do seem to be getting longer string life but that may just be the change to the Curt Mangan set.

 

[Liverjuice]

Hello to all,

Having played guitar for nearly 30 years in my younger life, I have experience about every guitar and amp related problem you can think of one time or another. I am a tech type person, so repairs are not out of my vocabulary. I stopped playing and followed other interests 15 years ago. I purchased a new hand picked by myself, Les Paul Tradition in 2013. For the first couple years, it didn't get much use, due to my aggravation with my lack of ability compared to years ago. Recently, I have seemed to get over the hump and have started building up my chops and even starting to feel good about my playing. As I have gotten better, I have been focusing on cleaning up my lead word with various muting technicks.

Recently I have been chasing what I thought was a rattle in the background. I have check the bridge, tailpiece and all else and nothing seemed to have found where the rattle is coming from. The other night while playing some long descending scales it became evident that the rattle was more like static. Thought maybe a bad tube in the amp. I plugged into another amp I have and same problem. So its the guitar yes I also changed cables. I go to start taking resistance reading ( thinking ground issue with guitar) and notice when I went to unstrap the guitar, it made a electrical static type sound when it rubbed against my body. On further investigation I notice with the amp on and the guitar plugged in, volume on, the rear cover plates on the guitar, when rubbed with my hand make a loud static noise, also I found that the back of the neck, has the same static issue when moving you hand up and down the neck. WOW that's got me scratching my head. The guitar has always been a little on the noisey side ( slight ground loop hum) but nothing abnormal for a les paul. Any one have thoughts on tracking down the issue and solving it.

Thank You

My Rigg

2013 Gibson Les Paul Traditional (All Factory Stock)
Year ??? Fender stat, Hot Rodded by me (Does not have the static problem the les paul has)
Marshall 1968 Small box 50 watt
Marshall JVM 410H 100 watt, Hot Rodded by me
Marshall JCM900 1960B cab
Marshall DSL 40C Hot Rodded by me
Rapco Guitar cables

I live in a house that's over 100 years old, but all the electrical has been modernized a few years back with copper. I have double checked the outlets in my music room and they are all properly grounded, with proper neutral.

I run my marshal's connected to a voltage regulator and filter. Been doing this for years and has saved me many times and gives consistency to the amps tone.

Hello Highroller,

I am also facing the same problem with a LP Classic 2017 and it's driving me crazy. I tried copper foil on the back covers and made no difference. Did you get to resolve the issue at all?

Thanks!

 

[RocknRollShakeUp]

Try a laundry static sheet/pad like you toss in the dryer to stop static cling on clothes. These eliminate static electricity. Wipe the guitar surface.

try the dryer sheets guys, if it’s static electricity, it’s a good easy solution

 

[somebodyelseuk]

Try switching your mobile phone and wifi router off.

 

[Rusty Strings]

I have this with my 2002 standard, static crackle when my fingers touch the pick guard. I found that it was related to the dryness of my fingers tips. Lick my fingertips and the problem is dramatically reduced. The time of year affects it too, winter - bad, summer better. From that I presume my fingers are moister with sweat in the summer.

Of course I could just take the pick guard off

 

[guitartsar]

Wearing wellington boots and tin foil on your head in a cone shape should fix these issues

 

[purg94]

Hello guys new to the forum. I had to register to write my own experience here with my Les Paul. I have been playing guitar for 12 years now. I always played Les Pauls (Epiphone & Gibson). I had a Gibson Les Paul 2014 LPM in satin finish. I have to say loved that guitar and it was my daily workhorse! I sold it because I wanted something with a fatter neck. I had a option to buy a Les Paul 2015 LPM in cherry. I have to say, build quality, feel and look of the instrument is amazing. The sustain is really amazing. I bought this guitar from a old guy that I know and he had it in the case for 5 years so guitar was like brand new. He was a old guitar player but at the age 78 he couldn't play any more so he sold it to me. I noticed that the guitar has quite a bit of static. Since the guitar was played almost nothing I figured that it a problem with finish and it will go away. I had it now for a few months and the problem is still there. So I replaced pickups with Tonerider (AC2), pots with Mojotone CTS 500k (orange drop cap), replaced switch (Goldo), input jack, rewiried with vintage solid wire, back plates and isolated everything with aluminium foil. It is better but still not as it should be. Btw those textured back plates from the factory have been building up a lot of static you could hear the static when going over the plates. I placed them with (rosewood covers).

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Anyway I was talking to a guy at work and he knows a thing or two about colors & lacquers. He recommended a spray that was used in the old days on record players which would prevent static build.

Amazon.com: Anti-Static Record Cleaner Vinyl Cleaner Spray (200 ml) + Cleaning Cloth : Electronics

Buy Anti-Static Record Cleaner Vinyl Cleaner Spray (200 ml) + Cleaning Cloth: Electronics - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

I will order it and give you results ASP. Sorry for long post and grammer mistakes.

 

[purg94]

Gibson using static charge to paint is highly unlikely. That is a car industry thing. You connect a negative voltage to metal car body shell. You then put a positive charge onto the paint at the nozzle. This has 2 benefits: it stops the paint droplets sticking together (you get uniform droplet size and less orange peel effect); the droplets are attracted to the car body so less paint is wasted. This leaves no static behind on the car at all. You can't do it with wood.

BTW yesterday a friend brought a Telecaster to me complaining it was suffering from static. He then showed me the "static noise". It turned out to be a shitty contact on the selector switch (neck position - which he hardly ever used). Whenever you dug into a note and made the guitar vibrate enough, you got a crackle along with the note. Contact cleaner cured it immediately. As you have already changed the harness/selector switch it can't be that. BUT bear in mind only one part of an LP wiring harness is common to both pups.....the wiring from selector switch to output jack. Have you tried something as simple as cleaning the jack socket?

Well they use some sort of static on the instrument as you can see here:

 

[purg94]

Since I wrote sometime ago I tried a few solutions and I have to say I solved a lot of static and noise in my Gibson. First I reinstalled all hot cables. I used high quality shielded cables so from jack to switch (ground the shielding inside the cable). Do keep in mind if those cables are not in a shielded cable they run from the bottom of the guitar to the top (switch) and long cables can quickly become a antenna (i used vintage cloth covered before - for ground and every other connection cloth covered is fine)! Even if you shield inside the electronics this remains an issue. This solved the back cracking and popping when I ran my hand over it. Second I have ordered the anti static spray. I does help but shieded hot wires are I think the bigger problem. I think this spray does include some alcohol inside so this is not the best solution in long term and it could probably overtime affect the finish but so far a bit of spray on the microfiber cloth and just clean it a bit helped. Hope this solution does help for you people that struggle with this use. It did for me and I feel in love with my LP again!
With regards, R

 

[corpse]

Wearing wellington boots and tin foil on your head in a cone shape should fix these issues

Wear the shiny side out- but everybody know that.

 

[Desertdawg]

Finally solved the problem just over a year ago. Had a pro copper tape shielding job done by Billy O' Reilly in Phoenix, AZ. Excellent results. Just took me 15 years to get that sorted out!

 

[Bumhucker]

Well I guess I'm not alone, having gremlins in my guitar. I hope together we can figure this out. I really dig this guitar, plays well, sounds great. I would hate to get rid of it. We will see.

My 2019 R7 does it.