Weird scratching, bad ground sound on my H535?

[motoputz]

Hey All

When I stand up and play my H535 I get this intermittent scratching sound, especially when bending over to adjust a pedal for example. It will make this sound if I move the guitar body across my torso as well.

I have tried multiple cords new and old and get the same. I've put in a new jack, took out the controls to make sure I didn't have a funky solder joint and no change

Could this be a bad ground from pots to tail piece possibly? Heritage had the forsight to heat shrink tube the p.u. wires from pick up to pots, the ground wire was not

I don't really want to go through taking out the controls on the 535 again, it's a huge pain in the a$$ getting that put back together, especially if ham fisted and banger fingered! But, I'll do it to get rid of that annoyance 

Thanks

 

[davesultra]

I have both Gibson & Heritage guitars that do the very same thing. My Custom Core H-150 is the worst offender. I don’t notice it as much with my H-535 though. Static electricity, especially during the dry winter season does intensify the condition. Also the wiring in your playing area can contribute to it as well. My music room has fluorescent lighting, so that definitely contributes in my case.

Edited February 19 by davesultra

[LK155]

My first reaction to this would be static electricity as well.  Had a Kirn Tele that drove me nuts....just touching the (plastic) pickguard would cause the noise.  Lining the underside of said pickguard with aluminum foil and making sure the foil was grounded to the control plate solved the problem, but I have no idea how you'd improve the grounding on a semi-hollow.  Perhaps the humidity level where you're playing is low?

Edited February 19 by LK155

[TalismanRich]

One of the reasons that I really liked the wooden pickguards is that I don't seem to get any static buildup.    It does show up on my Melancon tele, my G&L Legacy and my ASAT, all of which have plastic guards.  It happens because I tend to drag my ring and little finger across the guard when I play (yeah, it's a technique fault).

I found that using a Bounce dryer sheet and rubbing it on the plastic will alleviate the static for a while.   It hasn't had any effect on the finish.  I also keep a humidifier running in the winter.   On cold days when the furnace is running a lot, it drinks 3-5 gallons in a day.

If you have a loose ground going to the tailpiece,  I guess it could make noise as well.   Does the noise happen when you are sitting?

Edited February 19 by TalismanRich

[motoputz]

I didn't think of static electricity!  that makes sense, I've tried looking inside with a mirror to locate the ground wire, but couldn't see much with the mirror I have. 

I had LED lighting on dimmer switches in our jam room and had to swap them out with old fashioned incandescent fixtures and simple switches to cut out the noise. The LED's and dimmer switches were horribly noisy. Huge difference now, we can play with the lights on

I took the pickguard off the H535 and can't remember if it was noisy before I took it off???, sitting, it will occasionally make noise, not as much as standing does.

Ive used dryer sheets to cut static in other things. I'll give it a shot on the guitar

[LK155]

The footwear (if any) you have on while standing may have something to do with it.  Yes, I'm grasping at straws.  But try different shoes, or no shoes, and see if anything changes.  Of course, it could just be your electrifying personality at work here. 

 

 

[motoputz]

I've played bare footed to playing in my insulated kenetrek mountain boots and it scratches regardless. I do have a carpet down. Maybe the carpet? 

Luckily?, I only hear it when not playing. 

[TalismanRich]

35 minutes ago, motoputz said:

I've played bare footed to playing in my insulated kenetrek mountain boots and it scratches regardless. I do have a carpet down. Maybe the carpet? 

Luckily?, I only hear it when not playing. 

Yeah, that's lucky, but it's still not the answer.  I would have suspected the input jack, but you say you've changed that and used different cables, so that pretty much rules that out.  

Have you tried running a continuity check from the bridge to a grounded part, either the jack or a pot.    If that doesn't show a solid connection, then as a debugging tool,  maybe run a piece of wire from one of the pots to the bridge to see if it eliminates the sound.   Once a solid ground is made, a loose ground wire inside shouldn't have any effect.  You should be able to just loosen one of the screws from a pot and secure a wire, then run that to the bridge.    If it clears things up, then you can go the next (and very painful) step of making a solid ground connection inside.

[motoputz]

I have not done a continuity check. I'll try that for sure.

I have an inspection camera that I had a minute to check out yesterday. I saw both pickup cables resting on the back of the guitar. They are both covered in a fairly thick clear shrink tube. I wasn't able to find the ground wire with what time I had. I have more time today so I'm going to try to move the p.u. wires off the back and find the ground wire. It's like playing the game operation, working in/on these things

[TalismanRich]

On 2/25/2024 at 10:04 AM, motoputz said:

I have not done a continuity check. I'll try that for sure.

I have an inspection camera that I had a minute to check out yesterday. I saw both pickup cables resting on the back of the guitar. They are both covered in a fairly thick clear shrink tube. I wasn't able to find the ground wire with what time I had. I have more time today so I'm going to try to move the p.u. wires off the back and find the ground wire. It's like playing the game operation, working in/on these things

I changed out the pickups in my 535....  I know what you're going through.    You have my sympathy!  😁

[motoputz]

I found the ground wire, it was behind one of the pickup cables. It's hard to tell where the wire lives in there exactly

I did use a dryer sheet on the guitar and I could feel and hear the static electricity as I wiped the guitar down. It helped initially, but went back to it's evil ways eventually. 

When I have a spare 4 + hours of free time at the next string change, I may yank the guts out and reinstall everything(way easier said than done)

[zguitar71]

Static, as others have said. I removed the plastic pick guards from my guitars and no more static issues. I had a special that was really bad with this, the removal worked for me. There must be a way to keep the plastic from building static. Remove yours and see if it still happens if it doesn’t then the search for the remedy can begin. I would imagine copper tape with a lead to the ground wire might work.  Idk. 

[TalismanRich]

1 hour ago, zguitar71 said:

There must be a way to keep the plastic from building static. Remove yours and see if it still happens if it doesn’t then the search for the remedy can begin. I would imagine copper tape with a lead to the ground wire might work.  Idk. 

Heritage had a great way of stopping the static buildup.... wooden pickguards.    My 157 never had any issue. 

[motoputz]

Yep, I've taken the pick guard and truss rod cover off, I put a bone nut on. the only plastic on now, are the pickup mounting rings.  My '93 H150 has a wood pick guard.