Conference napalm::guitar

    I have found that on almost all guitars, if you are not touching *any*
    grounded part (like the strings) when you *do* make contact again,
    there is a "click" noise, the volume of which often has to do with how
    well the guitar is shielded in general.  On pots, this sometimes makes
    for a "scratch" sound like the pot is dirty, but the sound goes away
    when you are in contact with the strings.  
    
    						Brian

    Getcha one of those field service wrist ground straps and hook yourself
    up to the bridge.
    
    ;^)

    He's kidding folks...  Bad idea if there is a bad ground anywhere...
    
    jc (Who got lit up a few times...)

    
    This came up about a month ago. (See 704.42). Is there a ground
    plate under the pickguard?  Maybe that's why Leo Fender put it
    there.

    --rjb

<<jc (Who got lit up a few times...)


Yeah, talk about high enery music...  I put my lips on my  SM58, 1 night
when my amp was (Unbeknownst) plugged in to a bogus out let in a club,, 
woke up 45 seconds later in a mass of fallen guitars and cymbol stands...  
Knocked me right on my ass..  I haven't been the same since... 60 amps,
right on the kisser!

:8^\

       If you install the dbii rfi mod, this will seriously reduce the
    amount of static you get off the pickguard.
    Essentially you buy some aluminum auto body tape and cover the inside
    fo the pickguard, and the pickup cavity with it, when you're done tack
    a ground wire directly to it (I use a little wood screw with a wire
    attached). This reduces hum, especially if you're using single coil
    pickups, and static from the pickguard is reduced.
    
    dbii
    

       I think you've got it!!!!If I remember correctly...when I was in-
    stalling the electronics on that pickguard, I saw the foil backing al-
    ready there. I ASSUMED that the grounding on the pots/tailpiece/jack
    and switches would all be common to the foil....Maybe I just need a 
    better connection... The idea of couching the whole cavity with foil
    may very well do it all for me...Thanks for the tips!!!
       RE: .5...I certainly can identify to that "shocking" experience you
    had...It's happened to me so many times. Maybe that's why I'm able to
    hear the snow hit me in the head in the winter..I used to have a full
    head of hair when I started to play the electric guitar. However, that
    is a far cry from a jolt of static.. That noise is ZZZZZZZBOOOOM!!!!!!
    Then, as I recall, light flashes, my eyes cross, and if I'm in the mid-
    dle of saying somthing, I'd sometimes bite my tongue....WHEW!!That is 
    quite a jolt to the senses.
       Again, Thanks for the input...............

      	Re .5
    	What happened to you had nothing to do with ESD. And if you
    	did have 60 amps going through you, you would be dead. It
    	only takes 10 milliamps (.01A) to kill you. What you felt was
    	voltage, the real killer is the current. The reason you didn't
    	die is because there is isolation from direct contact with the
    	line by the transformer in the power supply.
    	   The most common problem musicians have is with 120VAC 60Hz.
    	If the PA is plugged into one outlet, and your amp into another,
    	but hot and neutral is swapped in one of them, it could mean that
    	your guitar strings may be HOT while the the metal case of the
    	mic is at gnd, or vice versa.
    	   Get one o' those AC outlet analyzers for $6 at Rat Shack
    	to test 3-pin outlets, or better yet, get a cheep RS multimeter.
    	Used correctly, it will tell you if there is a fault in the outlet.
	    In 2 and 3-pin outlet, the small slot should ALWAYS be hot, the
    	larger one, neutral. Measure each one to ground. Hot-to-gnd=120Vac,
    	Neutral-to-gnd=Less than 2Vac.
    	   Measure the voltage between the strings on your guitar and the
    	screen on the mic. If it reads more than 8V, you have a problem.
    	I've seen 120V readings from mic to guitar. Ray actually felt it.
    	Try the polarity switch on the amp, if it has one, and take another
    	reading. If the plug is the 2-wire kind, reverse it and measure again.
    	If the 2-wire plug has one prong wider than the other, it's a 
    	"polarized" plug. I've seen people cut the prongs down to fit, or use
    	an "adapter", but you may regret it.
    	   The problem with 2-wire plugs on your amp is that there is no
    	safety gnd and you don't know what the voltage potential of the
    	chassis is. In some old amps it's floating, in others, it's con-
    	nected to the neutral side, and if you reverse the plug, it now
    	becomes HOT, and if the mic is gnd....SEE YAAAAAAAAAA!!!
	   Oh yeah....a foam windscreen on the mic may work 'til it gets
    	moist from your breath, or you decide to adjust the mic stand, 
    	then.....GOTCHA!
    
    	Neal-who-learned-his-lesson
    
In 2 and 3-pin outlet, the small slot should ALWAYS be hot, the
    	larger one , neutral. Measure each one to ground. Hot-to-gnd=120Vac,
    	Neutral-to-gnd=Less than 2Vac.
    	   

    re .3
    	Those wrist straps don't actually ground you. That would be
    dangerous!!!. There's actually a 1Meg resistor in the cable. It gives a
    high impedence discharge path for the static charges, as they usually
    don't have much stored energy, and keeps you safe from electrocution if
    you happen to touch live AC.

    It was a joke, man, a joke!   
    
    8^)

    Ive had that problem with a cordless system. I guess it had something
    to do with static
     

    Hey..thanks for all the feed-back on this E.S.D. problem...
    I found a solution to the problem.....Here in customer service we have
    these little kits to give to custmers to use on their terminals for a
    static problem. It's called "Staticide" and it worked great. I just
    wiped some on my scratch guard and LO AND BEHOLD...no more static pops.
    In fact, I've only done it once and there has been no further problems.
    Maybe in time it might start up again, at which time I nail it again
    with a dose of Staticide!!!!
                               
                                          Bill