Re: 60hz hum

On Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:38:32 -0400, Ben Bradley wrote:
On Aug 17, 6:42 am, Bungalow Bill <BugalowB...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

  Test.  Ground yourself.  Then touch the strings, and or humbucker while
you are experiencing the hum.  Do so carefully, in case there is some
juice wanting to pass through you.
[Dookie got snipped, apparently]
A good rule of thumb is don't touch an electric guitar and anything
else (such as a microphone or mic stand) at the same time. Either one
can be electified and the other grounded, and if so the path for
electricity would be through you, with possibly fatal results.

I've had an experience with that. Back when they still had nonpolarized
2-prong plugs, I had heard that turning the plug around on ONE piece
of equipment would ensure that at least both of their chassis were
at neutral.

Well, I was at a resort one summer, and there was this one room, like
a party room, with a damp concrete floor, and there were a few other
teenagers in the room, one of whom had an electric guitar and an amp.

There was some hum. I proclaimed, "Oh, just turn the plug around on
the amp!" So, he did, turned it on, and I proudly, in bare feet, on
a moist concrete floor, reached out and laid all four fingers across
all six strings.

BZZZZOW!!!!

We all laughed, we turned the plug back around, and I was afraid to
check the guitar again. ;-)

Cheers!
Rich

.

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