Anyone else ever had static electricity on their pickguard?

[crazyzeke]

Yeah I know, that sounds like a ridiculous thing to ask and until about 12 hours ago I might have agreed with you! But experience makes me say different.

I got my Meteora back from the guitar tech I was recommended as despite having it looked at last year the fretwork was still a little rough (something you really only realise after hours of playing and find where the choke points are) so I thought I'd try someone else. Well, the effect he had on the guitar was transformative - the action is basically feather-touch, light and low across the board, doesn't fret out in specific places and he also adjusted the nut so it's super comfy and well-intonated for easy open chords. The other guy literally should be ashamed of himself for charging slightly more and doing such a poor job because the guitar now plays like it should have, plus it now has "dual mono" output jacks, as he added one on the top of the pickguard.

Anyway, glowing review aside there was one little fly in the ointment - the longer I played, the more I noticed an odd kind of crackling sound depending on where I rested my picking hand. I spent about an hour working out what it was, and it simply traced to resting fingers or fist on the pickguard, above or below the strings (mostly below though) and moving it back and forth - it crackled like crazy, louder than the signal of the guitar. My initial thought was, oh great, this problem child of a guitar continues to do something that makes me not use it, but then I decided to look up what it could be.

Long story short the solution was taking a dryer sheet and rubbing it around all the trouble spots on the pickguard, which temporarily fixed the issue. It happened again, so again rubbing out the static, so to speak. And a few more times, but less pronounced each time. Then it was left overnight and seems fine, however for superstitious reasons I'll pack a dryer sheet in the case because I can't have loud static coming out of the amp when I'm playing wedding gigs etc, that'd look and sound so unprofessional.

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Anyone else have this problem? In playing for 25+ years at this point, it's the first I've ever seen/heard, and it's really odd.

[GilmourD]

Definitely not a new issue.

The fix:

[RocknRollShakeUp]

Yep the dryer sheets are the only easy but temporary solution.

Making sure you also properly humidify the air will most likely help.

But what really caused a big static electricity problem for me was wearing wool socks on a carpeted floor in my rehearsal room! It made the guitar basically unplayable, no foolin’.

[crazyzeke]

Yep the dryer sheets are the only easy but temporary solution.

Yeah I thought that too but it seems like after rubbing the pickguard down a bunch of times the problem is basically gone. I'm still keeping the dryer sheet in the guitar case though, as a precaution.

But what really caused a big static electricity problem for me was wearing wool socks on a carpeted floor in my rehearsal room! It made the guitar basically unplayable, no foolin’.

Wow that's messed up! I'm trying to work out what caused it - I know the luthier I used has cats, one of whom I've seen and is a long-hair, plus there's some cat hair on the case so it's clearly rubbed up against it and scented it, as cats do, so I'm wondering if that and/or other stuff within his environment could be the problem because I've never had static electricity issues with guitars before, same as I've never had sweat corrode the strings and some players suffer from that.

I jammed with it for the originals band project last night and it seems fine - better than fine actually, it's actually comfortable and pretty effortless to play now especially when you're using a capo - but it's something to be wary of I suppose.

[RocknRollShakeUp]

Yep the dryer sheets are the only easy but temporary solution.

Yeah I thought that too but it seems like after rubbing the pickguard down a bunch of times the problem is basically gone. I'm still keeping the dryer sheet in the guitar case though, as a precaution.

But what really caused a big static electricity problem for me was wearing wool socks on a carpeted floor in my rehearsal room! It made the guitar basically unplayable, no foolin’.

Wow that's messed up! I'm trying to work out what caused it - I know the luthier I used has cats, one of whom I've seen and is a long-hair, plus there's some cat hair on the case so it's clearly rubbed up against it and scented it, as cats do, so I'm wondering if that and/or other stuff within his environment could be the problem because I've never had static electricity issues with guitars before, same as I've never had sweat corrode the strings and some players suffer from that.

I jammed with it for the originals band project last night and it seems fine - better than fine actually, it's actually comfortable and pretty effortless to play now especially when you're using a capo - but it's something to be wary of I suppose.

Fur rubbing on plastic will definitely do it!
So the problem should be resolved!
Since I’ve moved to a house with wooden floors my issue has also been solved in fact!
Cheers!

[CorporateDisguise]

I have this problem on my Firebird. It drives me nuts. It causes a crackling sound to come through the pickups. The dryer sheet thing kinda works for it for a short time, but I think I’ve read that some gibson finishes can get a static charge as well. I can feel it pulling my arm hair when I’m holding it. It’s the only guitar I have with this problem. I may try changing the pickguard to see if that helps.

I don’t mind the crackling noise so much when I play, but it bugs the living crap out of me when I’m recording.

[Caddy65]

Make sure there is foil on the back of the pickguard, if not tack a piece of aluminum foil to it, and make sure that the foil makes contact with ground, metal control plate, a screw to switch or pot. You may have to add a small piece of foil connecting the foil on the pickguard to reach them. Hold that in place with one of the screws, etc.
Static gone forever. The back of the pickguard just needs to be grounded.

[crazyzeke]

Static gone forever. The back of the pickguard just needs to be grounded.

This is brilliant! I recall that's something I did with my Jag years ago, carefully cut piece of foil the shape of the pickguard, and it's never had a static problem or excessive noise ever since, other than the usual single coil hum on the neck when it's got lots of gain.

[Caddy65]

Static gone forever. The back of the pickguard just needs to be grounded.

This is brilliant! I recall that's something I did with my Jag years ago, carefully cut piece of foil the shape of the pickguard, and it's never had a static problem or excessive noise ever since, other than the usual single coil hum on the neck when it's got lots of gain.

You don’t even have to do the ehole back of the pickguard and extends to where your fingers normally contact the pickguard, have it connect with a ground. Just tack it on with a few dabs of glue. It does need to vontact the pickguard. It is a nearly free fix, just a piece of aluminum foil and a few dabs of glue.