Why am I getting shocked?

[rickster]

Ive been having intermittent issues with my equipment.I had my guitar strapped to me yesterday and plugged in ready to play. I was plugging in a 1/4 line to my sons bass to the pa and had my hand on the metal part of the cord and was feeling current, just a small amount...Then i touchmy guitar strings ,,,more current? WHen i stepped up to the mic, my lips got a good buzz? Help!

[MeYatch]

check the grounds in your guitar.

I took the pickup cover off my 4003, and somehow forgot to reattatch the ground connection to the remains of the pickup cover. Shocked the hell out of me everytime I tried to use a mic.

[JackANSI]

Its called a ground mismatch or ground loop. There are several ways to fix it, some involve compromise.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_loop (electricity)

[rickster]

So how do I fix it ?

[LHSL]

Ive been having intermittent issues with my equipment.I had my guitar strapped to me yesterday and plugged in ready to play. I was plugging in a 1/4 line to my sons bass to the pa and had my hand on the metal part of the cord and was feeling current, just a small amount...Then i touchmy guitar strings ,,,more current? WHen i stepped up to the mic, my lips got a good buzz? Help!

What is the make model and year of the amp you are using for your guitar?

[MeYatch]

So how do I fix it ?

start changing things until you isolate the problem, then go from there.

Try a different microphone, different guitar, different XLR, different instrument cable, switch the ground lift on your amp.

[rickster]

Ive been having intermittent issues with my equipment.I had my guitar strapped to me yesterday and plugged in ready to play. I was plugging in a 1/4 line to my sons bass to the pa and had my hand on the metal part of the cord and was feeling current, just a small amount...Then i touchmy guitar strings ,,,more current? WHen i stepped up to the mic, my lips got a good buzz? Help!

What is the make model and year of the amp you are using for your guitar?

-Les paul studio... (Ive never had it apart)
-Line 6 spider 3 75 watt
-Shure mic
-berhinger pmh5000 Powered mixer.. the thing is...

It gives me juice even when i wasnt holding my guitar , just messing with the 1/4 jack into line 2, not a lot but i could feel a slight tingle..,,.

[MeYatch]

do you have everything plugged into 3 prong outlets, and is the wiring in your house actually properly grounded?

[onetooloud]

I'd recomend testing the outlets you plugged into first for proper wiring. A basic test can be done with a outlet tester about 4 dollars from lowes.

Simply plug it into the oulet in guestion it will check for reversed or missing neutral and or earth ground.

If you find an improperly wired outlet get it fixed.

It sounds as if you are using your body to verify a repair and troubleshoot. This can be a very dangerous game. If your not experianced in electronics repair and have proper test equip please take it to someone who is.

Even though this feels like a small amount of current it could be line voltage. Under the correct condtions you could recieve quite a jolt or worse.

[hicksjd9]

If you are getting shocked by your dynamic mics the first thing you need to check is the phantom power on your mixing board. It will give you a buzz sometimes if it's turned on. All other non-mic related grounding issues have been covered well in the previous responses.

[TJ Kelly]

[KeithReynolds]

hahaha!