Electric guitar 'pop' when touching strings

Suckafish

I bought my first electric guitar on the weekend, a lightly used yamaha pacifica 112. Sounds great, but whenever I touch the strings I hear a 'pop' noise from the amp. It happens no matter which pickups I use. Is this normal?

It isn't noticeable when playing, but I'd still like to know if something is faulty.

Malkor

static?

Suckafish

It does sound like static, but if I lightly touch the string five times in a row it happens each time. Wouldn't the static discharge after the first touch ?

Jeedan

Bad grounding I'm guessing. Does the guitar muh when your not touching it, and stop when your fingers are on the strings?

Malkor

Yeah, I'd take it to wherever you got it from and get a new one, but first try another amp.

corcorigan

Malkor wrote: »

Yeah, I'd take it to wherever you got it from and get a new one, but first try another amp.

It's not going to be the amp.

It'll be some electrical issue inside. Probably something that someone who knew what they were doing could tell within a few seconds of looking inside. It's not as if electric guitars are even remotely complex inside.

Suckafish

Jeedan wrote: »

Bad grounding I'm guessing. Does the guitar muh when your not touching it, and stop when your fingers are on the strings?

I don't notice any noise when I'm not touching it, but will pay more attention when I get home tonight. Can you explain what you mean by bad grounding? I understand the concept of grounding an electical current, but don't see where it could come into play here.

corcorigan

You play under halogen lights at all?

Suckafish

Nope, I was playing under a normal incandescent bulb. Actually, I don't think I had any lights on, as it was during the day.

Mishra

Suckafish wrote: »

Jeedan wrote: »

Bad grounding I'm guessing. Does the guitar muh when your not touching it, and stop when your fingers are on the strings?

I don't notice any noise when I'm not touching it, but will pay more attention when I get home tonight. Can you explain what you mean by bad grounding? I understand the concept of grounding an electical current, but don't see where it could come into play here.

The electronics in a guitar have to be grounded like anything else. People have been electrocuted while playing in the rain due to improper grounding of thier guitars. An improper ground can lead to a buzz or popping sound while playing. It shouldn't be dangerous, (unless you play in the rain) but you might want to take it in to a repair shop. or if you know how to solder open it up yourself. As was stated earlier guitars are actually pretty simple inside.

stigweard

It could be the wall outlet you are using. Some older homes / homes wired by shady or bad electricians don't actually have the ground going anywhere. I used to live in a place that had been 'upgraded' to 3 prong outlets, but they just took the old plates off and hooked up the new ones without changing any of the wiring. I'd give it a shot at someone else's place. Alternatively, you could get a ground tester from Home Depot / Walmart / Kent or wherever for a few dollars. It is a good thing to have around if you play a whole bunch of different places because you never know what oyu are plugging into.

Suckafish

Mishra, I bought the guitar yesterday so now that I know this isn't normal I'll take it back and let them deal with it.

stigweard, my place is 5-6 years old, but I'll try another outlet to see if it makes a difference. Thanks for the suggestion. Worst case I'll just bring the guitar in and see if we can repro in store.

Mishra

Yeah, I like to actually play an instrument before I buy it if possible. Of course since you are learning that's not possible, but I'd ask the sales person if you can hear it before you take it home. You wouldn't buy a car without a test drive right?

corcorigan

Mishra wrote: »

Yeah, I like to actually play an instrument before I buy it if possible. Of course since you are learning that's not possible, but I'd ask the sales person if you can hear it before you take it home. You wouldn't buy a car without a test drive right?

You shouldn't be buying expensive guitars except from shops where you can try it out. You shouldn't even be buying cheap ones like that.

Suckafish

I was playing around with a new one for 20 minutes or so, but being a beginner was mostly just making sure nothing obvious jumped out at me. When I moved on to the used one, rather than play it myself I had the guy that was helping me try it out. I didn't notice the pop then, but he just dove right in and played, so it is quite possible I missed it.