Shocking strings

GunslingingBird · #1 06-08-2008, 01:22 AM

So my band was playing at my drummer's graduation party today, and during setup/pseudo sound check my stings started shocking me. I had all my band members touch them, but I was the only one getting shocked. It wasn't continuous, it would happen in waves. Apparently this happened to Bob Weir at at Woodstock. We played anyways, while I got shocked. Most of the time it wasn't bad, but near the end there was a sudden big jolt and I had to stop playing and wait for the charge to go away. The only explanation I can think of is that my body was getting an electrical charge, which explains why no one else was getting shocked. But where from? It was really annoying, but pretty interesting.
Anybody else experience this?

namraj · #2 06-08-2008, 01:44 AM

yeah sounds like u were staticly charging your self on ur bass (possible with ur t-shirt on the otherside) meaning u and your bass were both charged, so you got a static shock from your strings, never happend to me but it kind of makes sense. tho if it was an electric shock rather than a static electric shock, you might want to be careful.

CopperState · #3 06-08-2008, 02:02 AM

Yowz... I've experienced plenty of microphone zaps (which throw your voice off-key in a hurry, let me tell you), but never a string zap.

Ripper · #4 06-08-2008, 07:10 AM

had it happen before... usually happens when you're playing on a bare cement floor i've found... really hurts after a while

the first time it happened to me we were playing in someones barn in the middle of winter. it wasnt above 40 degrees in there, so that contributed to it hurting... not sure what ACTUALLY causes it though

Audiophage · #5 06-08-2008, 10:08 AM

Maybe your grounding isn't secure? Might want to get that checked out.

Inflin · #6 06-08-2008, 10:20 AM

Happened to me a lot with mics, it's common for old SM58s to lose their ground, then you become the ground. zzzzap!

Probably whats going on with your bass. If the other members trying it happened to be holding thier own guitars, then they might have been grounded and been fine.

(I think. Correct me if I'm wrong...)

timdoyle91 · #7 06-08-2008, 11:59 AM

You need to be careful there. Guitar manufacturers used to connect the bridge to the electronics to eliminate hum, however a few people died due to bad earth connections and as far as I know in some places this is now illegal. Try using an RCD (residual current device) between your amp and the wall socket, that'll also protect you incase of a bad earth.

Nairb · #8 06-08-2008, 07:36 PM

My bass bridge is connected with my electronics.... There is a wire that runs under the bridge and touches it flat. Does this mean i should remove that wire then? I have never had a shock before.

ColdYinTiger · #9 06-09-2008, 12:45 AM

Your just not grounded right, has happened to me before.

GeneralElectric · #10 06-09-2008, 12:53 AM

Paul Samwell Smith, I believe, one of the Yardbirds, got electrecuted by his guitar during a rainstorm.

Your amp has a bad ground. My acoustic amp isn't grounded, and if I touch the strings and touch someone who is playing, they get a shock.

ynie92992 · #11 06-09-2008, 06:30 PM

That happens to me whenever I play D'addario strings, but not my Lo-Riders.

Sane · #12 06-10-2008, 11:24 AM

Used to happen to me years ago back when I was using an old P bass copy. Cement Floor, Metal Chair, and D'ad strings... bam. The rest of the band thought I was insane....

timdoyle91 · #13 06-10-2008, 02:20 PM

Nairb, you don't have to remove it if you don't want to, just ensure you are using safely grounded equipment and, if you want, an RCD (circuit breaker).

professor_bills · #14 06-11-2008, 05:09 AM

Ricks run a ground wire to the PU guard. I can't figure that one out because the guard is plastic. The guy at the shop says the chrome paint on the guard has enough conductivity to make it work.

My little Peavy amp has no ground prong on the power chord and now y'all got me thinking I should rewire it.

matt"bass" · #15 06-11-2008, 07:13 AM

if you want some fun, touch your strings and an old CRT computer monitor or TV. That's some fun, only happend once but blimey i was shocked in more ways than one.

CrashClint · #16 06-11-2008, 07:40 AM

I had this happen to me, wow, about 30 years ago. Our school auditorium had ground issues and I would get an occasional shock. My friend's dad repaired TVs so he took my amp apart and hard soldered all the grounds and made me a short 1' extension cord that had a 20' ground lead with an alligator clip. I would plug it between my amp and the wall outlet and I clipped the ground lead onto a good grounded source. Never had the issue again.

NTADarwin · #17 06-14-2008, 04:02 AM

I had this happen to me as well. I was groovin' and all of a sudden I felt a shock, not particularly large, but enough to catch my attention. After thinking to myself "what the flip", I continued on. Shortly after I leaned in towards the mic I was behind, and got zapped in my face. That one caught more of my attention. THEN in an attempt to alleviate this problem, I reach over to turn a knob down, which was just a metal post, no actual knob.....and I got zapped in my hand. I then set my bass down and proceeded to tell the other members that I was done.......

Mutant Corn · #18 06-14-2008, 12:59 PM

This happened to me when I was using my old Peavey Basic 40....it has no ground plug, only a plastic hole where one should go. If I insert the plug backwards, I get shocked if I touch my strings, my knobs, or even the metal corners on the amp. Makes for some fun pranks.

Stingray_EB · #19 06-14-2008, 01:01 PM

Ive had this before, I was standing on a dodgy XLR cable.