static electricy buildup in pickguard and the finish?

[narud]

so i just picked up a lake placid blue 62 reissue jazz bass. i noticed its the most crackily sounding bass i have. first i figured it was wiring but its wired up like my 10 other fenders. i did notice the crackle when i rubbed my fingertips on the pickguard. so, i pulled it to put some copper foil on the back but noticed if i rubbed my fingertips on the body of the bass under the pickguard, i was getting the same crackle. i ran a dryer sheet over it, lined the guard etc and that worked.

when i picked the bass up, i still had crackle and noticed rubbing my hand on the back of the body gave me that same staticy crackle noise. am i getting buildup in the metallic lake placid blue finish? if so, how do you deal with that.

[ics1974]

I would shield the rest of the bass to see if that helps.

[narud]

none of my other fenders
62 jazz,64 p,74 jazz,80 jazz,84 squire p,70's jazz mutt
have anything other than the stock grounding plates in the cavity and none of them have issues rubbing the body of the instrument causing noise like this bass. but, none of them are metallic finishes either.

if shielding all the cavities would do something for this im down, but i was hoping there might be something else that would be easier since none of my other basses need it.

[ics1974]

If you sheild it properly making sure the shielding goes to ground then the static should go to ground as well.

Take a look at this page and then search in it for static.
http://www.guitarnuts.com/technical/...nericnoise.php

Since you have it on the back of the bass as well I would also shield all the cavities including the pickups. Make sure it all goes to ground.

[narud]

Originally Posted by ics1974

If you sheild it properly making sure the shielding goes to ground then the static should go to ground as well.

i took out my nordstrand which is fully shielded and i get the same static. shielded cavities isnt always the answer apparently.

[testing1two]

Having read about this in several guitar forums it usually has something to do with the pickguard itself. Some plastics as they age seem to attract static electricity. Frustrated tele players have used leather or wood pickguards to eliminate the problem but I would suspect just about any new pickguard would do the trick.

That said I would try two things before I bought a pickguard:

1. Shield the entire backside of your pickguard and make sure the shielding touches the pot casing so it's connected to ground.
2. Polish the guitar & pickguard once or twice with a good quality polish (I like Virtuoso) and see if that changes the surface sufficiently to reduce or eliminate the static.

[narud]

Originally Posted by testing1two

Having read about this in several guitar forums it usually has something to do with the pickguard itself. Some plastics as they age seem to attract static electricity. Frustrated tele players have used leather or wood pickguards to eliminate the problem but I would suspect just about any new pickguard would do the trick.

That said I would try two things before I bought a pickguard:

1. Shield the entire backside of your pickguard and make sure the shielding touches the pot casing so it's connected to ground.
2. Polish the guitar & pickguard once or twice with a good quality polish (I like Virtuoso) and see if that changes the surface sufficiently to reduce or eliminate the static.

hmm,never thought of the polish. im going to try that!