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Just electrocuted myself while changing strings!
- Thread starter Swerve
- Start date
Glad to hear you're OK. Here in Europe, it has been mandatory for some time that the plugs of all extension cords are equipped with shutters that block the prong inlets. Makes it more difficult to plug things in (you have to push harder), but prevents accidents like this one.
Were you changing your strings with your bass plugged into an amp? I don't understand how the current from the receptacle found ground otherwise. I also can't see the ball end of a bass string fitting onto any of the openings of a 110 outlet. None of this makes sense to me but glad you're OK.
- Mar 19, 2013
- 1,612
- 2,694
- Disclosures
- If only I were that good....
So does this mean your new strings would be described as “bright”?
Different countries have different outlets, here in Australia I saw a guy searching for the inlets under a desk by putting his hand across the prongs and trying to plug it in, got a pretty fat burn on his hand but luckily the resistance of his skin stopped the shock from taking him out.
This. He's state-side too, and there's not a ball end I'm aware of that would fit in a 120v socket.
Had to have been the string end that went in.
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Most likely just made contact with the prongs of a plug that wasn't fully inserted, as opposed to actually going into the socket.
> Bass was fine, just covered in spit
But shorts were not, all covered in ____.
But shorts were not, all covered in ____.
You weren't electrocuted (that means shocked to death). I don't even think you were shocked - you got burned by a hot wire. If the only conductor you were touching was the wire, you definitely didn't get shocked. To get shocked, you need to be touching two different potentials, and it sounds like you touched just one.
But you do have roadworn fingers....
But you do have roadworn fingers....
Two Fender benders in one day!
Or a fender bender for a Fender mender.
Or a fender bender for a Fender mender.
@micguy has a point. Electrocution is defined as being killed or severely injured by electricity. (In a legal circumstance like a court case, or by OSHA it only means killed). It seems you are still alive & not too severely injured. It also appears you were mostly burned, which can definitely happen in a situation where a person receives an electrical shock, but my guess is your bass was grounded in some way and the G string touched AC power, causing it to get red hot in the second before the breaker tripped. Was there a cord plugged in your bass & into anything else on the other end? If so, you had a path for current to flow and cause for your G string to get hot in a hurry.
It wouldn't hurt to go see a doctor. Sometimes the damage done by electricity is internal and won't be obvious until it's too late.
Thank god you didn't get shocked from Europe's standard 220 volt home lines.
I know my amp wasn't turned on, but I do believe the instrument cable was still plugged in. And you're right the ball end couldn't fit completely into any openings, maybe partially into the ground plug. Or it could have touched one of the prongs on a cable that wasn't fully inserted into the power strip like someone mentioned. I didn't actually see that part happen, just felt it! There was nothing else around electrical the string could have touched.
I would advise you in the future to not change your strings next to a toaster , x-ray machine or on top of " Old Smokey ".
Appreciate the clarification. I was worried those burn marks on my fingers would keep me from playing for a while but once they cooled down they hardened almost like calluses. Doesn't hurt to play at all.
