Just electrocuted myself while changing strings!

[Sid s]

So much for passive electronics

 

[JimmyM]

Wow! Glad you can still tell the tale. Ya, strings and power strips don’t mix. A good lesson for the kids. Electricity is our friend but it’s a friend that demands respect every second you use it.

 

[juancaminos]

HOLY COW!

 

[JKB1957]

Nice. Glad you're ok. Back in the day I pulled a Keef Richards. Plugged into my Ampeg V4B walked up to the mic and saw God. Quickly discovered the polarity switch was there for an important reason.

 

[HJFree]

One in a million Jerry!

 

[bassike]

what are the odds, but you seem to find the answer to the best strings for metal quest.

joke aside I'm glad you are ok but this is like fusilly jerry, million to one shot

 

[BlackCrow]

With the odds of that happening, I would suggest you go out and buy a double handful of Lottery tickets....

 

[Bugspray]

Glad you are okay! The worst thing to happen to me while changing strings was while pulling the old string off the tuner post of a used bass it popped out and the 1/2 inch of core wire that was still on the end of the string stabbed right through my left thumb nail! Ouch!!

 

[FatBassTone]

So Anyway, I pulled a live speaker cable out of a cabinet to plug it into another cab. I was wearing my bass at the time, and the 1/4 speaker jack ended up hitting two of my bass strings. Loud pop, and both strings snapped.

I learned something about live speaker cables that day. I have a different routine now for switching cabinets.

Was sitting in the pit during a musical theatre gig for my school, bored as all hell teenager me decides to see what happens when you put the terminals of a 9v battery on a string. Genius me grabs one of the batteries sitting at my feet for the active preamp in my electric bass, and puts it on the D string of my acoustic, instsntly snaps. Luckily I was using an A/B switcher that was off so I didn’t transmit this to the entire crowd but band leader was not happy with me. The day prior me and the guitarist were experimenting with what would happen if you connected the terminals of two batteries, spoiler alert there is now a char mark on top of his amp from where we were conducting our experiment.

 

[Sid s]

Dammit, Leo, if I wanted an electric EEL I would have bought a Gibson

 

[Grinderman]

This reads like the opening scene of an episode of Six Feet Under. Glad you were able to post this story, rather than having the story posted about you after-the-fact. (We can be a cruel and snarky bunch sometimes.)

Kind of like this.

 

[red_rhino]

Kind of like this.

Yeah, kinda exactly like that.

 

[Hurricane Jimmie]

Was sitting in the pit during a musical theatre gig for my school, bored as all hell teenager me decides to see what happens when you put the terminals of a 9v battery on a string. Genius me grabs one of the batteries sitting at my feet for the active preamp in my electric bass, and puts it on the D string of my acoustic, instsntly snaps. Luckily I was using an A/B switcher that was off so I didn’t transmit this to the entire crowd but band leader was not happy with me. The day prior me and the guitarist were experimenting with what would happen if you connected the terminals of two batteries, spoiler alert there is now a char mark on top of his amp from where we were conducting our experiment.

Great story!
I was probably 55 at the time...and should have had more respect for a live cable!

 

[Bassdirty]

You're Grounded!




(sorry, I'll see myself out)..
T$

 

[Rabidhamster]

I would disagree with that statement, Talking Bass is not a legal courtroom in session where the term has a legal meaning.
I have been electrocuted many times over my career as an electrician, being qualified to work on live equipment has its dangers.
If you go to any medical center or hospital and ask what they would call having an electric shock means they would most likely say you were electrocuted.
People have gone through the electric chair and survived, what were they if they were not electrocuted ?
The burn looks similar to many electric shocks I have witnessed, electricity will leave a burn on the skins surface but it might not always be bad enough to leave visible marks.
Electricity can flow through many paths, most of the current most likely went through the strings and heated them up, but the op would have had an electric shock as well.
One end of the string was most likely at full voltage while the other end was close to zero voltage, otherwise it would not have heated up like an old fashion radiator, so wherever his fingers were the voltage was somewhere between zero and full voltage.
That's just my opinion of course.

The definition of electrocuted is shocked until dead, it’s just people misuse it so commonly that those who know better usually let it go because there are often better things to worry about than pedantry. Except, for example, now while I’m on the can.

 

[timmus]

And that would help in this situation because ?

If I understood the OP correctly, the string fell across the two blades of the AC plug that was partially pulled out of the socket...if the socket had been 180° (ground up) the string would've hit that and not the live circuit.

 

[timmus]

The definition of electrocuted is shocked until dead, it’s just people misuse it so commonly that those who know better usually let it go because there are often better things to worry about than pedantry. Except, for example, now while I’m on the can.

Electrocute is a contraction of the words electrical and execute. The word's etymology comes from the late 1800's when they developed electrocution for capital punishment.

 

[tr4252]

As mentioned above, as an electrician I always mount a 110v receptacle with the ground contact on top. Not for safety reasons though, but because I hate the cute little surprised face it looks like when the ground is on the bottom.

Tom

 

[HaphAsSard]

The definition of electrocuted is shocked until dead, it’s just people misuse it so commonly that those who know better usually let it go because there are often better things to worry about than pedantry. Except, for example, now while I’m on the can.

Electrocute is a contraction of the words electrical and execute. The word's etymology comes from the late 1800's when they developed electrocution for capital punishment.

I can stickle with the best of them, and I also believe everyone is entitled to their own pet peeves, plus I'm no native speaker of English but, in this case, since some semantic drift has already occurred ("deliberate execution by electricity" -> also, and more commonly, "accidental electric shock resulting in death"), I predict the "shocked yet alive" sense will be fully accepted in the next few decades.

 

[BrentSimons]

Well there's a first time for everything I guess.

Was sitting on the edge of my bed removing some nickel rounds and replacing them with Fender ml flats on my P bass. Got to removing the G string and as I'm pulling it out the bottom of the ferrule the light in my bedroom goes out, I see a flash of fire in front of my face and felt immediate severe burning in my right hand. I screamed and leapt off the bed and out the door!

Ran out the room trying to figure what the heck just happened. My index finger and thumb are singed. So I go to the bathroom to run cold water under them.

Went back in the room with a flashlight on. I keep a 6 outlet surge protector on the floor near my bed to plug in a lamp and a phone charger. Apparently the ball end of the string touched or went into one of the 3 prongs on an open outlet and sent a current right through it.

After flipping the breaker everything came back on and nothing in the room was damaged. Just some sore burned fingers on my part and when I dropped the string it also burned part of my blanket.

Bass was fine, just covered in spit, apparently you drool when you get electrocuted.

Let this be a PSA, do NOT change your strings near any open electrical outlets.



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Jeez man! Glad you're safe !
Be well,
Brent