Believe it or not, all guitars do this to some extent. May be almost imperceptible on some guitars, but there will be some sort of buzz that will disappear when you touch something metal on the guitar. For those that don't believe that all guitars do this, crank the treble knobs on your guitar and amp to eleven and listen...you'll hear the buzz. I'm a treble freak and I play with my treble up very high so I am used to more electronic buzzes than most people. From my cheapo guitar to my most expensive, if you listen very, very carefully you will hear a bit of buzz. Now you seem to have a lot. I have a guitar that has a lot of electric buzz, too. I sent it out to be repaired; no luck. Still has that buzz that goes away when I touch the bridge or strings. So what I did was just buy a BOSS Noise Suppressor. It's cheating, the guitar still buzzes, but that little pedal completely eliminates that buzz. I step on that pedal and things are so quiet I sometimes have to check to see if my amp is on or my guitar is plugged in. Absolute silence with that pedal and the tone is not affected at all. Look, we all want perfectly silent guitars in which the only thing we hear is beautiful tone. But shoddy electrical work, bad solders, cheap wiring, the labyrinth of your household wiring all can lead to some sort of buzzing. That BOSS pedal really does clean all that up.
Thomas, Take the guitar to Heket's house in the UK and she will gladly remove the guitar from your Buzz!!!!!
Thanks for the info, still in the progress of testing how the buzzing changes. Thanks also for the warranty info I'm considering shielding it, even if its just a sheet of foil stuck on the inside of the plastic cover and then connected to ground. I don't think I'll use the lead paint people seem to use in case it slightly worsens the tone. I use Planet Waves American Stage which seem to be one of the best types of cables at the moment, especially for the price. Thanks :) Not yet, I'm holding back from doing things like that so I don't void the warranty I'm interested to hear that dimmer switches make a difference even when off, there's 3 in my house Thanks for the info, I was unaware that this was the case with all guitars and that it was simply more prominent on mine. Is that pedal a noise gate or some sort of frequency reducer? Thanks
Since i was installing the dimmer switch after setting up the studio, and i had recorded a noise floor reference, the change(although slight) was easily seen. Install a switch...check the studio meters...remove switch...check studio meters. It was frustrating...i tried 3 different models of dimmer. All did the same thing, with varying levels of intensity. The Boss NS-2 pedal is a noise gate, or a mute switch depending on the mode selected on the right knob. I've had one for 20 years, or so, and it performs well...really well. I have also heard good things about the line of Decimator pedals, but have not actually used them.(i have not been able to kill my NS-2...so why bother)
Even if you are not in USA the guitar is still under warranty. And you are protected as a buyer by national and EU laws. If I were in your shoes I'd take it to the shop and hear what they they propose. This will also give you the opportunity for testing at a different location. Hum and buzz sucks. My Fender Strat is very noisy - except when I use a wireless connection from the guitar - Then it is practically free of noise.
+1 on the Boss NS 2... I have one and use it for guitars and also for my Duo's portable P.A. setup, because of the dodgy venues where we have to set up and play. Equipment that works fine in one place can buzz like crazy in another, in my experience. It's possible that there's nothing wrong with your new guitar, and that it's just more sensitive to the dimmer switches in your house than you are used to. You could verify that by setting up your same equipment in someone else's house, or garage. Or if you went back to the shop where you bought it and they found no buzz. And I'm glad to know that Gibson warranty covers you in the UK. It would not be fair if they didn't. Best of luck getting this thing sorted. When you buy a brand new Gibson, you shouldn't have to also pay for a noise suppressor, or rewire your home.
I just finished shielding my sister's SG. The whole cavity, with conductive copper tape I got from stewmac. Much less noise, and it doesn't seem to increase when I let go of the strings like it did before. Not expensive, not complicated. Good luck
Totally bizarre. I too have an SG- new 2014 SGJ actually. It's noisy too! Since I joined this forum today I've been reading up a bit. I basically put a piece of aluminum foil over the OUTSIDE of the cover in the back of the guitar, held one end of the wire to the foil... while putting the other end on the ground on the bridge, tailstop, cable connector or toggle switch nut.... BOOM noise dropped considerably!! Did you tape your cover and ground that too? Mine has the circuit board in it and I'd hate to have to pull everything all out to shield it.
I pulled everything out, taped the entire cavity, including the cover. Then put the electronics back, and done. No soldering needed. The circuit board should be easier to disassemble, as I think you can disconnect the cables and remove the entire piece. No pots and stuff hanging out the cavity as you try to work in there. Welcome aboard BTW
Well thanks for the info.. and the welcome. Maybe I'll order a kit from Stewmac and have at it. Did you do the pu cavities as well? Seems like lots of the Strat guys do a lot in that area based on the pics at Stewmac.
Didn't tape the pickup cavities, I might do it later on. It will require a bit of research though, as I think you have to ground that bit. I wonder why won't gibson shield the damn things... My epiphone is shielded...
