Gibson Les Paul Standard '50s Electric Guitar - New guitar with feedback issues

[khenzel]

Hi All,
I wanted to ask how common it is to have feedback on a Gibson Les Paul 50's Standard guitar. My first i purchased from Musician's Friend had bad string buzz that was the result of a twisted neck. I sent it back and got this one as a replacement - but I am noticing that when i plug it in i get feedback from the guitar that gets worse with overdrive effects. The feedback buzz goes away when i touch the strings, but when i release my hand, after a second, the buzz comes back. It's not crazy loud, but its definitely there and annoying.
I'd expect for a $2800 guitar that there wouldn't be electrical buzz coming out of the amp - especially when my $1200 Schecter is whisper quiet....
What i want to know being somewhat of a novice here is, is what i am describing typical for a Gibson Les Paul 50's Standard, or do i have a lemon? Should i go through the headache of yet another replacement guitar, or is what i have a typical example of this guitar, and i should just accept it?
I'm trying to learn off Rocksmith, and plugging in there the noise is actually way worse as the buzz with the gain levels sounds like i'm playing with a radio slightly out of tune in the background when i dont touch the strings.
Looking for some advice here.
Thanks much!

 

[pazman6]

I have two 90's Standards and they don't have any buzz. Sounds like the ground wire issue. I found a few threads online about noise issues and people were shielding the electronic cavity and ensuring a ground wire was connected to all the pot cases. I also thought they have a ground wire that connects to the lower post on the stop bar piece - you should see it going through a hole toward the top of the body. I would open the cover on the back and make sure all the ground wires look in good shape and soldered well as a start.

 

[khenzel]

Somebody mentioned online that if touching the strings makes the buzz go away that its not a grounding issue. He said a grounding issue is when you touch the strings and the buzzing does not go away.

ref:



"Hi everyone, this video keeps getting comments. I posted this 8 years ago... LOL. I have a new account now (hammers and chords). But the ANSWER is simply that guitar was noisy. I did re-wire it with a simple set-up and is was quieter, but the point is WHEN YOU TOUCH THE STRINGS AND THE HUM GOES AWAY IT IS NOT, NOT, NOT A GROUND PROBLEM. If you have persistent hum that doesn't go away THAT is a ground problem."

 

[nadzab]

Feedback and buzz are different things - sounds like you are talking about hum based on your reference to “electrical buzz”.

Les Pauls are relatively quiet guitars when it comes to hum - largely due to the humbucking pickups (although with a 50s Standard you may have P90s? - which can be noisy). Do you have any other electric guitars you can compare it to?

Also:

• What kind of amp, and effects are you using?
• Where are you sitting/standing in relation to the amp?
• Are you playing with a lot of gain/distortion, and/or with several effects engaged at once?
• Does your house have older wiring, and/or do you have other electronics (computers, TVs etc) nearby?

All of these things can contribute to hum/hiss/buzz, whatever you want to call it. And, as @pazman6 mentioned above, if the bridge post ground wire isn’t connected, that’ll be a problem - but that would be rare, and it doesn’t necessarily sound like a grounding issue, more of a signal-path noise issue.

 

[khenzel]

Sorry yes I mean hum. It has p90 humbucker pickups. I have my Schecter that i can compare with the same gain jacked in - no hum there, so its not the cable or equipment.

I'm using no effects, I have the same result from my Boss Kitana Artist 100w amp and when i connect in to Rocksmith to my pc. Same for both guitars actually - Schecter zero feedback - Les Paul hums.

I found the hum doesnt change in relation to where i stand.

Hum gets way louder with distortion engaged, but still very noticeable with no effects at all.

I do have electronics near by, but again - wouldn't my Schecter give the same hum, all things remaining equal, if that were the problem?

 

[stevierayfan91]

Sorry yes I mean hum. It has p90 humbucker pickups. I have my Schecter that i can compare with the same gain jacked in - no hum there, so its not the cable or equipment.

I'm using no effects, I have the same result from my Boss Kitana Artist 100w amp and when i connect in to Rocksmith to my pc. Same for both guitars actually - Schecter zero feedback - Les Paul hums.

I found the hum doesnt change in relation to where i stand.

Hum gets way louder with distortion engaged, but still very noticeable with no effects at all.

I do have electronics near by, but again - wouldn't my Schecter give the same hum, all things remaining equal, if that were the problem?

Hi , @khenzel


P90 pickups are single coils and will hum with high gain compared to dual coil humbuckers

 

[nadzab]

P90 pickups are single coils and will hum with high gain compared to dual coil humbuckers

Exactly. As Ben said, P90s are not humbuckers and are somewhat notorious for being noisy. They sound great, but they can have substantially more hum than your garden-variety Strat-type single coil, even - and certainly more than a guitar equipped with humbuckers, which I assume your Schecter is. The difference will be even more pronounced when you kick in the gain/distortion.

Beyond that, it's always possible that there's a wiring issue or some other defect in play, but I think it's unlikely...and hard to tell unless you could post a video or sound clip, ideally comparing the LP and the Schecter on the exact same amp settings.

If it's just normal P90 hum and you find it to be too much, there are some really good noise gates on the market these days.

 

[Morlock]

I have a 60's LP standard and a LP studio as well as a Gibson Explorer and they are all perfect. I have never heard anyone talk about feedback on a Gibson in a way that suggests it is part of the design/experience.

 

[Colnago1]

Feedback, hum, p90s, humbuckers. The OP doesn’t have his terminology down so I’m more confused than he is with what is going on.
Does he have a Gibson Les Paul that is feeding back with P90’s?
So confused.

 

[Jimbo99]

Turn down the Volume, or Gain even. The further away from the amp that you are also will eliminate the ear piercing noises.

Another is a Noise Gate pedal or even putting the amp in standby if it's a tube amp & the amp has a standby switch.

 

[Guitarmageddon]

Sorry yes I mean hum. It has p90 humbucker pickups. I have my Schecter that i can compare with the same gain jacked in - no hum there, so its not the cable or equipment.

I'm using no effects, I have the same result from my Boss Kitana Artist 100w amp and when i connect in to Rocksmith to my pc. Same for both guitars actually - Schecter zero feedback - Les Paul hums.

I found the hum doesnt change in relation to where i stand.

Hum gets way louder with distortion engaged, but still very noticeable with no effects at all.

I do have electronics near by, but again - wouldn't my Schecter give the same hum, all things remaining equal, if that were the problem?

You bought a guitar with single coil P90 pickups, it's going to hum, there is no avoiding it....they're not humbuckers at all....

a P90 and a humbucker are two totally different things....

I think you bought the guitar without knowing.....

Your Schecter probably has noiseless single coils or true humbuckers.....you can't compare the two at all....

 

[Baelzebub]

@khenzel

The BTS software has a very effective noise gate that you can adjust for each patch on your Katana, and save it.

I have a guitar or two, and, I suspect, some crappy house wiring that causes a lot of hum with some of the high gain settings. Truning on the NG and adjusting it seems to eliminate the problem easily.

 

[Scott Baxendale]

Hi All,
I wanted to ask how common it is to have feedback on a Gibson Les Paul 50's Standard guitar. My first i purchased from Musician's Friend had bad string buzz that was the result of a twisted neck. I sent it back and got this one as a replacement - but I am noticing that when i plug it in i get feedback from the guitar that gets worse with overdrive effects. The feedback buzz goes away when i touch the strings, but when i release my hand, after a second, the buzz comes back. It's not crazy loud, but its definitely there and annoying.
I'd expect for a $2800 guitar that there wouldn't be electrical buzz coming out of the amp - especially when my $1200 Schecter is whisper quiet....
What i want to know being somewhat of a novice here is, is what i am describing typical for a Gibson Les Paul 50's Standard, or do i have a lemon? Should i go through the headache of yet another replacement guitar, or is what i have a typical example of this guitar, and i should just accept it?
I'm trying to learn off Rocksmith, and plugging in there the noise is actually way worse as the buzz with the gain levels sounds like i'm playing with a radio slightly out of tune in the background when i dont touch the strings.
Looking for some advice here.
Thanks much!

Feedback, hum, fret buzz, fretting out, noise are unrelated things. When these terms get conflated it’s hard to determine what the real problem is.

 

[amstratnut]

Exactly. As Ben said, P90s are not humbuckers and are somewhat notorious for being noisy. They sound great, but they can have substantially more hum than your garden-variety Strat-type single coil, even - and certainly more than a guitar equipped with humbuckers, which I assume your Schecter is. The difference will be even more pronounced when you kick in the gain/distortion.

Beyond that, it's always possible that there's a wiring issue or some other defect in play, but I think it's unlikely...and hard to tell unless you could post a video or sound clip, ideally comparing the LP and the Schecter on the exact same amp settings.

If it's just normal P90 hum and you find it to be too much, there are some really good noise gates on the market these days.

I asked a guy I know who backs up a high profile pop singer and he uses a volume pedal, fwiw. Ive tried noise gates myself and the threshold thing was something I did not overcome. A volume pedal seems like a simple solution. Simpler yet, I turn down the volume on my guitar between tunes.

 

[3bolt79]

If it’s a 50’s style guitar, would the pups even be potted?

 

[John C]

If it’s a 50’s style guitar, would the pups even be potted?

The OP buried the lede: his LP Standard 50s has P90s, not humbuckers. Evidently he thought P90s were humbuckers also, which of course they are far from that.

 

[Colnago1]

No matter how much you pay for p90s they will still be noisy.