In this article I’m going to discuss about – electric guitar buzzing when plugged in. During music practice or performance practice sometimes we hear noise, hum or buzz coming from somewhere.
As a guitarist, I have faced this so many times, sometimes even at crucial moments before my performance. The buzz or hum might come from the amplifier or pedals as well. Keep reading to know how to solve some common problems in your guitar yourself.
Electric guitar buzzing when plugged in has been a problem for many players till date. Guitars with single coil pickups tend to produce a lot more noise or buzz than guitar with humbuckers. You will notice a huge difference in noise level when you switch back and forth between the pickups, in case you have a guitar which is a mix of single coil pickups and a humbucker.
To deal with this type of buzz or noise you need to have a basic idea of what kind of tone you have. You might try changing the pickups into something that creates less buzz and noise. In case you want to use single coil pickups and keep that sound, Fender’s Hot Noiseless Pickups for Stratocasters and Telecasters are just for you. They are perfectly designed which will give you the classic tones of single coil pickups except the hum. You can also try sheilding as much as you can the pickups and the components of the pickup so that they do not get damaged. I believe this is definitely worth a try and is a very cheap option. You should try this before you replace your pickups entirely.
In case of budget guitar, cheap pickups are probably the cause of electric guitar buzzing when plugged in. You might try upgrading your pickup which will definitely leave a significant impact on your noise level and tone.
Here are some more reasons why you face electric guitar buzzing when plugged in.
Distortion from Low Battery
You would usually get to see batteries in guitars which have active electronics. Eventually you would need to replace the batteries in the acoustic guitar which has a built in tonwr. In most cases, when your battery starts running low, you will notice that your signal starts sounding distorted but it can also sqeal or lose volume when your battery is running low. The only solution to this maybe to replace your battery. You can even use rechargeable battery which might cause you numerous noise issues. So as per my recommendation, name brand, disposable batteries are a great choice.
Noise from Dirty Power
You never know what is the quality of the power you are going to get where you need to perform. You are most likely to experience numerous sound issues if your pedal board or speaker does not receive clean power. You will face buzzing, humming problems. Well, the solution to this is using a power conditioner. You might try removing unwanted things from your space such as switches and lights and the other less necessary devices present on the same circuit with a power conditioner. It might help you with electric guitar buzzing when plugged in.
Dust in the Cable Jack
You can even face electric guitar buzzing when plugged in if there is dust collected inside the cable jack. It’s very normal that over time dust withh get collected there. You might use a soft cloth with a pointed tool or just a puff! It’s that easy. The output jack might be responsible for the constant noise. Try air dusting in the jack and that is most likely to solve your problem. You might also take a quick look at the connections on your cable as well as the amp as the exact same problem might be there.
In some cases, you might also find foreign debris stuck on the ends of your cables. I prefer you to check all the possible places where you think dust might be accumulated. If a little huff and puff doesn’t improve the quality of the sound, take a look at the knobs and switches on the guitar in that case. But if you get a hum or buzz especially during adjusting the tone or volume, you need to take a look at the internal components and might just want to dust them out.
Bad Cables and Interference
As I already mentioned, bad cables and interference of other electronics might cause the buzzing sound. Check on the cable for any dust or junk. Ensure that your cable is overall in good shape. Interference of other cables is also a major cause of electric guitar buzzing when plugged in. This usually happens in a setup where you have a bunch of cables to deal with. You can use modern cables which helps in solving problems with sheilding in the external sheath of the cable. There is another reason why you may be experiencing buzzing issues on your electric guitar, which is the peddles or extra gear that is intercepting the signal from the guitar to the amp that are causing the buzzing.
Electric Guitar and Amp Buzzing
A bad connection with the wiring in your guitar or your amp might be one of the causes of electric guitar buzzing when plugged in. It gets pretty difficult to solve this problem yourself. You could just search it on YouTube or give it to a local shop to repair. As telecasters have very simple and robust wiring routes, they are very cheap to repair.
Conclusion
I hope you fixed the problem of Electric guitar buzzing when plugged in. If not, I would recommend you to take it to a local shop and see what the problem actually is. I believe you can fix your own instruments yourself, you just need a little bit of knowledge about it. All the best!
