Zapped by the microphone!

[Neill Levine]

Hi everybody, it’s been awhile!

My first thought was to run this problem by the Tele Page, though I suspect I know what is going on.

At rehearsal last night I was being zapped on the lips by my SM58. I like to get close on the mic when I sing (and it’s my mic). Every time I touched it, I would get a shock.

Band-mates and I worked out by a process of elimination (we tried different mics and different leads) that it was my guitar causing the problem. With the hands on the neck I was closing a circuit?

It’s a pretty new Squier 70’s Classic Vibe Jaguar. I’ve never gigged with it (got a kids party gig coming up and I thought it would look wacky)

Am I grounding the guitar, and is the shock is coming from my guitar amp?

I have no technical skills at all, but is it an easy fix?

No great rush - I’ll be using the Tele for the gig

 

[schmee]

-Guitar amp may have the black and neutral AC wired backwards. (been there done that and got shocked)
-House may not have the outlets properly grounded. A little plug in tester is cheap to figure this out.
-PA amp may not be grounded properly.

 

[Hodgo88]

More than likely the mic is grounded fine and your rig isn't, so you become the grounding for your rig when you touch the mic. Or vice versa on the PA. But between the two, there is a grounding issue and you are becoming the missing piece.

 

[StoneH]

Hi everybody, it’s been awhile!

My first thought was to run this problem by the Tele Page, though I suspect I know what is going on.

At rehearsal last night I was being zapped on the lips by my SM58. I like to get close on the mic when I sing (and it’s my mic). Every time I touched it, I would get a shock.

Band-mates and I worked out by a process of elimination (we tried different mics and different leads) that it was my guitar causing the problem. With the hands on the neck I was closing a circuit?

It’s a pretty new Squier 70’s Classic Vibe Jaguar. I’ve never gigged with it (got a kids party gig coming up and I thought it would look wacky)

Am I grounding the guitar, and is the shock is coming from my guitar amp?

I have no technical skills at all, but is it an easy fix?

No great rush - I’ll be using the Tele for the gig

I guess your amp doesn't have a polarity switch like this? Forty years ago, all my amps had a polarity switch; usually a metal toggle.

 

[Neill Levine]

Late edit - I should have said,
Without the guitar in my hands the zap from the mic went away.
Rehearsed at the place lots of times with the Tele with the same rig (Henriksen Jazz Amp) and it’s never been an issue.
Could it be the grounding in the guitar?

 

[Fiesta Red]

Fix this problem immediately!

A more extreme case of this is what killed Keith Relf of the Yardbirds

If you don’t know how, call an electrician

 

[Gaylord Amsterdam]

A word of warning!!!!!!!

Don't take chances like this, I was severely shocked at a show, to the point of hands going numb, and loss of memory and confusion. When I use a mic and guitar now I make sure I have an Isolation transformer or at least a foam mic cover, I almost got unalived.

 

[Hodgo88]

Late edit - I should have said,
Without the guitar in my hands the zap from the mic went away.
Rehearsed at the place lots of times with the Tele with the same rig (Henriksen Jazz Amp) and it’s never been an issue.
Could it be the grounding in the guitar?

Question: has the amp always been fed from the same power outlet as the mic / PA? Did that change at all recently?

I don't see the guitar ground being a problem. If anything I think it's whatever your equipment is plugged into, an a cheap harbor freight outlet tester can confirm/disconfirm.

 

[RCinMempho]

Teenage garage band story. Big gig. First time a rural country club agreed to hold a Teen Dance. We're the band.

First song in and the lead vocalist/guitarist has a 335 plugged into a Twin Reverb in his hands. He leans into the microphone, touches the end of his front tooth to the SM58, and a hefty shock shoots right up his tooth. He yells "F%%K!" directly into the microphone.

Some chaperone dad unplugged everything we owned within 10 seconds. We were being thrown out of there. They weren't going to have "that kind of show". It was over.

UNTIL... We apologized and had the owner touch the guitar and the microphone at the same time. Then we explained about the tooth. He laughed pretty hard. And he explained to a couple of irate dads as well.

The show went on.

We learned about grounding that day. That Peavey power amp had a power switch that could reverse polarity.

 

[uriah1]

Cement floors are bad ju ju
Any xlr metal touching.

 

[Gaylord Amsterdam]

And what ever you do don't touch the strings of 2 guitars plugged into separate amps!

 

[dogmeat]

something is miss-wired. it was common in the old days to get a shock before the was a standard, required configuration for cords and receptacles. that happened what... in the 80s? I remember OSHA guys coming through the building I was working at and cutting plugs off the company tools that only had 2 prongs. anyway, to this day I still slap the mic with the back of my hand before getting a grip on it... or worse yet putting your lips up there. thats a leftover from back when

 

[Swirling Snow]

to this day I still slap the mic with the back of my hand before getting a grip on it... or worse yet putting your lips up there.

Good practice, not to grab. Electricity makes your muscles contract.

BUT... make sure you're not holding the strings to keep them quiet with your other hand. Then the path to ground goes right across your chest, say the doctors.

Me, I had it happen, with 440 volts, no less, and I gotta tell ya, it just fills you right up! All of you are electrified at once!

 

[Deaf Eddie]

Looooooong I learned to touch one of the metal tuning keys of my guitar to the mic BEFORE I approached it. If there's a grounding issue, you'll usually get a tiny blue spark... better the guitar's tuners than my lips!

 

[Killing Floor]

Could just be rock’n’roll mojo

 

[24 track]

I just noticed you are Aussy land ( a fun place I;ld love to visit) , I'm not sure if you are rated at 240 volts ot 117 volts NA standard what I listed will help for NA standard

interesting posts here ,
how are you guys set up ? is this a rehearsal space , a basement? a live gig? when this happens
are you using an all in one PA?

if you are set up on a concrete floor , garage or basement , lay some carpet down as house hold concrete foundations are house grounded
if you are using an all in one Pa it may be on a separate phase of the 117 volts and out of phase wiith your guitar amp
( there are 2 rails comming from the panel ,one phase is red and white the other is black and white both phases are 180 degrees out of phase with each other ) if your amp is on one phase and the PA is on the other Phase this could be your issue , no ground lift will fix this
to fix this make sure your PA is on the same circuit as your amp , how you tell is
turn off the breaker at the panel until your amp has no power .see what else is on that circuit , if the PA is still on then you may be on a different phase.

residential wiring is shared through out the house , so i the out let may be tied to a fridge , dishwasher , florescent lights ,dimmers etc tnis can introduce hum into a system as well,

also what are you using for an amp? I ask this because that may be relivant

 

[johnny k]

put a sock on it.

 

[String Tree]

Hi everybody, it’s been awhile!

My first thought was to run this problem by the Tele Page, though I suspect I know what is going on.

At rehearsal last night I was being zapped on the lips by my SM58. I like to get close on the mic when I sing (and it’s my mic). Every time I touched it, I would get a shock.

Band-mates and I worked out by a process of elimination (we tried different mics and different leads) that it was my guitar causing the problem. With the hands on the neck I was closing a circuit?

It’s a pretty new Squier 70’s Classic Vibe Jaguar. I’ve never gigged with it (got a kids party gig coming up and I thought it would look wacky)

Am I grounding the guitar, and is the shock is coming from my guitar amp?

I have no technical skills at all, but is it an easy fix?

No great rush - I’ll be using the Tele for the gig

I'm not up on Aussie Code but, it sounds like a polarity issue.
PAY a real Electrician to make sure Every Outlet is wired properly.
Guitars and Mics make no difference.

 

[ficelles]

Fix this problem immediately!

A more extreme case of this is what killed Keith Relf of the Yardbirds

If you don’t know how, call an electrician

And Les Harvey of Stone the Crows

Don't take any chances.

 

[KeithDavies 100]

Echoing what others have said - this issue has killed people in the past. Take care, and get it properly addressed. Good luck, fella.