Why does my electric guitar hum unless I touch the strings or other metal parts on it?

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1

Hey everyone,

I have a Fender Classic Series 72 Telecaster and I want to use it for recording, but unfortunately it has this annoying hum if I don’t touch any metal parts on it.

When I searched online forums I realized this is a pretty common problem and some people have tried to solve it by creating a Faraday cage using copper or aluminium foils. However, some think it’s unnecessary for guitars with humbuckers. (My guitar has humbucking pickups)

Now if I attach steel wire to tuning machine heads and hang it down and press on it with my toe, hum disappears. Just like when I touch the strings. Do you think this can be dangerous if I do it for a long time?

If it’s dangerous, can I use something else instead of my toe? I tried putting the wire into a pot of soil(earth) but it didn’t work. What is the basic electricity theory behind it?

Thanks!

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That’s a very common result of grounding problems in your guitar. I’d either open it up to make sure everything is grounded properly or take it to a luthier if you’re not comfortable doing that your own.

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