Hi there
Probably been asked before... :roll:
I live in Portugal and have recently acquired an electric guitar and small practice amp (Gibson). I get a buzzing from the amp which goes away if I touch the strings, pickups and jack....
Now, I'm pretty sure this is an earthing problem. The amp has a three pin plug but I have to use a two-pin adapter 'cos they don't do earths over here...
Any idea how I can cure this annoying problem?
Thanks.
Rock on!
D 8)
I'm nowhere near Chicago. I've got six string, 8 fingers, two thumbs, it's dark 'cos I'm wearing sunglasses - Hit it!
Portugal makes use of both the flat, two-prong plug and the so-called Schuko plug, which also has two prongs, but also has two earth connectors
http://users.telenet.be/worldstandards/electricity.htm
It's possible that you have 3 core wire coming into the 2 connector socket. If you do, you could replace the socket with a Schuko one and have it earthed.
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You could try unplugging your amp from the wall outlet and reversing the plug. Those two round prong power outlets are unpolarized so you have no way to know which side is the line and which is neutral. This might reduce/remove the hum.
If you really do want to connect to ground then you might be able to run your own ground wire. In the past (or even today with older houses) this was done by running a wire to something like a cold water pipe, directly to a rod driven into the ground (this is how I grounded my satellite dish - for lightning safety) or sometimes the electrical boxes are grounded and you can connect to them.
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