ilovefuzz.com

The pickguard on my bass, right next to the pickup where I dangle my fingers, always seems to develop this sort of scratchy staticy noise through the amp when I play it.

I assume this is because it is, in fact, static electricity. It happens right next to the pickup where I stick my thumb and my sloppy playing technique means my finger pads are always smacking the pickguard right there.

What the hell can I do (besides learning proper technique) to fix this?

It's not the pickguard, it happened with the original Fender guard and it happens with a replacement I stuck on it, instead. When I swapped guards, it wasn't there for a few days and I sort of just hoped it was the OEM guard, but I guess not.

Is there some sort of secret I'm missing? I've never had an insturment do this before. Neither the original nor replacement guard are lined with foil tape, would it make a difference if I covered the bottom and then sort of touched it to the shielding in the pickup cavity (which also isn't there, but I could amend that)? Someone once recommended a piece of dryer sheet, but all that really did is make it smell pretty and didn't actually do anythign for the sound.

bloatedsack wrote: Why's my pickguard all staticy?

Because you're on fire & electric, hot stuff!

Possible, but unlikely.

Shielding + star earthing should solve the problem.

stop wearing socks and rubbing balloons while playing.

Blackened Soul wrote:stop wearing socks and rubbing balloons while playing.

I was told that matching outfits were professional, now I'll stick out from the band.

Anyways, thanks for the advice, I'm going to wait my getting around to new pickups and I'll do a full shielding job then, I guess.

By the way, do the guards you tried have shielding on the back?

As BH said, sounds like shielding / ground.

Yeah check to make sure everything is grounded to the bridge as it should be if/when you shield.

For quick and easy just rub it down with a dryer sheet. No joke.