getting shocked

[daz]

This concerns my EL34 build and it only happens now and then, but i'll be playing and i get a shock from the strings on my fretting hand. But the thing is, it's very subtle, only happens maybe once every 2-4 hours of playing, and when it happens i cannot recreate it again no matter how hard i try with a few exceptions. The shock isn't much more than a 9 volt battery on your tongue sorta thing.

for the record i have a second amp plugged into it's DI out and neither have ground prongs in use due to a extention cord that has no ground pin hole. granted, i can get one and that may end it. But what i don't get is i never got this before and haven't hooked anything up different and this just started to happen last few weeks. The only changes were to the amp's circuit as i tweak it. But i can't think of anything i've done to change any grounds on any way. One thing i noticed the last time it happened is i was barefooted and it's a tile floor. Not sure it's happened with shoes on before, but it probably did. And i don't know if that could someghow have anything to do with it but i thought it was worth mentioning. What kinds of things should i look for?

[tubeswell]

What kinds of things should i look for?

Well you already know two of them

1) Not having a earthed chassis

2) playing without insulation between you and the floor (- allowing the voltage potential in the chassis to find an alternate path to ground)

I would fix that up pronto if I was you

[daz]

Right, but i think the reason i asked was mainly because it never did this before even with the amps not earthed. as 4 the barefoot thing, i'm not doing that anymore and i'll see if it stops.

[loudthud]

You still could get a shock if you touch another guitar player or a microphone or computer. Get a grounded extention cord.

[daz]

I'm going to. I just wish i knew why this never happened before now.

[Enzo]

I know people who drive home from the bar every night totally drunk, and yet they manage to survive the trip each time. One day they will kill someone or themselves. Why hasn;t it happened to them so far? WHo knows?

Getting away with something so far does not make it OK.

[stingray_65]

I am not making like I am an amp tech, My friend loud thud and tubeswell will vouch for that.

I am a machinery repairman and do have trouble shooting skills.

If you have hooked up the amps the way you always have and haven't got a shock before. then the likelyhood is nothing in them has changed, but something you (sweaty feet in warmer weather) or the weather (higher humidity) or something else more subltle is changed.

Loud thud is dead on, get a grounded cord. the likelyhood is that the unknown change will suddenly rear it's head and some catastophy will occur.

now you can go around poking around in something looking for an unknown, when you know well enough to not use an ungrounded cord to supply the amps.

you are very lucky up to this point because seldom will you ever hear any one say they got a teeny tingle from an amp.

I don't want to sound harsh, but your set up sounds dangerous, especialy if your feeling electricity.

Ray

[R.G.]

I just wish i knew why this never happened before now.

It's called wear and tear in the components biz. Something is letting more AC leak out. Exactly what? You'd have to look at every component that has high voltage AC on it to figure that out.

[olddawg]

I would say, NEVER EVER PLAY BAREFOOTED. And Enzo is as always is correct, NEVER FLOAT THE CHASSIE GROUND. You are rolling the dice with the grim reaper. Stone the Crows.

[Chuck H]

About sixteen years ago I was playing a show at a little divey club near the Moffet Field Navy base. Had to load the gear through a back alley stepping over broken Thunderbird bottles and sleeping bums, the whole nine yards. All the patrons were jar heads and our band followed the titty show. I'm not kidding. A real peach of a gig.

Some wanker had replaced the stage recepticals and wired a couple in reverse polarity. Our singer used a wireless mic. I didn't. I carried two songs in the third set to give him a break. On this night I didn't have a spit guard on my mic and while holding my guitar as my lips touched the mic I got it. 60Hz through the monitors as I was stuck frozen for a second before dropping to my knees as my guitar hit the stage floor.

My old band mates and people who saw the show still call me "Sizzlin' Chuck". I only wish it was for my playing

Always check grounds, use a proper earth ground cord and extention cord and always use a spit guard on the mic.

As R.G. pointed out, if it's a mild shock instead of 120 then it is likely you have a leaky componant. The voltage should appear between the input and ground so finding it with your DMM should be possible.

Sizzlin' Chuck

[Enzo]

And that little shock that is annoying to your might just prove fatal when uncle Ed visits and you show him your setup and it zaps his pacemaker.

[olddawg]

About sixteen years ago I was playing a show at a little divey club near the Moffet Field Navy base. Had to load the gear through a back alley stepping over broken Thunderbird bottles and sleeping bums, the whole nine yards. All the patrons were jar heads and our band followed the titty show. I'm not kidding. A real peach of a gig.

Some wanker had replaced the stage recepticals and wired a couple in reverse polarity. Our singer used a wireless mic. I didn't. I carried two songs in the third set to give him a break. On this night I didn't have a spit guard on my mic and while holding my guitar as my lips touched the mic I got it. 60Hz through the monitors as I was stuck frozen for a second before dropping to my knees as my guitar hit the stage floor.

My old band mates and people who saw the show still call me "Sizzlin' Chuck". I only wish it was for my playing :

Always check grounds, use a proper earth ground cord and extention cord and always use a spit guard on the mic.

As R.G. pointed out, if it's a mild shock instead of 120 then it is likely you have a leaky componant. The voltage should appear between the input and ground so finding it with your DMM should be possible.

Sizzlin' Chuck

Man, you didn't even use the old "backhand test." The same thing happened to Keith Richard. He was knocked unconcious. That's why they call him Mr. Indestructable. I'm sure we all have these stories. I always use a transmitter in clubs. I never trust the mains.

[Chuck H]

Man, you didn't even use the old "backhand test."I'm sure we all have these stories. I always use a transmitter in clubs. I never trust the mains.

I don't play out any more But from then after, whenever I did, I brought my DMM along.

I admit it was fun being part of an inside joke. It was a story that carried on for years after the band broke up...Remember when.?. I liked it. But at what cost? People tell me it killed some brain cells. My response is "Sure, but only the weak ones."

Chuck

[erndawg]

People tell me it killed some brain cells. My response is "Sure, but only the weak ones."

Great comeback!

[vince76]

about safety

I wonderonly for example:
I'm using all the precautions to avoid to be shocked...I'm using three way chord because the amp has the right grounding etc... I put the cord in the wall outlet of a club where I go for a show...
I'm not sure that the third hole of the outlet is grounded!!
how to be safe?

V.