My electric guitar stopped working today, although it makes a hissing noise every time I touch the strings. The wire and the amplifier are not the problem. It's a Hertz J200N Electric guitar. It is not making any sound, expect when I touch the strings, it starts to pick up signal from me. Any help?
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1Is it mute on every pickup setting, or is it only silent on certain pickup settings? It sounds like something's become improperly grounded (by being dropped or bashed or something), but one of your pickups/your pickup selector could be loose. I know that's happened to me before, where one of my pickup selector settings became really dodgy (though to be honest that was probably through me using my pickup selector as a killswitch back when I was a teenager).– James WhiteleyCommented Feb 14, 2019 at 9:20
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It is mute in every pickup settings.– Ashish SharmaCommented Feb 15, 2019 at 9:46
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try to move the volume and tone knobs and also the pickup selector. Sometimes dust is concentrated in these parts and stop making good connection. When you move them a bit it starts to have good signal again– papakiasCommented Feb 15, 2019 at 9:47
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1 Answer
It sounds like the ground connection has broken somehow. Try running a temporary wire from a metal part (eg the bridge) to the metal surround of the lead socket (a metal part, not painted, so thatit makes a connection- or perhaps the metal surround of the lead plug itself)- I'm guessing, but this will possibly re-establish the earth. If it makes a good sound with that connected, I'd conclude that the earth connection to the lead plug has broken. This can happen because the socket moves about as the lead is pushed in/out, and eventually breaks.
If this is the case, it's usually a really easy soldering fix.
EDIT: A bit more detail was requested: If the ground wire in the lead socket of the guitar has broken (not common, buit does happen), a way to check this is:
Get some electrical wire- or even a guitar string (anything metal for electrical contact) and connect one end to a metal part of the guitar, eg the bridge, and connect the other end to the metal surround of the lead socket. You might just have to hold it in place with your fingers.
If that end is hard to connect, often the lead's plu has a metal surround (anywhere except the tip) which is earthed, so you could connect it to that.
Then strum the sguitar strings. If it makes a sound, then it points to the earth lead in the guitar's socket.
To fix this depends on the type of guitar. Is it one of these? It looks like you can take the panel off the back of the guitar and get to the wiring through there.
Have a look at the wiring inside and see if you can see anything that's come away
Alternatively undo the nut around the lead socket in and remove the socket. You only need to take it out enough to see the wires and get a soldering iron to it.
There should be two wires connected to the socket's terminals. If one of the wires has come off, that's the problem.
Re soldering to fix it: best to google that. If you've never done it, it's really not difficult, and a domestic soldering iron is pretty cheap.
answered Feb 14, 2019 at 14:37
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Could you please elaborate what I need to do in a little more detail? Commented Feb 15, 2019 at 9:47
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@AshishSharma I edited the answer. Sorry I can't provide more info about the lead socket, but I' can't find any detailed pictures of that part online. Commented Feb 15, 2019 at 14:55
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