Will a powerstrip help “ground” an outlet?

I’m not sure what the problem is, but I bought a guitar pedal and when ever I plug it in it buzzes. If I touch the pedal it buzzes a little less like my hand helps ground it. The pedal only has a two prong imput so it’s not a grounded pedal. However, my amp does have the third prong and I have the same problem with it, it buzzes but when I touch my guitar it’s less noticable. I have taken the pedal to a music store that has good grounding and it works fine, I know my house is really old and doesn’t have grounds. There is a spot for them on some outlets but they are dead. Is there a way to get rid of the buzzing, maybe through a surge protector?

You know the amp amplifies vibration and when you touch the guitar it stops the vibration.. even when your not playing there will be some vibration in the strings the amp will pick up…. and no amp will be 100% pure, even the best ones will have some background noise


How do I ground my guitar amp/wah pedal to stop it from humming?

I believe my problem is grounding, yet, I do not have the technical knowledge needed to accomplish this. Guess I’ll start here. Thanks

I don’t think the wiring is such a big deal that you are going to get a hum. Hums can come from a few places, and your guitar is probably grounded as is your wah. An electric ground (from the outlet) is a duplicate of the negative. A grounded outlet has a 3 prong hole, ground/hot/neutral. Ground and neutral are the same, the extra one is just a backup if there is a break in the line. That electric works on AC (alternate current).
You can check the grounds in your guitar which are DC (direct current). What grounds your guitar is you touching the metal.
You are going to need to troubleshoot your issue a bit rather than getting a simple answer like changing the wires. If you have a single coil pickup and are using distortion, well, thats the 60hz hum. That doesn’t get fixed without replacement. Your guitar could be getting interference. You could be on a bad electric line (change outlets). If you have a 2 prong plug for your amp, try flipping it. Your wah pedal should be grounded also. The wire going into it has a hot and ground (DC). It wouldn’t work without it. Make sure all your cables are good. Turn off electric devices in the room you are in, i.e. TV, fan, radio, cd player, iPod, etc.

Southwest Airlines ran over Adam’s Guitar Pedals


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