Electric shock when touching strings?

Hey guys
I have Squier Classic Vibe Jazz Bass with the Fender Rumble 15 as an amp. Every time my right arm touches the string when reaching out for something, I usually get an electric zap. The zap isn’t too painful but it builds up the longer my arm touches the string. What confuses me is that it only seems to zap me on my upper arm but never when I’m playing.

Is this something that has to do with the bass, amp, or outlet? I’m afraid that it can get serious or damage my gear.

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you should verify that your wall outlet is properly grounded, otherwise it can be quite dangerous.

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And that you are properly grounding the amp in to it.

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Do you have carpet? Else you could spray anti-static spray on your floor

I would ask some electrician to check it out. After all, it may hurt badly if something is broken there.

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Did you try a different outlet? Sounds like a ground problem.

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Is this only happening when your arm touches the strings? After all, your fingers are also doing that while you play… (Of course, the inside of your arm is potentially more sensitive than your fingertips, but still…)

Or is your hand touching something else while you reach out and while your arm touches the strings? Like, say, your aluminum-bodied MacBook presently connected to a charger??

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Got it, will check when I can

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I’m playing on a wooden floor so I don’t think its static electricity

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I haven’t actually, will try it with different outlets

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Yeah only when my arm touches the strings, my hands aren’t zapped.

But now that you mention it, I remember touching a device that is indeed connected to my PC that has a metal frame :thinking: . I don’t dare experimenting though as this is quite dangerous

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Obviously very difficult to diagnose remotely but it sounds to me like you have a floating ground. This can happen when all of your equipment is not grounded together and to a common ground. And it can be quite dangerous.

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Uh oh. To be frank I am very uneducated when it comes to circuitry and what not, so I’m not sure how to fix this kinda of problems. Is there a way to know if I do have a floating ground or ways to avoid it?

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One quick first question is do you have everything plugged in with grounded (3-prong, in the US) plugs? Including in to the wall?

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Living in Canada so same outlet as the US. The amp has 3 prongs but the PC uses 2 prongs.

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I am guessing it is two prongs plus a ground wire?

Is this a normal PC made after 2000 or so? If so I would recommend getting a three prong power cable for it. The case power supply will almost certainly use a standard power cable. These are standardized and very common, and will have three terminals in the power supply going in to a cable that has either three prongs or two and a ground wire.

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The plug looks like this
image
But either way, I will invest in a three-prong cable to be safe. I built the PC 3 years ago so it’s still pretty recent. To be clear, the PC actually uses a type f plug because I brought it when I moved to Canada so I just use an adapter for it. But will look for a proper power cord now.

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Getting everything on a common ground is definitely the first step here :slight_smile:

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I am an electrician, and i believe @John_E is an electrical engineer. You definitely have a grounding issue there. You could maybe try moving to a different outlet (on a different circuit ) and verifying it does or does not happen there. Your panel schedule SHOULD define which circuits run which areas-but may be old, unclear or wrong. Meaning you may need to try a couple different areas.
If you can’t find a place to get current that doesn’t do this, i would seriously recommend calling an electrician. Primarily for Your safety, but also to protect your home and equipment.

We all love to play, but please be safe.

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Thanks for all the advice. I will first buy a 3-pronged power cord to make sure everything is grounded properly and I will try using different outlets to also make sure that it’s not a faulty circuit. Hopefully, I can get back to playing bass soon without fear of damaging my health :face_exhaling:

I hope while everything is going on the amp and bass don’t get damaged :sweat_smile:

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