Static

scottburrow

scottburrow

Fractal Fanatic
So for the longest time, I have been having these static issues with my Eric Johnson Strat, that have been bugging me to no end. I thought it must be the Axe FX II because I see a static entries once in awhile. So out of curiosity I plug in my Les Paul, and no static, That's good news. So I do a little google search and find out that this is pretty common on strats, and that they suggest using a dryer sheet on both sides of the pickguard. So along with changing my strings I also unscrewed my pickguard and rubbed both sides, a low and behold it fixed my static issue. I have been playing since i was eleven yrs old, and I had never heard that. I know everyone probably knew this already, but it was new news to me.
 
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You must live in a dry climate. ;) Comes up from time to time on the Strat and Tele forums. I have a partscaster that does that. I attribute it to the fact that the pickguard only has a partial shield on the back side. My "real" Strat doesn't crackle.
 
LOL, coming from someone who lives in a dry climate. You would think that I would know this living in arizona all my life, geesh.
 
My '76 Strat is also very static-y and crackles like a bad tube in a loose, arcing socket during the winter here waaaay up in Canada when the air is as dry as a bone when it's -35C outside....acoustic guitars get killed up here, there is little moisture in the air for a few months. My friends '72 does the same thing...and the amount of static noise easily generated by picking/rubbing on the pickguard is pretty amazing.

The dryer sheet helps for sure, it's just that one is never handy...:geek
 
Its pretty bad in my house in the winter. My strat is actually not horrible, but my SG with P90's and my tele are awful. I got so sick of dry sheets that the smell makes me nauseous. What I use now is endust for electronics on the pickguards.
 
shasha said:
Its pretty bad in my house in the winter. My strat is actually not horrible, but my SG with P90's and my tele are awful. I got so sick of dry sheets that the smell makes me nauseous. What I use now is endust for electronics on the pickguards.
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Endust, hmm. I will have to try that. So it's good to know that I wasn't the only one that this was news for. Any other tips out there?
 
How big is the foil shield on the back of your pickguard? Does it cover most of the pickguard or just the area where the controls are? My untested theory is that the full shield pickguards (properly grounded) don't have the static issues.
 
I don't have foil on the back of my pickguard. As a matter of fact my pickguard is only one ply as well. I will have to look into adding that. The Eric Johnson strat was definitely made a little different. It is aging well though.
 
Phostenix said:
Oh, it's an EJ Strat. I'm surprised it doesn't have rubber bands holding the pickguard on.
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And a battery type sensor... JK, I love Eric. His quirkiness is a part of why he plays like he does!

I am on the Gulf of Mexico coast (as is Eric) and humidity is plentiful here (50-70% is considered kind of dry here) so static is only rarely a problem like this. But I do travel with my guitars so this is good to know as a quick fix!
 
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