Odd Ground issue on Les Paul

[Drouin]

So i have a Les Paul and it has a buzzing issue.  i checked and double checked all the wiring and everything is ok.  I have been playing this guitar for a few years and this just happened.  So on a whim I plugged in a regular guitar cable and checked to see if the tip and ring were touching with the bing option on  my multi-meter.  and sure enough there was!  the buzz goes away when i am touching any metal parts but there is still continuity on the guitar cable.  what is going on???  I spent at least 3 hours on it already.  All of the sudden the buzzing is gone.  

 

Any ideas?

[curtisa]

18 hours ago, Drouin said:

So on a whim I plugged in a regular guitar cable and checked to see if the tip and ring were touching with the bing option on  my multi-meter.  and sure enough there was!

Not necessarily a problem. You'll get continuity between tip and sleeve if you have the volume pot(s) wound down. A true short between tip and sleeve will manifest itself in no output from the guitar, not even buzz.

 

18 hours ago, Drouin said:

the buzz goes away when i am touching any metal parts but there is still continuity on the guitar cable.  what is going on???

Unless the buzz is really horrendous, like barely being able to hear the normal sound of the guitar behind the noise, it is normal for buzz to disappear when touching metal parts of the guitar. All guitars will naturally buzz until you touch a metallic part of them that has been bonded to ground.

 

18 hours ago, Drouin said:

All of the sudden the buzzing is gone.  

Look for environmental factors - were you playing the guitar near a computer, in a room with fluorescent lighting, nearby anything with large motors running (freezers, aircon, power tools, washing machine) etc? 

Can you make the buzz come and go by wiggling the lead in the jack socket of the guitar? Does the buzz cut in and out suddenly when you operate the volume or tone pots? Perhaps even wiggling the pickups in the pickup rings?

Have a look inside the control cavity and see if there are any wires that look like they're about to fall off their soldered joint.

[Norris]

16 hours ago, curtisa said:

Look for environmental factors - were you playing the guitar near a computer, in a room with fluorescent lighting, nearby anything with large motors running (freezers, aircon, power tools, washing machine) etc? 

Lighting dimmer switches are notorious for causing hum too