Zzzaaaappppppp!!!!!

[Ben...]

My old Peavey bass amp did this... Then I retired it. I thought it was my new bass at first. Then when I used my old bass and got shocked I realized it was the amp. Have you used any other guitars with that amp? If you get a shock using a different guitar then it definitely is your amp.

[doom]

havnt tried another guitar yet. i am playing on carpet with socks on and it happens when my bar finger is fretting chords over the actualy metal fret connecting 3 or more strings by means of the metal fret.

[Cygnus X1]

Ben,
Are you encouraging him to use himself as an electrical experiment?
Something here ain't right...and playing with amp voltages isn't recommended.

[JacksonCharvelESP]

Make sure your ceiling isn't wet, any pets in the general area of 5 miles should be removed. Any electro magnetic radiating devices should be destroyed. Yeah I haven't a clue. Check your grounds.

[Ben...]

Ben,
Are you encouraging him to use himself as an electrical experiment?
Something here ain't right...and playing with amp voltages isn't recommended.

Good point. Self-electrocution isn't a good thing. I found out my super-awesome bass amp was dangerous the hard way. I just remember when I did that because I thought my bass was screwed because it was humming like crazy even though it's pickup wasn't supposed to so I tried my other bass that I knew didn't hum and it did too. Then I got shocked. That amp sounded so good too.

Now that I think of it I'm fairly sure the grounding was messed up because it didn't hum when I had my hand on the strings plus the ground prong on the plug was MIA.

[Cygnus X1]

Glad you lived to tell about it, Ben.

I had the original two prong on my old Deluxe Reverb for many years...got a couple of good jolts out of it before I did a three prong conversion to it. The amp didn't care if it was out of phase!

[DonP]

havnt tried another guitar yet. i am playing on carpet with socks on and it happens when my bar finger is fretting chords over the actualy metal fret connecting 3 or more strings by means of the metal fret.

Is the carpet on a slab of concrete (a very good condcutor to ground)? Carpet tacks (the metal nails that hold the carpet in place) are nailed into the concrete and if you happen to step on one...

When you are bar chording you are just giving a better contact to the strings for zapping. But the issue is still your amp. You amp is "incorrectly" sending (deadly) electricity through the cable, through your guitar, through 'you' to the floor (ground).

Has the amp been modified at all?

If it's a newer amp, it's defective because you can't sell a new amp without proper grounding, and no amp company would for fear of lawsuits.

[DonP]

its a peavey vypyr 30

I don't know shit about this amp. Tube? New or old?

[doom]

the amp just came out over the summer i believe? its peaveys new modeling amp. solid state.

[doom]

just an update.... i replaced my amp and havnt been zapped since... yay!

[Jack The Riffer]

Cool....Enjoy your new toys!!!

[Ben...]

just an update.... i replaced my amp and havnt been zapped since... yay!

Must have not been grounded properly. How are those new Peaveys? The only Peavey amp I've played was my aforementioned bass amp that was made in the late 80's and gave me mild shocks. It sounded amazing before it screwed up though.

[doom]

well actually ive been reading about more and more problems, i bought the thing because of the the rave reviews from big name sites and mags.. but its nothing but problems and couldnt get a decent distortion tone to save its life.. not to mention it kept zapping me. i replaced it with a Vox Valvetronix 30w and its got beautiful cleans and distortion. not as many effects built in but have were dumb anyways.