I'm shocked!

[cdw2000]

The cheapo 3-light plug-in testers like rudutch suggested will tell you this. Most have a label that shows all the different light combinations and what they mean. It will indicate hot and neutral reversed, missing safety ground, hot and ground cross-wired, neutral and ground cross-wired, etc.

It's really cheap insurance to know what you are dealing with.

[rudutch]

a surge supressor (depending on your definition) will 'prevent' over volatge from passing though it. they can use MOV's or clamping diodes. They will limit a preset voltage from passing though the device. Ie: 120V 'standard' convenience out let will read around 170V peak to peak, the supressor will block off anything (say) over 200v.

A GFCI will read when there is a 4-6Ma change in the neutral voltage, indicating something or someone has become a ground path.

and the pool photot posted prior is not a recommended practice

[JJ Gross]

Sometimes you just have to play in places with crap AC, a simple fact of gigging. If you use a guitar wireless, you're not going to get shocked unless your mic itself is live with mains power - very unlikely.

I've been punched in the mouth more times than I can remember by that bright blue light (at least that's what your brain tell you to see). Since going wireless I have not been bitten once, and I'm talking years of playing everywhere from outdoors to big clubs to stinky little dives. Wireless = no shocks in the mouth. Not a bad deal starting around $100.

[cdw2000]

Good point JJ. Going wireless is the ultimate ground fault isolation.

[Thogthecaveman]

Sometimes you just have to play in places with crap AC, a simple fact of gigging. If you use a guitar wireless, you're not going to get shocked unless your mic itself is live with mains power - very unlikely.

Why is there a better chance of your amp to be a problem, but not from the mic?

[Wilko]

Why is there a better chance of your amp to be a problem, but not from the mic?

because when you are playing a guitar, your strings are connected directly to ground through the bridge/tailpiece, and right to the shield.

You are almost never in contact with the mic shield unless you are holding it and/or it is scratched up enough to get juice through the paint. (except with metal finished mics).

[Kap'n]

There's also the fact that nobody wants to sing through 40 year old PA systems.

[cdw2000]

because when you are playing a guitar, your strings are connected directly to ground through the bridge/tailpiece, and right to the shield.

You are almost never in contact with the mic shield unless you are holding it and/or it is scratched up enough to get juice through the paint. (except with metal finished mics).

There's also the fact that you need a voltage difference between two points for current to flow. If you touch your guitar and a microphone at the same time and they are at the same voltage potential (hopefully ground) no current will flow. If one is at 120V due to some fault and the other is at ground (or you touch some other ground), you'll get a nasty shock.

It's like a squirrel running along a power line - as long as he doesn't bridge two wires he won't get shocked.

That's also why I use the one-hand rule while working on my tube amp. One hand holding the voltage or oscilliscope probe, the other hand behind my back or in my pocket - NOT resting on the chassis.

[JJ Gross]

There's also the fact that you need a voltage difference between two points for current to flow. If you touch your guitar and a microphone at the same time and they are at the same voltage potential (hopefully ground) no current will flow. If one is at 120V due to some fault and the other is at ground (or you touch some other ground), you'll get a nasty shock.

It's like a squirrel running along a power line - as long as he doesn't bridge two wires he won't get shocked.

That's also why I use the one-hand rule while working on my tube amp. One hand holding the voltage or oscilliscope probe, the other hand behind my back or in my pocket - NOT resting on the chassis.

That's why I'm glad I got so good using chopsticks so many years ago. A pair of Chinese chopsticks (raw bamboo, not the lacquered Japanese type) lets me not only probe and prod stuff, but lift and move things easily with one hand firmly under my butt. I can pick up anything from a single piece of rice to a whole steak with these things, I can easily place resistors and caps all day long with them. Chicks also dig a guy who can use chopsticks really well.