2003 Les Paul Ground Issue

[BuckTennington]

I think you've got a normal pickupbuzz. If the noise is a higher pitched buzz then it's normal for most pickups and if it goes away when you touch the strings/tailpiece then your ok. If it's a low pitched 50/60Hz buzz then thats more an earthing problem although that might change with orientating the guitar relative to the amp. Is your problem happening at high gain? If the buzz goes away when you touch the strings don't worry about it (who plays guitar without touching the strings?) Coated strings sometimes make things worse as in theory they are electrically insulated, although in practice i've not noticed a difference. Maybe you can post a video of your problem?
Cheers
Andrew

Thanks for the response! You wrote a lot of good stuff. I would describe the noise as a higher pitched buzz, and it is happening at high gain. I hear very little on clean channels. I'm curious why you said "If the buzz goes away when you touch the strings don't worry about it," because a lot of internet forms say that that would indicate a grounding problem.

Making a video is a great idea. Can it be posted directly to this thread?