Freaking Hum

[jp46putty]

I decided to re-wire my pedal board today in hope of better sound quality and reduced hum/hiss. Although it does sound slightly better now, the noise is still there and im not quite sure of the source of it. There is a fair bit of hiss as well as some humming/buzzing noise and this strange whirring sound in the background. None of it is really overwhelming but its annoying nevertheless. I know the sound isnt from my guitar or amp (even though the amp is well overdue for some new tubes) and i fiddled around with just the Fuzz Face, Holy Grail, and Dyna Comp together for a few minutes which sounded crystal clear. i like to have my Dyna Comp's sensitivity pretty high but with the way its set up that knob essentially controls the noise. I know its hard to eradicate all noise with a long signal chain like this but its become my mission to fix it. Unfortunately i dont get to see my gear a lot at the moment as its all set up at my brothers house so i was hoping to get some thoughts from you guys.

 

My pedal board is as follows:

-Para EQ

-Nano Holy Grail

-Fuzz Face

-Blues Driver

-Vibrothang

-Bit Crusher

-Cluster Flux

-Graphic EQ

-Small Stone

-MXR Tremolo

-EB VP

-Deluxe MM (direct out to Boss TU-2)

-Dyna Comp

 

I use two one spots to power everything except for the Cluster, the 18V Trem which has a very temperamental plug and the Memory Man which uses an Aus adapter. The latter two cant be doing me any favours. I know very little about the electro-mumbo-jumbo of cables being too close to one another and all that jazz which may be something i have to start thinking about.

 

One last thing is i noticed is that when i move my hand near the Dyna Comp and only the Dyna Comp's power connection it hums, reminiscent of touching the tip of your guitar lead.

 

Well that certainly got a bit long but hopefully someone is bored enough to read this.

[hangwire]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foB6XJyQizo&feature=related

[evets618]

One-At-A-Time.
Disconnect everything.
Add pedals, One-At-A-Time.
Noise?
Rinse and Repeat.
The Cluster, Trem and Mem Man are prime suspects, but using two One Spots also raises red flags.
BUT, if you don't do it methodically, One-At-A-Time, you will never know for sure.
Did I mention doing it One-At-A-Time?

[hangwire]

 

One-At-A-Time. Disconnect everything. Add pedals, One-At-A-Time. Noise? Rinse and Repeat. The Cluster, Trem and Mem Man are prime suspects, but using two One Spots also raises red flags. BUT, if you don't do it methodically, One-At-A-Time, you will never know for sure. Did I mention doing it One-At-A-Time?

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWHniL8MyMM

[Player99]

Digital time based effect need their own power.

[jp46putty]

I'd like to go through and test it all one-at-a-time but as i said i dont really have the time to go through them one-at-a-time. I was just kinda hoping there was some clear breach of pedal powering law in my method of setting it all up that i wasnt aware of, or something. Perhaps the Vibrothang doesnt like being connected to the one spot.

[MojoZilla]

Which was your most recent addition? I'd start there. Then proceed one-at-a-time. OR, unplug them all, and add pedals one-at-a-time until it starts to hum.

 

There's no single magic solution, the way you don't want to bother with is the right way.

[mhuxtable]

You need isolated power. You may need 2 PP2+ or whatever they're called.

[conky]

Thought this thread was about the band. Hangwire delivered. Also, what mhuxtable said.

[GREC]

You really should take the time to test every pedal AND patchcord & inst. cable one at a time. It is essential if you want a better sound.
Keeping power adapter cables as far AWAY from patchcords will lower the hum too.
Get one of those cheap $4 electrical outlet testers from Home Depot. It will tell you if you have grounding issues or reverse polarity in your outlets. I always carry one to test at clubs.

[Phil O'Keefe]

 

Digital time based effect need their own power.

 

 

Can you please elaborate on that?

[sparkfriction]

^yes please. i read that all the time but i know i used digtal delays with the same powerbrick...

[decode6]

 

Can you please elaborate on that?

 

 

You wouldn't understand....electrons and stuff.......

[Player99]

 

Can you please elaborate on that?

 

 

They don't like to share or daisy chain power. They need isolated supply.

 

Maka the noise eh!

[Prehistoricpain]

 

Just came in here to post this.

 

for OP, if you daisy chain time based effects, clock noise will pile up, then be compounded by the compressor and dirt.

[jp46putty]

 

for OP, if you daisy chain time based effects, clock noise will pile up, then be compounded by the compressor and dirt.

 

Im not really following what that has to do with the daisy chain?

[Prehistoricpain]

 

Im not really following what that has to do with the daisy chain?

 

 

Unplug the time based effects from your daisy chain. just the power. Now tell me if there is less noise.

[bieke]

hmmm, I also have a pedalboard that runs on 2 Onespots and it hums a little

I would say that with your chain, the Onespots are definitely contributing some hum, and most probably, the trem, Flux and Memory Man (if it's a vintage, these are noisy by definition) add more noise, and patch cables can contribute to hum as well...

 

You could :

add a noise reducing pedal, ISP Noise Decimator for instance

add a loop pedal and put the Trem, Flux and Memory man in the loop

invest in quality patch cables, it does make a huge difference

invest in a Voodoolab Pedalpower, there are cables that will allow you to hook up the trem and Flux

I think you could still use a Onespot to power your fuzz, dirt, EQ and possibly your Vibrothang to it without really having too much hum

 

what Bit Crusher are you using ?

[t_e_l_e]

 

Can you please elaborate on that?

 

 

cannot speak for all digital time based efx, but the line6 echo park for instance is noisy as hell when running on a daisy chain, some others might aswell.

but one at a time to find the source or isolated power supplies as the pp2+ or a fueltank junior etc help instantly

 

altough not all hum and hiss can be reduced, e.g. think single coil hum

[hotmess]

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZJu2rwk_4M

[vinnies]

 

I'd like to go through and test it all one-at-a-time but as i said i dont really have the time to go through them one-at-a-time. I was just kinda hoping there was some clear breach of pedal powering law in my method of setting it all up that i wasnt aware of, or something. Perhaps the Vibrothang doesnt like being connected to the one spot.

 

 

one of these these statements is needed and the other is the wrong answer to the needed statement.

[jp46putty]

what Bit Crusher are you using ?

 

Its a Red Panda ive been borrowing from a mate. I took it out of the chain last night and the whirring sound is completely gone, so thats that mystery solved.

When i rearranged my board i did so with all new patch cables and a nice 18ft Mogami cable to the amp so the cable situation should be all good. The only other thing i did besides swapping the order of a couple pedals is add that second One Spot which is where it sounds like ive gone wrong. The hiss is definitely a lot worse post-rewiring as well, i decided last night. i think i was just trying to remain optimistic the other day after spending so much money on cables to make it sound better.

 

I isolated a few of them last night. The Cluster was fine when bypassed. Vibrothang and Blues driver made a bit of noise

[The Villano Dude]

 

 

Great album Andrew.

[Krank'N]

Might try an Ebtech hum eliminator. They are great at stopping ground loop hum (which 2 power supplies can create).

[Mike Riley]

Is your pedal board in a room with floresecent lighting? My pedals are quiet until I play at a place with this type of lighting as the ballasts put off so much that my rat will whine.