Members ck3 Posted March 9, 2007 Members Share Posted March 9, 2007 I am having problems with hum and sizzle in my rig (see link in sig to "Monkeyraft"). The various forms of background noise become most apparent when I engage high gain dirtboxes. The noises are loudest with the bridge humbuckers on my guitars and decrease slightly when I use the middle or neck pickup selector positions. Does anyone know what I can do to get rid of the noise or have an idea about the cause? I have moved my power supplies/conditioners away from my board and use a flat screen monitor, but still can not find a place in my practice/recording area where the aforemetioned noise is not an issue. :freak: [Edit:] I have tried the ISP Decimator pedal and found that it decreased sustain and/or volume excessively at the settings that were required to quell the noise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ck3 Posted March 10, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 10, 2007 Here's a written description of my signal chain: Schecter S-1 or C-1 Elite Guitar>Wobo Double Looper>Behringer EQ700 Graphic Equalizer>Yamaha UB99 Magicstomp MKI>Two Behringer GDI21 Guitar Amp Modelers run parallel>Behringer Dr100 Digital Reverb>Behringer UB802 Mixer>AKG K220-M Headphones and Behringer UCA202 USB Audio Interface Wobo Loop A: Foxrox Octron>Pearl OC-07 Octaver>Boss FT-2 Dynamic Filter>Lead to Gold FX Uglyface>Effector13 2ADD>Co-Pilot FX Fuzz/Boost>Arion SCH-Z Stereo Chorus Wobo Loop B: Zoom PD-01 Power Drive>Spencer Amps Subzombie>Behringer VD1 Vintage Distortion>Behringer VD1 Vintage Phaser The spare stombox that is sitting between the fuzz/boost and lower of the two GDI21's is a TB loop that will be put to use soon. Most of the pedals are powered by a Godlyke Power-All or Dunlop DC Brick. The GDI21's and Magisctomp have individual adapters. All power sources are connected to a pair of Furman merit series power conditioners, which are currently a few feet away from my board. If anyone knows a solution to my noise problems that would be more effective than the aforementioned noise gate, I'd appreciate hearing about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members angelhair0 Posted March 10, 2007 Members Share Posted March 10, 2007 You know what I'm gonna say man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members angelhair0 Posted March 10, 2007 Members Share Posted March 10, 2007 I have tried the ISP Decimator pedal and found that it decreased sustain and/or volume excessively at the settings that were required to quell the noise. BTW, the reason the noise gets louder with dirt boxes is because it's "dirtying" the noise that is being produced before your dirt boxes in your signal chain. Dirt pedals create tons more frequencies and people tend to have their dirt boxes at a higher level than their clean signal for a little boost, so any noise before your dirt will be greatly... excentuated or some word like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BaldGuy Posted March 10, 2007 Members Share Posted March 10, 2007 Start unplugging things one at a time until it stops. That's about the only thing you can do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ck3 Posted March 10, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 10, 2007 You know what I'm gonna say man. One of my Behringer pedals may be a source of DC leakage and/or the "sizzle" component of the noise, but I doubt that they are producing hum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ck3 Posted March 10, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 10, 2007 Start unplugging things one at a time until it stops. That's about the only thing you can do. I'll probably give this a shot later today ... though I'm still apt to think that the source of the noise is something environmental, e.g., poorly shielded wiring in the walls, too many sources of interference in my practice space, or some other crap that is bleeding into my various Radio Shack, Fender, Hosa, and assorted brand X cables. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members autopilot Posted March 10, 2007 Members Share Posted March 10, 2007 also check your patch cables Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members letterswewrote Posted March 10, 2007 Members Share Posted March 10, 2007 I'll probably give this a shot later today ... though I'm still apt to think that the source of the noise is something environmental, e.g., poorly shielded wiring in the walls, too many sources of interference in my practice space, or some other crap that is bleeding into my various Radio Shack, Fender, Hosa, and assorted brand X cables. i never had problems using cheap patch cables until i got up to 6,7,8 pedals- then i noticed it started to make a difference... so look into that. also, as was mentioned before, before buying anything just test the chain systematically by taking one thing out at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mistersuperfly Posted March 10, 2007 Members Share Posted March 10, 2007 hosa/brand x cables... along with eq pedals and other behringer stuff is probably a good source of noise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ck3 Posted March 10, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 10, 2007 hosa/brand x cables... along with eq pedals and other behringer stuff is probably a good source of noise. After spending most of the afternoon systematically testing everything, I discovered that the shorter Hosa 1/4" cables were, in fact, the culprit. The Rat Shack ones were actually pretty quiet with most of my pedals. If I want to successfully reduce noise in my setup, it is looking as though I will have to invest in at least 15 mid-to-high-grade patch cables. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mistersuperfly Posted March 11, 2007 Members Share Posted March 11, 2007 www.lavacable.com Canare comes out to be the same price or cheaper than the planet waves cable kit, and George L's... Best patch cables evar... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ck3 Posted March 11, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 11, 2007 www.lavacable.com Canare comes out to be the same price or cheaper than the planet waves cable kit, and George L's... Best patch cables evar... Thanks for the link. I did a little research yesterday evening and was actually thinking about trying the George L's or Planet Waves solderless kits ... and there is also a Core kit that is about $10 less and includes twice as much cable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NaturalBornBoy Posted March 11, 2007 Members Share Posted March 11, 2007 Them Planet Waves solderless cables are great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ck3 Posted March 11, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 11, 2007 I removed two more of the Hosa 1/4" patch cables from my board this morning and subbed out some rat shack specials. The noise level with higher gain pedals has been remarkably reduced and only bleeds through as a slight hiss in most instances. I can even cascade boosts and dirtboxes with very little background noise. For now, I'll probably raid the cable rack at a local Radio Shack, though I definitely intend to progressively replace my cheaper cables with George L's, Planet Waves, and/or Core schwag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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