Members AtomHeartMother Posted January 12, 2007 Members Share Posted January 12, 2007 So the Visual Sound 1 Spot is out, which also means that all switching power supplies are probably out, unless the 1 Spot is vastly different. I'm getting some strange hum that goes away when I touch something metal on the guitar or pedal that it's connected to. I've tried both my guitar and lapsteel into several different pedals (one at a time or all at once) into two different amps in three different locations with the 1 Spot plugged into several different outlets at each location. No matter what I try, it's hum city. I even get hum with my Microcube running on batteries (not plugged into the wall). Also, I get the hum even when the cable is not plugged into the guitar; but when I touch the part of the plug you use to pull it out of jacks, the hum goes away. So it must be some grounding issue with the 1 Spot. So anyway, the 1 Spot is out of the picture. The guys at Visual Sound have no idea what the problem could be and have even sent me a replacement that still has the same hum problem. In addition, I assume this is the case with ALL switching power supplies. So...what are my other solutions? I need to power like 4 or 5 pedals (one digital, the rest analog). I'm hoping to be able to do it for under $100, cheaper the better. Is this hopeless? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Matt08642 Posted January 12, 2007 Members Share Posted January 12, 2007 I think the hum may be coming from your guitar not being grounded properly... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AtomHeartMother Posted January 12, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 12, 2007 I think the hum may be coming from your guitar not being grounded properly... Guitar and lapsteel both not grounded properly? How about how there is hum without the cable (from guitar to first pedal) not being plugged in, which goes away when I touch the shield part of the plug (the part you pull on when pulling a cable out of a jack)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members epiguy Posted January 12, 2007 Members Share Posted January 12, 2007 think about switching cables seeing if the ground in the cable is messed up? a bad cable happens to the best of us! if you have monster, planet waves, or mogami you can go to your local gc/ dealer and swap them out. or just try one brand new guitar cable. if the hum is gone then there is your problem! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AtomHeartMother Posted January 12, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 12, 2007 think about switching cables seeing if the ground in the cable is messed up?a bad cable happens to the best of us!if you have monster, planet waves, or mogami you can go to your local gc/ dealer and swap them out.or just try one brand new guitar cable. if the hum is gone then there is your problem! I've tried several different cables, including different brands (Planet Waves and Bill Lawrence, both solderless). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members epiguy Posted January 12, 2007 Members Share Posted January 12, 2007 have you tried cutting a little bit of the cable off and reconnecting it? maybe the ground came undone inside? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AtomHeartMother Posted January 12, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 12, 2007 have you tried cutting a little bit of the cable off and reconnecting it? maybe the ground came undone inside? On all of the cables? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members epiguy Posted January 12, 2007 Members Share Posted January 12, 2007 just try it with one. do it to both ends and plus directly into the amp. if there isnt any hum then there yea go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members epiguy Posted January 12, 2007 Members Share Posted January 12, 2007 ive had this problem with the planet waves pedal kit. after a couple months it started to hum like a bee. i cut a clight bit of cable off and re did the jacks and problem was gone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AtomHeartMother Posted January 12, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 12, 2007 just try it with one. do it to both ends and plus directly into the amp. if there isnt any hum then there yea go. I don't get hum without the 1 Spot. Without the 1 Spot plugged in regardless of what cables, amp, guitar, pedals, etc. that I'm using, I get no hum/buzz. This is why I find it extremely unlikely that it's a problem with a cable(s). Not only that, but I find it very unlikely that all 9 of my cables (8 solderless, one soldered) have grounding problems. I thik I've taken just about everything into account other than their just being something inherently wrong with the 1 Spot and/or switching power supply design. I just don't see how others have success with them. Maybe they're more tolerant of buzz or don't hear it at stage volumes or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gorebuc Posted January 12, 2007 Members Share Posted January 12, 2007 yeah, i think my one spot does that too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members erksin Posted January 12, 2007 Members Share Posted January 12, 2007 Sounds like you need a PP2+ with the isolated outs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FLYING V 83 Posted January 12, 2007 Members Share Posted January 12, 2007 On the cheap, get a Godlyke Power All. Around $40 & quieter than the 1-Spot. I keep one in my case as a backup. A little more gets you a DC Brick. Top of the ladder is the PP2+. I use both a PP2+ and a Brick and have no hum problems at all running 16 pedals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AtomHeartMother Posted January 12, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 12, 2007 On the cheap, get a Godlyke Power All. Around $40 & quieter than the 1-Spot. I keep one in my case as a backup.A little more gets you a DC Brick. Top of the ladder is the PP2+.I use both a PP2+ and a Brick and have no hum problems at all running 16 pedals. I've considered the Godlyke, but I'm assuming that I'll probably have the same problems as it's also a switching power supply. I could be wrong? Am I? I've also looked at the DC Brick, but it supposedly only supplies up to 375 mA total to 9 volt pedals, and my Digidelay will take up half that on its own. The PP2+ is just ridiculously expensive. I'd rather just use batteries with my analogs and use the standard adapter for the Digidelay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AtomHeartMother Posted January 14, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 14, 2007 Icky Sticky Bump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scott_335 Posted January 14, 2007 Members Share Posted January 14, 2007 Looks like @omheartmother is just going to have to man up and get a PP2+ or buy some b@eries Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sjaltenb Posted January 14, 2007 Members Share Posted January 14, 2007 has anyone tried using like a furman power conditioner and a one spot?? They are pretty cheap now a days on Ebay and was wondering if this would clean up the hum. i think most of my hum comes from my amp tho... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AtomHeartMother Posted January 14, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 14, 2007 Looks like @omheartmother is just going to have to man up and get a PP2+ or buy some b@eries Well, even the PP2+ as some faults as it only has a few power outputs (4 plus the sag ones). What pedals does it work with? It only mentions Boss pedals. Does it have adapters for EHX pedals? I'm OK with batteries as none of the pedals are huge drainers. But I have having to disconnect half the cables on my pedal board after every show. How much does a pedal drain a battery by having a cable connected, but the pedal off? I'm talking about an analog chorus (Ibanez CS-9) and analog trem (Boss TR-2). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AtomHeartMother Posted January 14, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 14, 2007 has anyone tried using like a furman power conditioner and a one spot?? They are pretty cheap now a days on Ebay and was wondering if this would clean up the hum. i think most of my hum comes from my amp tho... Isn't that thing a rack unit though? That's kind of a pain in the ass if you don't have a rack setup. Do they have any like surge protector type things? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ray20 Posted January 14, 2007 Members Share Posted January 14, 2007 doesn't the one spot put a lot of noise into your mains line? I guess if your amp had a bad filter section or something you could hear all the noise the one spot made Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sjaltenb Posted January 14, 2007 Members Share Posted January 14, 2007 Isn't that thing a rack unit though? That's kind of a pain in the ass if you don't have a rack setup. Do they have any like surge protector type things? i was thinkin i could build one into the bottom of a pedalboard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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