Multiple Buzzing Sounds

BaronVonGrim

Power User
I have a humming or buzzing sound.
Tried two guitars, 2 cables, and switching back and for from headphone to monitor.

The guitars.. one is much worse than the other. Cheap one is quieter..Seymore Duncan hummbucker. The other guitar is a good one... relatively hot custom EVH alinco 2 & 3.

Cables.. main one is a monster cable, one a fractal audio cable short one for the EV-1.
There's a very low hum when the cable is plugged into the 3 and the other end into nothing, if I grip it in my hand.. it becomes quiet.. basically dead silent..just a ever so faint hint of white noise from the headphones. So cable is good, and I understand the headphone white noise.

When I plug the cable into the guitar, I get two different types of buzzing.

HUM 1 . Guitar 2 custom EVH alnico 2&3 Humbuckers pickups and a nice guitar.Like a 60 mhz buzz.. when I palm mute it, it goes away. When I touch the cable head at the guitar while not touching the guitar as.. or any piece on metal anywhere on the guitar it goes away, strings included. Hum 2 still exist ( see note)

HUM 1 Guitar 2 Seymour Duncan humbuckers and a old cheap guitar. I don't have the 60 mhz buzz and touching cables and metal on the guitar are not necessary. Hum 2 still exists.

Hum 1 must be my guitar... maybe something is not grounded? Or is it a hot pickup doing it. Sort of baffled I can just touch the cable head near the guitar and it goes away. Probable a ground issue.


Hum2 Increases when I increase the out 1 non front dial. When I play guitar, it doesn't go away. A light pick on the string and I hear it.. I need to hit the string st probable 40% of my typical force to get above the hum.
It changes in severity with each present. Some presets, it's very faint.

I am plugged into a power conditioner. Move my cell phone 50 ft away. Separated my guitar from the axe by 10ft. Moved away from the axe with headphones on 8 ft..doesn't change
 
Disconnect the III from the power conditioner and connect the III directly to the wall (grounded outlet).
Disconnect a computer.
Make sure to use a mono ("TS") guitar cable. A cable for the EV-1 is probably a "TRS" cable and must NOT be used.

There is no 60 mHz hum. You probably mean 60 Hz.
 
If you have checked all your cable connections, and the noise is still present, look at AC line frequency under global settings. It is defaulted to 50hz. Since the U.S. standard frequency is 60hz, switch it to 60hz. I had the buzzing hum. Drove me crazy. As soon as I switched to 60hz, noise was gone.
If that does not solve the problem, start from ground zero. Disconnect everything from the axe and test first with headphones.Then one at a time, test AXE to amp, then to amp and cab. Then check inputs. Plug guitar direct and keep going until you find the culprit. I go from guitar to midi with 13 pin cable, then from midi to AXE input I originally had noise issues with ground loops, cables, power supplies to close to signal cables, etc. I discovered the causes and fixed them. Only had a buzz left and switching A/C line frequency to 60hz solved it.
 
I have a humming or buzzing sound.
Tried two guitars, 2 cables, and switching back and for from headphone to monitor.

The guitars.. one is much worse than the other. Cheap one is quieter..Seymore Duncan hummbucker. The other guitar is a good one... relatively hot custom EVH alinco 2 & 3.

Cables.. main one is a monster cable, one a fractal audio cable short one for the EV-1.
There's a very low hum when the cable is plugged into the 3 and the other end into nothing, if I grip it in my hand.. it becomes quiet.. basically dead silent..just a ever so faint hint of white noise from the headphones. So cable is good, and I understand the headphone white noise.

When I plug the cable into the guitar, I get two different types of buzzing.

HUM 1 . Guitar 2 custom EVH alnico 2&3 Humbuckers pickups and a nice guitar.Like a 60 mhz buzz.. when I palm mute it, it goes away. When I touch the cable head at the guitar while not touching the guitar as.. or any piece on metal anywhere on the guitar it goes away, strings included. Hum 2 still exist ( see note)

HUM 1 Guitar 2 Seymour Duncan humbuckers and a old cheap guitar. I don't have the 60 mhz buzz and touching cables and metal on the guitar are not necessary. Hum 2 still exists.

Hum 1 must be my guitar... maybe something is not grounded? Or is it a hot pickup doing it. Sort of baffled I can just touch the cable head near the guitar and it goes away. Probable a ground issue.


Hum2 Increases when I increase the out 1 non front dial. When I play guitar, it doesn't go away. A light pick on the string and I hear it.. I need to hit the string st probable 40% of my typical force to get above the hum.
It changes in severity with each present. Some presets, it's very faint.

I am plugged into a power conditioner. Move my cell phone 50 ft away. Separated my guitar from the axe by 10ft. Moved away from the axe with headphones on 8 ft..doesn't change
Hum1 is your guitar not being grounded properly somewhere.

Hum2 is probably "noise in the air" that the guitar is picking up. Everything in your room/house that's electrical has a possibility of emitting electrical noise in the air that your guitar pickup can pick up. It's got nothing to do with the Axe-Fx. And you just have to start unplugging stuff in your room/house to see what's causing the noise.
 
Disconnect the III from the power conditioner and connect the III directly to the wall (grounded outlet).
Disconnect a computer.
Make sure to use a mono ("TS") guitar cable. A cable for the EV-1 is probably a "TRS" cable and must NOT be used.

There is no 60 mHz hum. You probably mean 60 Hz.

I am using a instrument cable by Monster Cable. It's a Performer 500.
I didn't know.. looked up TS vs TRS. I'm using a TS cable.

Yes, I see now that the EV-1 cable is a TRS.
 
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Why does no one understand how guitar grounds work? I see this all the time on here.
The guitar gets grounded THROUGH YOUR BODY. If you aren’t touching the strings, its not grounded and it’s gonna buzz. If the buzzing stops when you touch the strings, jack, or other grounded hardware, then everything is functional.
 
Why does no one understand how guitar grounds work? I see this all the time on here.
The guitar gets grounded THROUGH YOUR BODY. If you aren’t touching the strings, its not grounded and it’s gonna buzz. If the buzzing stops when you touch the strings, jack, or other grounded hardware, then everything is functional.
I wish I could like this 1x10^eleventybillion.

It baffles me that people don't get this. It's the whole reason there's a ground wire to the bridge.
 
Genuine question about a pickup grounding caveat: What about active EMGs?

Don't the instructions for EMGs specifically mention that you should disconnect the bridge ground wire so you are not the source of the grounding?
 
A bit of hum when not touching strings is normal. Even for humbuckers.
Humbukers will also only cancel 60 cycle hum. They won't cancel other type. Such as.. 240 rectified current, I think it was. Maybe it was 120? I forget.

Not all humbuckers will cancel hum 100%. The effectiveness of hum cancelling comes down to a few different variable. How perfectly matched are the coils, and how perfectly wound are they, as well?
Perfectly wound coils, with neat, perfect layers will cancel hum more effectively due to coil efficiency.
Unfortunately, they tend to sound like crap.
If I set my winding pitched, for example to .0685mm between turns, it'll create a perfectly layered, perfectly hum canceling humbucker. But it'll sound like crap. And very bright. It isn't till you start to get around .2mm between turns that things start sounding great. But then they get a little noisier, and moreso when you increase that distance between turns.
 
I wish I could like this 1x10^eleventybillion.

It baffles me that people don't get this. It's the whole reason there's a ground wire to the bridge.
I know, it literally hurts my head and gives me heart palpitations every time when people start on about that. 25 years as a tech/luthier and I still see it daily. The bane of my existence.
 
Why does no one understand how guitar grounds work? I see this all the time on here.
The guitar gets grounded THROUGH YOUR BODY. If you aren’t touching the strings, its not grounded and it’s gonna buzz. If the buzzing stops when you touch the strings, jack, or other grounded hardware, then everything is functional.
I wish I could like this 1x10^eleventybillion.

It baffles me that people don't get this. It's the whole reason there's a ground wire to the bridge.
Doh, I got it wrong. If the buzzing stops when you touch the strings, that means the guitar is wired correctly. Makes sense, got it.

But the notion that the "guitar gets grounded THROUGH YOUR BODY," or that "if you aren’t touching the strings, its not grounded," I can't warp my mind around. Unless you have ESD shoes on in a lab, or are barefoot on a grounded conductive surface, I doubt your body is acting as a ground for the guitar. And the strings are already grounded whether you're touching the strings or not, since the bridge ground wire would be connected to the output jack ground.

Did a little searching, and what makes more sense to me is that the guitar is grounding your body. Apparently the body can act as a radiator/reflector of noise, and when you touch the strings of a correctly wired guitar with the bridge grounded, you ground the body which turns it from radiator/reflector to more of a shield.

One way to test this would be to get some noise going that goes away when you touch the bridge/strings. Then without touching any metal on the guitar, touch some other grounded metal - rack gear, amp chassis, whatever. Noise should go away just as if you touched the strings.

But maybe this notion is wrong too, feel free to correct me.
 
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Why does no one understand how guitar grounds work? I see this all the time on here.
The guitar gets grounded THROUGH YOUR BODY. If you aren’t touching the strings, its not grounded and it’s gonna buzz. If the buzzing stops when you touch the strings, jack, or other grounded hardware, then everything is functional.

 
I think maybe people aren’t used to higher gain amps as well, they are noisy. More gain equals more potential for noise, unless your using a gate, which again many people might not be familiar with.

My rig was a high gain modded blackface Bassman, essentially the Mike Ness/Social D sound, and I played a p90 loaded LP. That rig was loud, noisy, tons of hum etc

I’m amazed at how little buzz and noise the axe gives in comparison, but it’s all about what your used to.

Plug a strat into a 100 watt real plexi and darn right your going to have some buzz! But, how many people really play a cranked plexi ?

Not many, so maybe folks are used to their rigs at lower volume, but, with the axe you can dime everything, great tone but resulting noise as well
 
If you have checked all your cable connections, and the noise is still present, look at AC line frequency under global settings. It is defaulted to 50hz. Since the U.S. standard frequency is 60hz, switch it to 60hz. I had the buzzing hum. Drove me crazy. As soon as I switched to 60hz, noise was gone.
If that does not solve the problem, start from ground zero. Disconnect everything from the axe and test first with headphones.Then one at a time, test AXE to amp, then to amp and cab. Then check inputs. Plug guitar direct and keep going until you find the culprit. I go from guitar to midi with 13 pin cable, then from midi to AXE input I originally had noise issues with ground loops, cables, power supplies to close to signal cables, etc. I discovered the causes and fixed them. Only had a buzz left and switching A/C line frequency to 60hz solved it.
Changed it from 50 to 60.. no change
 
Disconnect the III from the power conditioner and connect the III directly to the wall (grounded outlet).
Disconnect a computer.
Make sure to use a mono ("TS") guitar cable. A cable for the EV-1 is probably a "TRS" cable and must NOT be used.

There is no 60 mHz hum. You probably mean 60 Hz.
Disconnected from the power conditioner... my voltage indicator on the power conditioner varies between 119- 122.. averages 199-120.

Took it to an area of the house and unplugged anything plugged into the room. My house is wired up funky.. multiple outlets on the same run, with multiple rooms. I unplugged the refrigerator and the computer which are in different areas of the house.
I don't have any computer or other electronics in my jam room.
 
I
I think maybe people aren’t used to higher gain amps as well, they are noisy. More gain equals more potential for noise, unless your using a gate, which again many people might not be familiar with.

My rig was a high gain modded blackface Bassman, essentially the Mike Ness/Social D sound, and I played a p90 loaded LP. That rig was loud, noisy, tons of hum etc

I’m amazed at how little buzz and noise the axe gives in comparison, but it’s all about what your used to.

Plug a strat into a 100 watt real plexi and darn right your going to have some buzz! But, how many people really play a cranked plexi ?

Not many, so maybe folks are used to their rigs at lower volume, but, with the axe you can dime everything, great tone but resulting noise as well
Think higher gain amps are maybe it.. or just amp noise... but I will elaborate on that in another response.

Each preset has an individual hum.. different tone, and severity in volume.
Examples
1-4.. about same volume
5 louder than 1-4
6-7..same as 1-4
8..loud
9-10 louder than 1-4..less than 8
Maybe gain levels..
Some are horendous.. it all gets drowned out when you play at my normal force..but light playing..soft and qiuetly.. I can hear it
 
I am
I think maybe people aren’t used to higher gain amps as well, they are noisy. More gain equals more potential for noise, unless your using a gate, which again many people might not be familiar with.

My rig was a high gain modded blackface Bassman, essentially the Mike Ness/Social D sound, and I played a p90 loaded LP. That rig was loud, noisy, tons of hum etc

I’m amazed at how little buzz and noise the axe gives in comparison, but it’s all about what your used to.

Plug a strat into a 100 watt real plexi and darn right your going to have some buzz! But, how many people really play a cranked plexi ?

Not many, so maybe folks are used to their rigs at lower volume, but, with the axe you can dime everything, great tone but resulting noise as well
Cranking the the out 1 volume to max..and listening thru earphones..same sound in monitores
 
To elaborate on the buzzing... it not always a steady monotone buzzing.. and sometimes it is. I am muting the strings and canceling out the guitar buzz.. I can tell the difference between buzz 1 and buzz 2.
The buzzing... sounds like processing sequences. A buzz, a tick tick tick, buzz fluctuates in tone and volume. No cell phone near it. Sometimes it's not exactly prominent and other times I can hear it thinking..? All when I'm on the same preset.

This might be manageable using a gate? I will have to teach myself about that.. or limiters?
 
Doh, I got it wrong. If the buzzing stops when you touch the strings, that means the guitar is wired correctly. Makes sense, got it.

But the notion that the "guitar gets grounded THROUGH YOUR BODY," or that "if you aren’t touching the strings, its not grounded," I can't warp my mind around. Unless you have ESD shoes on in a lab, or are barefoot on a grounded conductive surface, I doubt your body is acting as a ground for the guitar. And the strings are already grounded whether you're touching the strings or not, since the bridge ground wire would be connected to the output jack ground.

Did a little searching, and what makes more sense to me is that the guitar is grounding your body. Apparently the body can act as a radiator/reflector of noise, and when you touch the strings of a correctly wired guitar with the bridge grounded, you ground the body which turns it from radiator/reflector to more of a shield.

One way to test this would be to get some noise going that goes away when you touch the bridge/strings. Then without touching any metal on the guitar, touch some other grounded metal - rack gear, amp chassis, whatever. Noise should go away just as if you touched the strings.

But maybe this notion is wrong too, feel free to correct me.
Yes.. touching grounded metal.. dampens buzz 1.
And touching ungrounded metal with electronics increases buzz 1. Touching ungrounded metal with no electronics..increase buds but less than ones with electronics.. touching no ferrous metals does nothing.
 
Yes.. touching grounded metal.. dampens buzz 1.
And touching ungrounded metal with electronics increases buzz 1. Touching ungrounded metal with no electronics..increase buds but less than ones with electronics.. touching no ferrous metals does nothing.
Yup, that would dispel the notion that "the guitar gets grounded through your body" when you touch the strings. Your body is like a noisy antennae to the guitar, and by touching ground whether it be the guitar strings or some other ground, you're grounding your body and getting rid of your bodily antennae noise to the guitar.

Anyway, to correct myself from my earlier response to you, Hum1 seems a perfectly normal behavior for a guitar that's wired correctly.

If Hum1 is quite bad, you can look into shielding the guitar better, might help. It might help with Hum2 as well.

I

Think higher gain amps are maybe it.. or just amp noise... but I will elaborate on that in another response.

Each preset has an individual hum.. different tone, and severity in volume.
Examples
1-4.. about same volume
5 louder than 1-4
6-7..same as 1-4
8..loud
9-10 louder than 1-4..less than 8
Maybe gain levels..
Some are horendous.. it all gets drowned out when you play at my normal force..but light playing..soft and qiuetly.. I can hear it
Yup, that's normal behavior of anything with gain level differences. You're putting in noise with your guitar, and just as your guitar changes sound with different presets, the noise you put in will change sound as well.

Oh and power conditioner probably isn't the issue, doesn't sound like it.
 
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