Hum/Crackle Problem

A

andyjanson

Member
I've had a persistent problem with a crackly/buzzy sound from the axe fx for some months now, across multiple firmware's, including 15.02. The noise is very loud and obvious and is driving me nuts as it renders the axe almost unusable. It seems a lot quieter with my les Paul, but with my PRS SE 7 string or my new Jackson USA Adrian Smith it's really off putting. The noise ceases completely when I touch the metal end of the jack lead, and is partially helped by touching the metal volume knob on the guitar, so I had wondered whether it might be a grounding fault in either guitar, but the PRS was fine when I tried it through my old amp set up, and I find it unlikely that a high end USA guitar would have a grounding issue, although I can't try it with my old amp as a friend is borrowing my cab at the minute. I'm running direct to a pair of Yamaha HS8's using balanced XLR's, with the axe and speakers plugged into the same power strip. The axe is next to a computer, but I've ruled this out as I unplugged everything and moved it to another room with no change. The global noisegate offset is at 0db.

Anyone have any ideas left? I'm stumped. I'll try and make a video tomorrow to demonstrate the problem.
Thanks in advance for any help guys.
 
contact support@fractalaudio.com and link to this thread.

i've read where something came loose or had a cold solder and needed fixing. hopefully it's not that, but support will point you in the right direction.

it seems like you've taken all the troubleshooting steps you can.
 
If you can fix the problem by touching parts of the guitar, then it's almost certainly a bad ground on your guitar, probably the wire that grounds the bridge.


Try a different guitar and see if you have the same issues.
 
By your description this is likely your guitar(s) aren't properly grounded. Solution involves soldering ground wire from output jack to pots and switches.
I had a lot of crackling with one of my guitars, I guess its time to upgrade the output jack to Switchcraft, also I changed my guitar cord to Planet Waves.

Not sure if your room has good grounding in the electrical? Light dimmer's wreak havoc on high gain guitars (60 Hz Hum)
Florescent lighting also sucks.

Most computers now have an LCD screen, the old CRT monitors contributed to hum.
 
Rexx said:
Most computers now have an LCD screen, the old CRT monitors contributed to hum.
Click to expand...

A lot of LCD screens use florescent backlights and can contribute to electrical noise. LED backlit LCD screens are better choices for use near electronic instruments.
 
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