Need HELP with FX8 hum.

M

Michael Hege

New Member
Hello Forum,
I am new to the Fractal FX8 and LOVE it, but I have a really bad hum problem and was looking for some advice or ideas.

My Set Up:
I have a Fender Elite Tele (Gen 4 noiseless single coils), into a Shure wireless system, into a Dunlop volume pedal, into the FX8 (Mark II), Powered by a Pedal Power 2, running into a Vox AC15.

The Problem:
So I have a fairly simple set up and when I play at my home or at some other peoples houses for Jam's my rig is very quite, just a slight natural hum of single coils and a tube amp, totally acceptable. I also play on my churches praise and worship team and here is where the problem starts. For some reason at the church my set up makes a very loud hum, loud enough to where it is unusable. I set up my chain like normal but instead of going to the amp, I from the FX8 output to a patch bay and then from the patch bay to my amp which is in a back room. The patch bay does not seem to be the problem as we tried several jacks with my set up and the hum persists. Another guitar player ran his rig through the same jacks to troubleshoot and he had no hum issues.

Troubleshooting:
I turn off volume from guitar and the hum is there. Turn off volume with the volume pedal and the hum is still there. Unplug guitar and the hum is still there. Hold the F2 button to bypass the unit and the hum is still there) We tried several known good 1/4" cables, power cables run off of different outlets and same hum. Ran the same set up into another guitarists "back stage" amp and his amp now had the loud hum coming from my rig.

I just got home, set up my rig and its quite again.

Not really sure what to try next any advice would be helpful.

Thanks so much!

Mac
 
Curious, what type of patch bay are we talking here? Are you using something like a radial SGI to connect through the patch bay? I suspect a ground loop. Did you try powering both the amp and FX8 from the same circuit? If this is the problem, I suspect the SGI would fix this.
 
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Sounds like the source of the problem is the church building's power. If the stage doesn't have it's own circuit, any lighting can wreak havoc and create a lot of noise. We finally had a couple of lines run direct to our stage on its own circuit and it eliminated almost all of the hum we used to deal with.
 
Thanks for the replies biskitboy and Sonofiam. Yeah, I am wondering if the stage does not have its own circuit. I will find out how they they have their electrical set up this week. Meanwhile does any one have experience with hum eliminators, say like an "Ebtech Hum eliminator, or their Hum -X, or the Radial SGI box"? If so what were your thoughts or opinions on those units? Do you think they might work in my situation?

Thanks so much!
 
I don't have any direct experience with the Ebtech. However, I have used the Radial SGI's quite often. I would check to see if the church might have these already. If you have a guitar center nearby you can probably find both or get both shipped to the store. Use what works and return the rest. :)

Let us know how it goes! Good luck!
 
I used an Ebtech Hum Eliminator in the past when I had my G System. Although it says it doesn't suck your tone, I found it did.

If possible, get a stereo (TRS) cable and swap cable for cable from the FX8 to the amp - especially on the loop send and return.
 
Why would you route your FX8 to any external patch bay? The only reason I can think of is to run the FX8 direct, which would be a huge mistake. The FX8 doesn't have any amp modeling, so the effects would sound really harsh and nasty going direct.

Churches are notorious for being some of the dirtiest environments with regard to noise. Stage lights are a major problem. I spent some time at the largest mega-church in So Cal (yeah, that one). One of the rehearsal rooms was literally the noisiest room I've ever played in. Major hum. I tried two (!) noise gates with a humbucker guitar and it barely made a dent in the noise. I suspect that the ground had been lifted, or something similar. All the guitarists had issues.

Is anyone else on the team having issues? How old is the building? Unless it's a very recent building, chances are good that the AC wiring or stage lights are to blame. How is your noise gate adjusted? See if you can make the hum go away by setting the threshold lower. You might not be able to play with it like that, but it can be a useful tool for troubleshooting.
 
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Hello Guys, thanks for the input and advice. Just and update. So first, let me give some more information. This church is a new building with dedicated circuit's to stage and backstage for musical gear. This building also has a lot of modern multi media and lighting devices.

That being said, we had some guys with backgrounds in sound reinforcement troubleshoot whats going on with the hum (found out that its not just me, there are some other guitarists having the same issue with various rigs). After running down a list to track down what is causing it we came to the conclusion that it is something with the remote control dimmable LED light cans that are right in front of the stage.

So my next step will be to get a 15' Humbuster cable (Guitar> FX8>Humbuster> Stage Patch bay/Snake> Vox AC15 backstage) to see if this works. If the patch bay/snake reintroduces the hum (negating the Humbuster cable) I will buy or make a 30' Humbuster and just go from my stage rig all the way to the back where my amp is located.

Thanks again for the input.

PS- Really loving this unit. It takes a little time and patience to dial in some tones, but once you do........:) Plus I think it could actually cure me of some serious G.A.S. and an ever revolving boutique pedal board!
 
Michael Hege said:
Hello Guys, thanks for the input and advice. Just and update. So first, let me give some more information. This church is a new building with dedicated circuit's to stage and backstage for musical gear. This building also has a lot of modern multi media and lighting devices.

That being said, we had some guys with backgrounds in sound reinforcement troubleshoot whats going on with the hum (found out that its not just me, there are some other guitarists having the same issue with various rigs). After running down a list to track down what is causing it we came to the conclusion that it is something with the remote control dimmable LED light cans that are right in front of the stage.

So my next step will be to get a 15' Humbuster cable (Guitar> FX8>Humbuster> Stage Patch bay/Snake> Vox AC15 backstage) to see if this works. If the patch bay/snake reintroduces the hum (negating the Humbuster cable) I will buy or make a 30' Humbuster and just go from my stage rig all the way to the back where my amp is located.

Thanks again for the input.

PS- Really loving this unit. It takes a little time and patience to dial in some tones, but once you do........:) Plus I think it could actually cure me of some serious G.A.S. and an ever revolving boutique pedal board!
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Sort of a random thought, possibly OT. Please take this with as many grains of salt as you need to. I only offer this because I learned it the hard way after many many years of fighting the good fight.

To me the only advantage of using a physical amp is having it in close proximity to me. Any solution that involves an amp located remotely, mic'd and fed back to through wedges or IEMs is unacceptable. I was faced with that at a worship situation... room was entirely encased in glass, stage was covered in ceramic tile. Yuk. It took me about 2-3 weeks of isolating and micing a physical amp to decide that I was going to bite the bullet and go full direct. At the time, I used a PODxtLive (this was almost 15 years ago), which is very primitive by today's standards. I hated almost every minute of it, but it was still better than the amp behind plexiglass approach, and the bonus was that the sound guys loved me for doing it. So I had a lot of good will going on with them. I'm pretty sure I got some extra calls because of it too.

I strongly council you to consider that option. Full direct is the very best way to survive those sorts of situations.

However, as soon as I was able, I went back to physical guitar amps. No FRFR BS. Real tube amps. Right beside me or behind me. But sized reasonably for the situation.
 
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Ah, progress!

One other thing to try: when you’re experiencing the hum, unplug the volume pedal from the FX8, leaving you FX8 with nothing plugged into its input. See if the hum is still there. Noise from a nearby dimmer is usually a sign that the noise is getting before the amp.

If you still can’t get it sorted out, it would help if you posted a clip of the noise. “Hum” has a specific meaning, but a lot of people use that word to describe other things.
 
Def sounds like a ground loop issue...You can def get hum buster cables they work...also I have used a monster power conditioner or a furman...you don't need a rack one...a powers tip type eliminates 99% of bad wiring hum.
 
Hello Guys, just an update, I purchased a Humbuster cable and went from the FX8 straight to my amp and..................THE HUM IS GONE! Case closed! Thanks for all the input, if you are experiencing the same issue, try the Humbuster.

Thanks!
 
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Michael Hege said:
Hello Guys, just an update, I purchased a Humbuster cable and went from the FX8 straight to my amp and..................THE HUM IS GONE! Case closed! Thanks for all the input, if you are experiencing the same issue, try the Humbuster.

Thanks!
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