[SOLVED] Bad buzzing on most amps

SteveW

SteveW

Experienced
My AXE FX II XL+ has an issue - but I'm pretty sure it's not the unit.

I have had it and an AX8 for a few years, and when back home in Montreal, QC...they both work fine, both perfect in fact.

When in my home in FL, both have same issue, the more gain, the more noise; a buzzing noise like a bad instrument cable, but it's not the cable and it's not bad ground, as I've changed it a few times all to no avail. Taking hand off strings / bridge removes most of the noise.

Both here and in Montreal, I'm running a Furman PL-PLUS DMC...but the problem exists only here. It sounds like very dirty power, which the Furman isn't cleaning up...and I just got it a few days ago.

With or without the Furman, the noise is the same.

I've tried everything I can think of, including checking the outlet polarity / grounding etc...changing to another outlet, all to no avail and the noise is so prevalent, it distorts the sound to make it sound like a noisegate that's not quite dialed in right. The higher the gain, the worse the noise.

If I were to take my Axe back to Montreal, it would go dead silent with no unwanted distortion.

I'm using a pair of Yamaha HS8's, and when I unplug them, and just use headphones, I still have the same noise.

I'm at my wits end trying to nail this down.
 
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SteveW said:
My AXE FX II XL+ has an issue - but I'm pretty sure it's not the unit.

I have had it and an AX8 for a few years, and when back home in Montreal, QC...they both work fine, both perfect in fact.

When in my home in FL, both have same issue, the more gain, the more noise; a buzzing noise like a bad instrument cable, but it's not the cable and it's not bad ground, as I've changed it a few times all to no avail. Taking hand off strings / bridge removes most of the noise.

Both here and in Montreal, I'm running a Furman PL-PLUS DMC...but the problem exists only here. It sounds like very dirty power, which the Furman isn't cleaning up...and I just got it a few days ago.

With or without the Furman, the noise is the same.

I've tried everything I can think of, including checking the outlet polarity / grounding etc...changing to another outlet, all to no avail and the noise is so prevalent, it distorts the sound to make it sound like a noisegate that's not quite dialed in right. The higher the gain, the worse the noise.

If I were to take my Axe back to Montreal, it would go dead silent with no unwanted distortion.

I'm using a pair of Yamaha HS8's, and when I unplug them, and just use headphones, I still have the same noise.

I'm at my wits end trying to nail this down.
Click to expand...
I had an issue after I built a new house and it drove me crazy! I checked wiring and grounds but finally found out it was the dimmer switches I installed on some of my house light switches. I make sure now when I go to my studio to play or record that I have those lights turned off.
 
I had a similar problem and determined that turning off a particular light a couple of rooms away stopped the buzzing. I later replaced the type of bulb and the problem vanished.
 
I've heard of a mod you can do to guitars to help prevent spurious electromagnetic guck from the air getting into your signal..
I seem to recall something like a foil or something that you can coat the inside of the guitar's cavities which you earth
I'm guessing it works like a Faraday cage and drains away the guck to earth
I've never done this myself so I have no idea if it works..
but it may be a thing to look into to see if it'll cure or mitigate your problems..

good luck..
 
Government listening devices and Aliens; best to wear foil helmet or perhaps a meat helmet...(Austin Powers). Ok sorry couldnt resist.
 
You've probably already checked your guitars' shielding. Definitely sounds like dimmer switch, lighting, EM related noise. Any other EM generating equipment nearby? Is this a recent development? Anything change in the nearby environment?

I was in a place that was so bad with EM pollution, even my humbuckers buzzed. I did exactly what clarky describes. Took my pickups and wiring out, lined all the cavities, wire chases, pickup pockets and covers with aluminium foil tape. Made sure I had continuity through all the sufaces and that all the foil had continuity to ground. Reassembled the guitar, plugged it in and ... wow. Huge reduction in EM noise infiltration. That was on a 2002 Les Paul with PRS 7 pickups.
 
I recently played a concert in a large, modern church, which had what APPEARED to have a thoroughly modern electrical system... several boxes full of individual breakers, discrete switches for different banks of lights, all 3-wire plugs, etc. Nevertheless, my HB-equipped jazzbox was humming noticeably, and would have spoiled the acoustic vibe of the concert.
We spent 15 minutes isolating and turning off different circuits, on the theory that the problem was dimmer RF noise. But, no joy.
As a lot resort, an audio tech suggested plugging into another outlet, on a different circuit. Boom... problem solved.
I don't know if this issue would have showed up as a problem when using a polarity/ground tester or not. Just passing it on anecdotally.
 
I have a similar issue, but I have not tried a different outlet in my house. I have a polarity / ground switch on my ART SLA-1 and I can hear the buzzing with or without the switch being activated... same if it's in "bridged" mode
 
I use to get weird sounds and electrical interference every once in a while. Some venues have all kinds of electrical issues. So I bought a Furman Regulator/Conditioner to feed my Fractal gear. Played hundreds of gigs with it and not a single issues since then. Line interference is evil mojo.
 
Eventually try an isolating transformer, and plug in all your equipment after the transformer. If it's a not radiated interference, galvanic separation could be a solution.
 
I purchased 2 different hum eliminators, Ebtech Hum eliminator, and the Ebtech Ground line voltage filter, and both had zero effect on the problem...

It happens on all my guitars I have here, a Jackson Monark with EMG's, a PRS Tremonti with Seymour Duncan Blackouts, and an SG with 57 Humbuckers. The SG goes from bad to 100x worse if set the coil splitters to single coil, which sounds spectacular, but buzzes/ hums so bad it's unusable.

At my summer home - 1500 miles north of here, the issue does not exist.
 
SteveW said:
Taking hand off strings / bridge removes most of the noise.
Click to expand...
This seems opposite of the normal scenario...

The hum eliminator devices are trying to remove noise from the power.

Sounds like you're getting EMI, so that won't help...

Do you have a computer, TV, florescent lights, etc around?

If you go to a different room or walk around, can you find places where it is less?
 
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