Amp/rig ticking noise...Driving me bonkers

[searching]

Took my head (JCA22H) to a friends house last night and played on one of his cabs...Just hooked it back up to my cabinet and began to notice a weird tick, tick...Like a heartbeat or something. (See video below)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmxLdIlZ ... e=youtu.be


Did a google search and saw a lot of people with similar problems and a lot of talk about electrical interference etc... I unplugged everything in the vicinity, including FX units, tried different cables, bypassed power strip, tried different plug ins and still it persists. Then i got the bright idea to try without a cable in the output and, boom, quiet as a mouse again. What on earth has happened? My cab never moved so i don't understand how it could be internal wiring etc. I know for certain it wasn't doing this before...Thoughts?

 

[neilli]

Cellphone?

 

[searching]

Nopers.

 

[boof]

midi clock sending messages? move some midi cables around.

 

[searching]

midi clock sending messages? move some midi cables around.

No midis

 

[ibenhad]

Seems like your amp thinks you need a click track.... Better practice with a metronome before you plug back in.

Seriously not sure what it is but I would start with PreAmp tubes.

 

[MississippiMetal]

So you're saying it was quiet when you removed the speaker lead?

 

[EVHpickdust]

The ticks are faster than one second apart so it can't be the digital watch you left on top of the amp.

 

[jharpersj]

my treadmill, when it is on, will do this

 

[searching]

Thanks guys...I've ruled out the amp being the problem. I dragged my old solid state Marshall combo across the house and plugged it in and it's doing the same thing, so it has to be in the lines or something else. There's nothing new plugged in anywhere as far as i know. I'm gonna break out the testers and maybe kill a few breakers.

 

[Anonymous]

kill all the breakers except those to that outlet if you can.

dimmer switches cause weird noises like this....also, those new swirly light bulbs cause weird interferences too.

at my old house, if the sump pump kicked on, it would cause this in my rig..and it was on a completely different circuit.
same house, if the outside motion light kicked on, i got the loudest humming noise ever....

you just gotta do some digging and see what's causing your issues.

 

[searching]

Thanks, yeti. Have some company but i'll try that later. I have an old am/fm cd player in the kitchen and switched it to an open AM station and the clicking was LOUD in there.

 

[EVHpickdust]

Thanks, yeti. Have some company but i'll try that later. I have an old am/fm cd player in the kitchen and switched it to an open AM station and the clicking was LOUD in there.

My Marshall 5210 combo would pick up a local radio station.

 

[FourT6and2]

My amps do this in one room. It's coming in from the power outlet I think. I might test it one day with an extension cord.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks, yeti. Have some company but i'll try that later. I have an old am/fm cd player in the kitchen and switched it to an open AM station and the clicking was LOUD in there.

My Marshall 5210 combo would pick up a local radio station.

I regularly listen to a Christian talk radio station with my Zvex Fuzz Factory

 

[Meathead]

I also hear this pulse/ticking through my main audio system in the living room. I figure it's the power.
Other outlets don't do it. My tube amps are fine on a different circuit. Weird.

 

[EVHpickdust]

I also hear this pulse/ticking through my main audio system in the living room. I figure it's the power.
Other outlets don't do it. My tube amps are fine on a different circuit. Weird.

You need to move.

 

[stav92]

Do you have a chorus, flange or phase 90 pedal ?? My MXR phase 90 handwired re issue was having LFO clock bleedthrough. Sounds like a heartbeat. really annoying thuds through the speakers each time the phaser cycled. Its a common problem with chorus and flanger units too... I returned it and got a refund.

 

[FourT6and2]

I get a weird ticking sometimes as well and lots of hum. If I move a few rooms over and plug in, quiet.

I think I figured it out, though. The High Tension wire from the street connects to my building right outside the window in the room I was using. And it's also connected to the wire the electric buses around here use. So the amp is probably picking up all sorts of EM from that. Or at least the guitar is since the amp is pretty quiet with the guitar's volume off.

 

[Anonymous]

Do you have a chorus, flange or phase 90 pedal ?? My MXR phase 90 handwired re issue was having LFO clock bleedthrough. Sounds like a heartbeat. really annoying thuds through the speakers each time the phaser cycled. Its a common problem with chorus and flanger units too... I returned it and got a refund.

yep, my chorus pedal would do this too, when it was off...if part of the pedal chassis were touching any part of the metal on my pedalboard....it was really weird. isolated it with electrical tape and all was well with the world.