Dirty Power @ Gig: First Time Ever Unresolved

[Junk Yard Dog]

Had a gig this Saturday and was going to use my BE50 Deluxe. Terrible ground hum/buzz on the BE50 and my BFG modded Eggie, but slightly less so on the BFE Eggie. I chose to play the Eggie, as the hum was less pronounced, but still there. Disappointed I didn't do the gig with the BE50 as it's new and was the first gig with it.

I've been gigging since I was 16 years old, and I'm 41, still gigging. I've NEVER had this issue go unresolved at a gig, and usually by finding an outlet that worked.

The buzz/hum got slightly more manageable as we turned off some lights and shit, but it's a really small bar and we tried everything:

-multiple outlets
-ebtech Hum X
-trip lite LC1200 conditioner
-Tripp lite isobar 6 surge protector
-Furmam power conditionor

Nothing worked!!! None of the above solutions took the hum away. Again; both amps, but the BE50's him was slightly louder. I've never not been able to find a good power source. I've never had to play a gig with that hum.

Again, small bar, old outlets and stuff, and the pa they brought in is a spaceship. There were stage lights and dimmers all over the place. We played their 6 months ago and did not have this issue at all. one think I noticed is that if I moved away from the amp, the hum got less noticeable, but still there. Fortunately, the crowd never noticed and I just rolled off guitar volume in between songs.

You ever experienced this? And if so, what is a solution that worked besides the 5 listed above which didn't work.

Cheers!

 

[PBGas]

Interesting! Did you plug in your rig at home again just to make sure there wasn’t a ground loop or something that went wrong elsewhere?

Not had an issue like that yet with hum yet, thankfully.

Frustrating no doubt!

 

[Mr. Willy]

I’ve had dirty power at a few gigs, but nothing as bad as you described. I don’t know if there is a work around for your situation. Sounds like you threw the kitchen sink at the problem. I did a gig last summer where the ceiling leaked. Had to cover our gear with plastic bags and tarps.

 

[Gsxrbusa]

Damn that blows bro. It would have ruined the gig for me.

 

[Junk Yard Dog]

Damn that blows bro. It would have ruined the gig for me.

It actually didn't mess up anything. I just rolled down volume and my tone was glorious when turned up. But it did really sour the mood before the gig.

Interesting! Did you plug in your rig at home again just to make sure there wasn’t a ground loop or something that went wrong elsewhere?

Not had an issue like that yet with hum yet, thankfully.

Frustrating no doubt!

I played both amps at my apartment before the gig to run through some songs and both were dead quiet.

I've been reading online that an isolation transformer is really the ticket for these situations. The power conditioner did nothing, because it too was plugged into the same dirty outlet. But it was several outlets that we tried.

Cheers!

 

[garey77]

Damn that blows bro. It would have ruined the gig for me.

It actually didn't mess up anything. I just rolled down volume and my tone was glorious when turned up. But it did really sour the mood before the gig.

Interesting! Did you plug in your rig at home again just to make sure there wasn’t a ground loop or something that went wrong elsewhere?

Not had an issue like that yet with hum yet, thankfully.

Frustrating no doubt!

I played both amps at my apartment before the gig to run through some songs and both were dead quiet.

I've been reading online that an isolation transformer is really the ticket for these situations. The power conditioner did nothing, because it too was plugged into the same dirty outlet. But it was several outlets that we tried.

Cheers!

The shit behind the bar that requires power was probably in the same circuit (refrigeration, neon signs, blender, etc). Fucked before you started, and I guarantee the bar owner knows it, too. Small bar owners usually don’t want to spend the cash on electricians to come run independent isolated power legs for performances. They usually get stuck having to make repairs and get other shit back up to code. It’s just easier to let the guitar amps buzz for them...bastards.

 

[Rick Lee]

I have had two recent nightmare gigs due to dirty power. It wasn't a humming/buzzing issue, but rather an overload that just about caused brownouts. The first one was so bad, it might as well have been a three hour soundcheck. We had a whopping two plug outlets for lights, PA, amps, keys, drum pads, etc. Just beyond a nightmare. More recent one didn't cause brownouts, but the overloaded power supply made my 1987xl sound like an clock radio. My backup Boss Katana saved the gig, but still wasn't great. The following week I got a Tripp Lite LC1200 and took it to my gig last Fri, though I don't think it was necessary. That last venue is a real band venue with good power.

 

[Oblivion DC]

Played at a club in DC years ago and had a similar noise problem. Did all of the things the op posted doing and it remained unresolved until I switched guitars. Plugged in a guitar with emg's and all the noise went away. Stayed with emgs for many years after that. I've only switched over to passives again in the last 10 or so years.
Amusing side note - we had to end that show early. About 8 songs in the guy running the PA shut everything down and told us the fusebox was on fire!! Good times!

 

[Rick Lee]

I should add that I was playing at home about an hour before heading out to a gig last week. I was getting a horrible buzz. I switched everything - all new power and patch cables, ran through the Tripp Lite, tried different wall socket. Finally I switched guitars and that was it. My #1 guitar, a blue EBMM EVH, had developed some kind of grounding issue. I didn't have time to track it down by then, so I took my other ones to the gig. Still need to go figure out what's going on there.

 

[Junk Yard Dog]

I have had two recent nightmare gigs due to dirty power. It wasn't a humming/buzzing issue, but rather an overload that just about caused brownouts. The first one was so bad, it might as well have been a three hour soundcheck. We had a whopping two plug outlets for lights, PA, amps, keys, drum pads, etc. Just beyond a nightmare. More recent one didn't cause brownouts, but the overloaded power supply made my 1987xl sound like an clock radio. My backup Boss Katana saved the gig, but still wasn't great. The following week I got a Tripp Lite LC1200 and took it to my gig last Fri, though I don't think it was necessary. That last venue is a real band venue with good power.

Thanks for sharing your story. I have the Tripp Lite LC1200 and used it in my situation detailed above of the weekend and it did not work for fixing the dirty power issue. I did notice that depending on where I stood on the stage, it got better or worse, which led me to believe as well that passive pickups could have been the issue.

Form my research online regarding dirty power and amps, what you really need is an isolation transformer. Tripp Lite does make on that I'm looking at called the ISO Transformer: https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Isola ... B00006HPHN

I read lots of threads that said most power conditioners will not really help with dirty power noise in this context.

Both of my guitars had the issue, so I don't think it was a matter of the guitar, but both did have passive pickups.

 

[Rick Lee]

But did your LC1200 show all green lights? If so, then that might not have been your issue. If it had yellow or red lights, then I'd say it ID'ed the problem and couldn't handle it.

 

[Junk Yard Dog]

But did your LC1200 show all green lights? If so, then that might not have been your issue. If it had yellow or red lights, then I'd say it ID'ed the problem and couldn't handle it.

The lights were showing green. ...So what do you think was the problem?

 

[Rick Lee]

But did your LC1200 show all green lights? If so, then that might not have been your issue. If it had yellow or red lights, then I'd say it ID'ed the problem and couldn't handle it.

The lights were showing green. ...So what do you think was the problem?

I don't know, but you can put a multimeter into your LC1200 and then into the wall and see if the voltages match. Tracking down these gremlins can really suck. I pulled the input jack out of my guitar and it looked factory original and with no issue, ditto for volume pot. But it has a terrible ground loop noise.

 

[RACKSYSTEMS]

If its quiet with the guitar off it’s not dirty power at all. It emf being radiated into the club from a outside source or something in the club. Dimmers anywhere don’t work with rigs at all.. or a multitude of other things.

 

[Junk Yard Dog]

If its quiet with the guitar off it’s not dirty power at all. It emf being radiated into the club from a outside source or something in the club. Dimmers anywhere don’t work with rigs at all.. or a multitude of other things.

Thanks, Dave. I agree, after reading lots of threads, it's the dimmers and it's hard to contend with.

I may look at shielding my Schecter PT's with the conductive tape, just to help. I've also read about the EH Hum Debugger, which may help...Just in case this happens again.

I'm just glad it wasn't either of my amps.

Cheers!