Finally figured out 5150-III effect loop hiss!!! Man, i feel like a dumbass! It is always the smallest things...doh!!

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romanianreaper

romanianreaper

Well-known member
As many of you know, this 5150-III effect loop issue has been my "Raiders of the Lost Ark" moment and the bane of my existence for about a year now.

As a quick review, I got a 5150-III 6l6 50w a year ago and when I would use the effects loop, I'd get this hiss that doesn't increase with the volume but is always there. I bought a 5150-III 6l6 50watt Stealth last week and sure enough, same issue.

So yesterday I emailed a local amp repair shop for EVH amps and the guy recommended I plug a cable into the send and return jacks, with nothing plugged in. I had done that months ago but I may have forgot to hit the effects loop switch. Anyhow, I did it and was dead silent. He said that he felt something else, was causing the noise because the loop would have constant noise based on how it is built.

So here are the things I've done over the past year to try and fix:
- Swapped cables
- Bought 4 noise gates
- Bought a power strip with EMI interferece block, etc.
- Plugged into different outlets in my house
- Moved pedals around on board

Tonight I did a hundred different things. On a whim, I moved my pedalboard away from the amp and no change in sound. During the process I was like "oh let me untangle this cord running under the pedalboard. As soon as I moved it, the noise went away.

If you can believe it, one of the cables was running under the pedal power supply box (Voodoo Labs) and was causing that hiss. Insane. I can't believe that combination was causing such a loud issue. So I am planning on getting a 1Spot and am going to make sure I keep cords awY from the damn thing. I guess the 5150-III effects loop is just really sensitive.
 
romanianreaper said:
As many of you know, this 5150-III effect loop issue has been my "Raiders of the Lost Ark" moment and the bane of my existence for about a year now.

As a quick review, I got a 5150-III 6l6 50w a year ago and when I would use the effects loop, I'd get this hiss that doesn't increase with the volume but is always there. I bought a 5150-III 6l6 50watt Stealth last week and sure enough, same issue.

So yesterday I emailed a local amp repair shop for EVH amps and the guy recommended I plug a cable into the send and return jacks, with nothing plugged in. I had done that months ago but I may have forgot to hit the effects loop switch. Anyhow, I did it and was dead silent. He said that he felt something else, was causing the noise because the loop would have constant noise based on how it is built.

So here are the things I've done over the past year to try and fix:
- Swapped cables
- Bought 4 noise gates
- Bought a power strip with EMI interferece block, etc.
- Plugged into different outlets in my house
- Moved pedals around on board

Tonight I did a hundred different things. On a whim, I moved my pedalboard away from the amp and no change in sound. During the process I was like "oh let me untangle this cord running under the pedalboard. As soon as I moved it, the noise went away.

If you can believe it, one of the cables was running under the pedal power supply box (Voodoo Labs) and was causing that hiss. Insane. I can't believe that combination was causing such a loud issue. So I am planning on getting a 1Spot and am going to make sure I keep cords awY from the damn thing. I guess the 5150-III effects loop is just really sensitive.
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Do not get a 1 spot. That’s the worst thing you could do for noise.

Go spend the money on a decent strymon supply or eventide supply.

Yes keep your chords away from switching supplies as they make a mess of guitar signals with noise. My amp is done but the switching supply I’m using is crazy noisy and my noise floor is total garbage.

Glad you found it! Noise is one of those problems that unless you’re experiencing it you take it for granted.
 
I'm glad you figured it out.
Always something isn't it?
Like when I had my guitar tone rolled all the way down.
I have a OneSpot and my rig is pretty damn quiet - no complaints.
But I've had my share of noise. Mostly ground loop stuff.
 
glpg80 said:
Do not get a 1 spot. That’s the worst thing you could do for noise.
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The original 1 Spot, yes. But they make true power supplies that are great. I have a CS12 and it's really quiet.
I also just bought one of the Mission rechargable PS. I haven't messed with it yet, but I'm curious about the noise level.
 
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Findthetone1 said:
The original 1 Spot, yes. But they make true power supplies that are great. I have a CS12 and it's really quiet.
I also just bought one of the Mission rechargable PS. I haven't messed with it yet, but I'm curious about the noise level.
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Yep CS12 is dead quiet. In fact my trusty Voodoo had to go because my wah is mounted above the power supply underneath the board. That's instant noise and or hum with janky power supply. CS12, dead quite not to mention that is what Xact Tone Solutions in Nashville who built my board recommended.

And I think Voodoo has no updated their power supplies as well.
 
I’m glad you got it figured out.
Now work on why certain pedals “pop”
In the Evh fx loops. Drives me cray z z z z!!
 
lmao i hate when i have doofus moments like that, wasting tons of time and stressing and it ends up being the tiniest dumb thing. but at least you got it tracked down finally. been there countless times.
 
Glad you got it figured out @romanianreaper

OneSpot's bigger power supplies with multiple isolated power jacks are fine.
Their little wall-wart power supply thing with the single 9v power jack cable is terrible unless you have, like, exactly one pedal and nothing else. And even then it's a crapshoot. That thing is super noisy.

Also the "tone on 0" thing happens to me like once a year and I always spend a few minutes head scratching and it makes me feel like an idiot every time, hah.
 
Glad you figured it out! I have never had a big noise issue with my 5153 6L6, but I normally keep the pedals sitting on top of the amp, with little 1 foot cables I built myself.

I usually find One Spots work well as long as you dont plug pedals into it that are in front of the amp and also in the loop. I have 2 of them, one of them I use for pre-effects, and the other for loop effects.
 
glad you figured it out . Any cords crossing can potentially create a problem at times so im
Always thinking about that . I’ve seen this happen so many ways . A lot times my students will have their amp plugged into an outlet then the pedal board into a different wall outlet and most of the time it’s that .
 
TheGreatGreen said:
Glad you got it figured out @romanianreaper

OneSpot's bigger power supplies with multiple isolated power jacks are fine.
Their little wall-wart power supply thing with the single 9v power jack cable is terrible unless you have, like, exactly one pedal and nothing else. And even then it's a crapshoot. That thing is super noisy.

Also the "tone on 0" thing happens to me like once a year and I always spend a few minutes head scratching and it makes me feel like an idiot every time, hah.
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Yeah I have a can of beez....I mean One Spot wall wart myself..lol
 
I remember driving myself batshit crazy a few times over dumb stuff. Like, "oh shit, the standby is on". Long time ago, I biased an amp, and took the power tubes out after it cooled off, (just a habit in case something goes haywire sliding the chassis back in and putting back together, ask me how I know). Fired the amp up, nothing... "WTF"? I look over, and the power tubes were laying there... Not back in the amp... Duh.
 
Shask said:
Glad you figured it out! I have never had a big noise issue with my 5153 6L6, but I normally keep the pedals sitting on top of the amp, with little 1 foot cables I built myself.

I usually find One Spots work well as long as you dont plug pedals into it that are in front of the amp and also in the loop. I have 2 of them, one of them I use for pre-effects, and the other for loop effects.
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I guess I'm just lucky with the noise floor then because I have all my pedals pre and post on 1 of these Onespots and it is pretty damn quiet. And that includes an ABY pedal and 4 pedals in the loop of my Splawn. I do have a Boss NS running though.
 
napalmdeath said:
I remember driving myself batshit crazy a few times over dumb stuff. Like, "oh shit, the standby is on". Long time ago, I biased an amp, and took the power tubes out after it cooled off, (just a habit in case something goes haywire sliding the chassis back in and putting back together, ask me how I know). Fired the amp up, nothing... "WTF"? I look over, and the power tubes were laying there... Not back in the amp... Duh.
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Lol, dude that is hilatious!!
 
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