Furman Voltage Regulator and Power Conditioner

[FourT6and2]

Looking at these two:

P-1800 PFR: http://www.furmansound.com/product.php? ... =P-1800PFR

P-1900 AR: http://www.furmansound.com/product.php? ... d=P-1800AR

I've read elsewhere that people use both together? They are expensive so I don't think I can get both. But if I'm just playing in a controlled environment (not playing out in clubs and such), which one is better to use? My main concern is cleaning up bad, dirty power and ridding excess noise. The power in my building doesn't really fluctuate that much. It's a constant 124 volts or so. But the grounding is shitty. Will one of these actually help or will I not notice a difference at all?

For reference, my amps aren't noisy if there's nothing plugged into them. But then again most amps have shorting jacks so if there's nothing plugged in is zero noise really an indicator that everything is good?

Also, if my guitar is plugged in but the guitar volume is off, no noise. But with the guitar volume on (even on a CLEAN CHANNEL) I get LOTS of hum, it's almost as loud or louder than my guitar sometimes. And this is on any amp I use (Diezel VH4, Einstein, Peters, Fortin, Ceriatone, Cameron). So I doubt it's the amps.

I've rewired my guitars numerous times as well and that hasn't helped. But my guitars all use braided 2-conductor wiring. Maybe switching to shielded 4-conductor would help?

I'm hoping one of these units might help.

 

[nevusofota]

AR-15 is all you need.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/FURMAN-AR-15-SE ... 19ecea80d9

 

[MississippiMetal]

If it's silent with no instrument plugged in then the problem is either the guitar or the cable.

 

[FourT6and2]

If it's silent with no instrument plugged in then the problem is either the guitar or the cable.

Yeah that's what I've found out. Not the cable. I've tried 4 different ones. And both of my guitars produce the hum. So... not sure what to do at this point.

 

[Jeremy]

I had great results with the Power Factor Pro cleaning up noise before I got my AR-15 II. Although if I had to choose between the 2 units I'd probably go with the AR.

 

[FourT6and2]

Voltage regulators just keep a constant ~120 volts feeding into the amp, right? Power conditioners "clean" the power and reduce noise? Or are they just glorified surge protectors?

Either way, the amp is dead quiet with nothing plugged into it and the master and gain dimed. Just the normal background hiss. But then again, my amps all have inputs that short when nothing is plugged into them. So how do you really know if the amp is quiet or not? The noise happens when I turn up the guitar's volume knob. So I'm guessing it's the guitar picking up interference or something from somewhere. So I don't think a power conditioner or voltage regulator will help...

But my main concern is that I can't play rhythm or staccato riffs where there are rests between notes/chords. Because when I stop playing for a beat, all I hear is hum/buzz. And it's really annoying. I've tried everything at this point. And I can't figure it out.

I've brought my guitars to techs to make sure they are wired properly... no issues there.

My amps are all good: Diezel, Peters, Fortin, Ceriatone. They all displayed this hum. Even in different locations/buildings. But every once in a while if I plugged in a new place, everything was dead quiet. So it leads me to believe it's interference from something and my guitars/pickups are just really sensitive to picking up background hum? I haven't tried shielding my guitars. But that's a lot of work and I've read that it doesn't really do anything unless you're picking up radio stations or something (which I'm not).

 

[cardinal]

I think Furman's Voltage Regulators also "condition" the power, though I think most respectable power strips also condition the power.

I've shielded a Strat with copper tape, and it really cut down on hum/buzz noise. If the environment isn't too noisy, I can even find just the spot to stand and it's dead silent with single coils even with monstrous amounts of gain. Use type of copper tape where it's still conductive through the adhesive and it's pretty easy to use, at least on a Strat-type guitar. For a rear-routed guitar, it'll be a bit trickier because you need to make sure the shielding in the pickup cavities is grounded (probably have to run a wire up there and solder it to the copper tape) and maybe wrap some of the shielding around the pickup wires, too.

But if the guitar has humbuckers already, I'm not sure if shielding will reduce what you're hearing? No idea, really.

 

[FourT6and2]

I think Furman's Voltage Regulators also "condition" the power, though I think most respectable power strips also condition the power.

I've shielded a Strat with copper tape, and it really cut down on hum/buzz noise. If the environment isn't too noisy, I can even find just the spot to stand and it's dead silent with single coils even with monstrous amounts of gain. Use type of copper tape where it's still conductive through the adhesive and it's pretty easy to use, at least on a Strat-type guitar. For a rear-routed guitar, it'll be a bit trickier because you need to make sure the shielding in the pickup cavities is grounded (probably have to run a wire up there and solder it to the copper tape) and maybe wrap some of the shielding around the pickup wires, too.

But if the guitar has humbuckers already, I'm not sure if shielding will reduce what you're hearing? No idea, really.

Yeah, these are LPs. Already have humbuckers. I've read elsewhere that shielding on these guitars doesn't really do anything. It's the pickups, themselves, that pick up hum. And you can't wrap the entire pickup in copper tape...

In any event, the landlord came out and checked everything. He said he can't install a ground in any of the ungrounded outlets because the building is too old. And to install a ground, it would require a major remodel of the house, including ripping out the walls to install new wiring. Which... obviously... he's not going to do.

Best he could do was install GFCI outlets so if there is a short the breaker will trip. So... for safety, it should be good. For sound quality and noise-free operation of my amp... not so good.

 

[jsp]

My outlets are ungrounded and I don't have any humming issues. I do use a Furman M-8x power conditioner, but I'm not sure how much of a role that plays. I have a feeling it's just a glorified, rack-mountable surge protector. I guess I can try with and without the Furman and see if there's any difference in hum.

 

[FourT6and2]

My outlets are ungrounded and I don't have any humming issues. I do use a Furman M-8x power conditioner, but I'm not sure how much of a role that plays. I have a feeling it's just a glorified, rack-mountable surge protector. I guess I can try with and without the Furman and see if there's any difference in hum.

Sure give it a try.

If it's not the ungrounded outlets... then I don't know what it is. I'm stumped.

 

[jsp]

I quickly tried my amp without the power conditioner. No hum problems. The amp is a Mesa Roadster and the guitar is an Ibanez with Dimarzio pickups, nothing special.

Maybe your building has noisy power, not related to it being ungrounded...?

 

[FourT6and2]

I quickly tried my amp without the power conditioner. No hum problems. The amp is a Mesa Roadster and the guitar is an Ibanez with Dimarzio pickups, nothing special.

Maybe your building has noisy power, not related to it being ungrounded...?

That's probably part of it. Also lots of EM noise floating around from power lines, WIFI, etc. I am going to try shielding my guitar first.

 

[esizer]

I'm having the same problem. My D-Moll is more or less quiet (small amount of hiss) with nothing plugged into the input but as soon as I plug in a cable it gets more noticeable.

 

[fuzzyguitars]

Take your guitar and one head over to a friends house and try it out there and see what happens.

That will tell you if is your house power or electrical.

If it still hums it is your guitar or cable

I will tell you that you should just go out and pick up a new quality cable because i have some cables go bad and work but a super noisy until i redid the solder connections

 

[FourT6and2]

Take your guitar and one head over to a friends house and try it out there and see what happens.

That will tell you if is your house power or electrical.

If it still hums it is your guitar or cable

I will tell you that you should just go out and pick up a new quality cable because i have some cables go bad and work but a super noisy until i redid the solder connections

I have more than one cable to use lol. I have a few Mogami, some Livewire, and Vovox. All quality cables.