Getting bad buzz through all my gear in my apartment, Help!

[ACShreds]

Bought a GFCI tester and just tested all my outlets and they all seem to be fine. Guess i can rule out the outlets then. Its weird because i get a bad hum/buzz but when i move around the buzz gets bigger or smaller depending where im standing and facing my guitar. sometimes i can find a sweet spot where my guitar doesn't pick up whatever it is. Anyone have any idea what that means if its not the power outlets themselves? It also occurs when i record direct into my laptop, with nothing but my interface connected to the computer.

 

[scottywompas]

My apartment is the same way.

Those little earth saving CFL's are horrible for buzz and hum. My washing machine/dryer, another culprit. I also have Halogen lightning on the outside of the building. Because I am upstairs they are about waist high on the outside of most of my walls. When I turn towards one it just goes freaking buzzy crazy.

Scott

 

[Ventura]

Need a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) with isolations. They're easily purchased at any computer shop. Should clear it up local to the receptacle you're using in the room with the gear (as in, all power needs to come from it for your amp and pedals and such).

Cheers,
Mo

 

[ACShreds]

Need a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) with isolations. They're easily purchased at any computer shop. Should clear it up local to the receptacle you're using in the room with the gear (as in, all power needs to come from it for your amp and pedals and such).

Cheers,
Mo

So if i plug all my gear into one it should fix my problem? I have a Furman PL-Pro DMC power conditioner and it still buzzes. You sure a UPS will help?

 

[Ventura]

Need a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) with isolations. They're easily purchased at any computer shop. Should clear it up local to the receptacle you're using in the room with the gear (as in, all power needs to come from it for your amp and pedals and such).

Cheers,
Mo

So if i plug all my gear into one it should fix my problem? I have a Furman PL-Pro DMC power conditioner and it still buzzes. You sure a UPS will help?

Pretty sure - you can ask about it eliminating ground bum/buzz before buying it. I've seen these employed to solve this very problem in the past - and I've used one in the past to solve this very problem (with a GPU). Sooooooooooooo, worst case scenario, use it and return it. But the way the UPS works is that it charges a cell, and the cell powers the load, and the UPS should have its own internal grounding circuit/mechanism aka GPU (better ones do, the cheapo ones not).

Read this: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul05/a ... 0705_1.htm

Cheers,
Mo

 

[ACShreds]

Need a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) with isolations. They're easily purchased at any computer shop. Should clear it up local to the receptacle you're using in the room with the gear (as in, all power needs to come from it for your amp and pedals and such).

Cheers,
Mo

So if i plug all my gear into one it should fix my problem? I have a Furman PL-Pro DMC power conditioner and it still buzzes. You sure a UPS will help?

Pretty sure - you can ask about it eliminating ground bum/buzz before buying it. I've seen these employed to solve this very problem in the past - and I've used one in the past to solve this very problem (with a GPU). Sooooooooooooo, worst case scenario, use it and return it. But the way the UPS works is that it charges a cell, and the cell powers the load, and the UPS should have its own internal grounding circuit/mechanism aka GPU (better ones do, the cheapo ones not).

Read this: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul05/a ... 0705_1.htm

Cheers,
Mo

Think you could tell me about the price range i should be looking in for a good one that should be able to help me out. Been checking them out online and not sure what constitutes good from cheap. Think you might be able to remember which kind you used in the past that did the trick?

 

[LukeCurd]

Bought a GFCI tester and just tested all my outlets and they all seem to be fine. Guess i can rule out the outlets then. Its weird because i get a bad hum/buzz but when i move around the buzz gets bigger or smaller depending where im standing and facing my guitar. sometimes i can find a sweet spot where my guitar doesn't pick up whatever it is. Anyone have any idea what that means if its not the power outlets themselves? It also occurs when i record direct into my laptop, with nothing but my interface connected to the computer.

Power inverters
Dimmer lights
Ceiling Fans
Ground Loop.
etc.

Standard electrical code is 5 outlets in series on one 15 amp breaker. So if you think of electricity as a signal chain then you can get a sense of how many things it COULD be.

 

[glpg80]

Ill be the first to introduce microphonic pickups as a potential cause above all else. They can become susceptible to EM fields emitted from CCFL's and normal house wiring.

SCR's used in dimmers make a mess out of AC and cause hum in all sorts of stuff, but this type is actually cleaned by the furman power conditioner. So that would eliminate dimmers for lights or ceiling fan motor controls.

Since it did not do it before but did it now i would not bet with a ground loop problem if you cant isolate any one piece of gear. I can almost guarantee it is your pickup.

 

[ACShreds]

Ill be the first to introduce microphonic pickups as a potential cause above all else. They can become susceptible to EM fields emitted from CCFL's and normal house wiring.

SCR's used in dimmers make a mess out of AC and cause hum in all sorts of stuff, but this type is actually cleaned by the furman power conditioner. So that would eliminate dimmers for lights or ceiling fan motor controls.

Since it did not do it before but did it now i would not bet with a ground loop problem if you cant isolate any one piece of gear. I can almost guarantee it is your pickup.

I had a friend bring over his guitar and it still had the exact same buzz. I took my entire main rig across the street to my friends apartment and it was dead quiet. Thats when i decided it has to be my apartment. Its also not that it just started happening, its just that im just now noticing it. I've lived here in boston for little over a year now and since i first moved up here i never had a complete rig and never did any recording stuff. I only used my practice amp and just assumed it was always just extra noise being on a high gain setting and being a crapy little solid state amp. It wasnt until i began taking my gear other places that i noticed the noise wasnt there anymore and realized it was something wrong with my place.

the thing that gets me the most is that the buzz is present when i just plug my guitar direct into my interface and then into the laptop via usb with headphones from the interface. Nothing else plugged up to the computer, and nothing is "plugged up" to anything. Just the laptop running off its own battery and it still happens. Thats whats getting me because how can it be a power problem when theres nothing actually drawing power from anything. Thats when i had a friend bring over his guitar to make sure mine wasnt faulty somehow and it still occurred. So it not my guitar itself. I guess its just something in the air.

 

[Anonymous]

Ill be the first to introduce microphonic pickups as a potential cause above all else. They can become susceptible to EM fields emitted from CCFL's and normal house wiring.

SCR's used in dimmers make a mess out of AC and cause hum in all sorts of stuff, but this type is actually cleaned by the furman power conditioner. So that would eliminate dimmers for lights or ceiling fan motor controls.

Since it did not do it before but did it now i would not bet with a ground loop problem if you cant isolate any one piece of gear. I can almost guarantee it is your pickup.

my furman does NOTHING (both furmans actually) for the dimmer buzz i experience.

eliminate the variables, step by step. if you start with a relatively clean, quiet signal guitar to amp, then start adding other shit in (pedals, racks, etc). if you can't get a relatively clean, quiet signal with your amp mildly overdriven, then you have line problems that need either isolated and/or eliminated, or solved completely.

start with your guitar and amp, and stand about 7-8 feet facing away from your guitar. no tv on. no computer...etc, etc. and so on. just your guitar and amp. start turning things on and off, and see what adds noise.

it's not really all that HARD per se, just time consuming. and yes, while you MAY eliminate some buzz, and line noise with a furman, a fucking dimmer or even a simple curly Q hi efficiency flourescent light bulb on the same feed line can wreak havoc, furman or no furman.

after reading your last post, it sounds to me like you have a short in your interface?
does that work when you take it other places?

i've seen wiring issues wreak havoc on pa systems (out of phase mainly) in different shitty venues that sams brothers friends uncle wired up for the club owner....but, strangely enough, didnt cause any issues with the guitar gear....AND vice versa.

have you tried guitar/wireless/interface/computer?

 

[ACShreds]

Ill be the first to introduce microphonic pickups as a potential cause above all else. They can become susceptible to EM fields emitted from CCFL's and normal house wiring.

SCR's used in dimmers make a mess out of AC and cause hum in all sorts of stuff, but this type is actually cleaned by the furman power conditioner. So that would eliminate dimmers for lights or ceiling fan motor controls.

Since it did not do it before but did it now i would not bet with a ground loop problem if you cant isolate any one piece of gear. I can almost guarantee it is your pickup.

my furman does NOTHING (both furmans actually) for the dimmer buzz i experience.

eliminate the variables, step by step. if you start with a relatively clean, quiet signal guitar to amp, then start adding other shit in (pedals, racks, etc). if you can't get a relatively clean, quiet signal with your amp mildly overdriven, then you have line problems that need either isolated and/or eliminated, or solved completely.

start with your guitar and amp, and stand about 7-8 feet facing away from your guitar. no tv on. no computer...etc, etc. and so on. just your guitar and amp. start turning things on and off, and see what adds noise.

it's not really all that HARD per se, just time consuming. and yes, while you MAY eliminate some buzz, and line noise with a furman, a fucking dimmer or even a simple curly Q hi efficiency flourescent light bulb on the same feed line can wreak havoc, furman or no furman.

after reading your last post, it sounds to me like you have a short in your interface?
does that work when you take it other places?

i've seen wiring issues wreak havoc on pa systems (out of phase mainly) in different shitty venues that sams brothers friends uncle wired up for the club owner....but, strangely enough, didnt cause any issues with the guitar gear....AND vice versa.

have you tried guitar/wireless/interface/computer?

I've taken my computer and interface to a practice room across the street at my school and there was no buzz. Im not even referring to my just main rig getting buzz, my little practice amp gets it and my POD HD500 with guitar straight in. I took my main rig with all if Head, pedals, and rack glory to a friends place and its gloriously silent. Also took my POD to a private lesson and through a fender combo and also direct at a gig and it was dead quiet as well. Ive used my line 6 practice amp as a tester and tried it in every outlet in my apartment, turned everything off and on, in my bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. Its always there. When i go somewhere else, its not.

 

[university81]

i've got something similar for a jet city amp in the basement at home

anywhere else, it's fine, there's a bit of hum and maybe on much higher gain settings a very faint background buzz

as soon as i plug it in at home, it's less noticeable at lower gain settings but on the higher gain settings/2nd channel i get this huge buzzing like a grounding problem, pretty horrible

other amps i've plugged in don't seem to have it, just the jet city , although the other amps are generally just clean (ceriatone..hiwatt), had the jet city checked out and fixed (had the depth mod installed too for good measure =) all my other stuff seems unaffected tho, also recording and what not

 

[bananaladonpcp]

Furmans.... Heres the thing about them. Unless you get one that says it's a "Line Regulator" it will do NOTHING to solve your noise issues. If it doesn't say "Line Regulator" you are buying an expensive power strip with an LED display. Some of the other's will advertise that they "eliminate hum" but if you read the box you will see it eliminates hum in the 1000hz range. Some of them will go down to the 500hz range but big deal, THATS NOT WHERE 99.99999% OF AMP HUM COMES FROM. Infact I bought a cheaper one a few years ago and actually experienced more hum from my amp when i had it plugged into the cheap furman vs the wall. I bought the line regulator and BAM! No noise. Doesn't matter where I go. (Still get hum from my guitars with single coils. Not too much you can do about that )

 

[Anonymous]

yep. sounds like he needs to eliminate the source of the buzz if possible, but, being it's an apartment, a line regulator might be the way to go.

 

[maddnotez]

Ill be the first to introduce microphonic pickups as a potential cause above all else. They can become susceptible to EM fields emitted from CCFL's and normal house wiring.

SCR's used in dimmers make a mess out of AC and cause hum in all sorts of stuff, but this type is actually cleaned by the furman power conditioner. So that would eliminate dimmers for lights or ceiling fan motor controls.

Since it did not do it before but did it now i would not bet with a ground loop problem if you cant isolate any one piece of gear. I can almost guarantee it is your pickup.

+1, was my first thought...Check the wiring if you havent already.

Edit, looks like you did oops...Good luck hum sucks

 

[sixstringking713]

Bought a GFCI tester and just tested all my outlets and they all seem to be fine. Guess i can rule out the outlets then. Its weird because i get a bad hum/buzz but when i move around the buzz gets bigger or smaller depending where im standing and facing my guitar. sometimes i can find a sweet spot where my guitar doesn't pick up whatever it is. Anyone have any idea what that means if its not the power outlets themselves? It also occurs when i record direct into my laptop, with nothing but my interface connected to the computer.

how are you recording? with a mic or with direct in?

 

[glpg80]

Furmans.... Heres the thing about them. Unless you get one that says it's a "Line Regulator" it will do NOTHING to solve your noise issues. If it doesn't say "Line Regulator" you are buying an expensive power strip with an LED display. Some of the other's will advertise that they "eliminate hum" but if you read the box you will see it eliminates hum in the 1000hz range. Some of them will go down to the 500hz range but big deal, THATS NOT WHERE 99.99999% OF AMP HUM COMES FROM. Infact I bought a cheaper one a few years ago and actually experienced more hum from my amp when i had it plugged into the cheap furman vs the wall. I bought the line regulator and BAM! No noise. Doesn't matter where I go. (Still get hum from my guitars with single coils. Not too much you can do about that )

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/gear-e ... ost3221378

 

[Lriagan]

You know, this has been a bit enlightening. I've been wanting to get a Furman Power Conditioner to help remove some noise, but now I'm a bit cautious as to which one I'm going to get. I'll have to speak to them personally before I make an order now...