Noise issue with Pedal Board - Help please!

[JerEvil]

So I got my board put together. I tried all my pedals at Sam Ash through my loop and everything was a "go" - no tone suck noticeable and no noise to be worried about.

Just got my BBE Supa Charger and Dunlop Crybaby From Hell. All of a sudden lots of white noise and a little tone suckage.

Here's my signal chain:

Effects Loop:
Splawn "Send" > MXR Analog Chorus > EH Memory Toy Delay > TC Hall Of Fame Reverb > EH LPB-1 > Splwan "Return"

Out Front:
Guitar > CFH Wah > Amp

Everything is powered by the BBE.

Now, I DID try disconnecting everything in the loop but the Chorus and still had the same white noise. The only common denominator was the wah was still hooked up. I only had about 5 minutes to mess with troubleshooting. Is it possible the noise is coming from the wah and it doesn't want to play nice?

 

[baron55]

In my experience dunlop wah's are tone suckers, thus the reason the true bypass mod is popular with them. If you unplug the wah, does the noise go away

 

[JerEvil]

In my experience dunlop wah's are tone suckers, thus the reason the true bypass mod is popular with them. If you unplug the wah, does the noise go away

I'll have to try that. As I mentioned, I had about 5 minutes to mess with it and it did not occur to me to unplug it. I will definitely try that when I get home though.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[JerEvil]

Someone mentioned that digital pedals like my TC Reverb should not be used with the BBE? THat sounds off to me. Why would using a digital pedal with analog on a solid power supply be an issue. I think that has nothing to do with the noise issue I am having as I removed it from the signal chain and tried just running the chorus powered by a battery and still had the issue. Only the way was hooked up in addition.

 

[baron55]

Someone mentioned that digital pedals like my TC Reverb should not be used with the BBE? THat sounds off to me. Why would using a digital pedal with analog on a solid power supply be an issue. I think that has nothing to do with the noise issue I am having as I removed it from the signal chain and tried just running the chorus powered by a battery and still had the issue. Only the way was hooked up in addition.

Well it is obvious it is not the TC, because the issue is still there when it is not in the signal path. I have used all kinds of power supplies with he TC stuff with no issues. Focus on the common denominator, the WAh

So very simple, start with nothing. Add an effect one at a time in the loop with nothing out front. If you get the loop all hooked up and still no noise, then try the wah out front. If the noise appears, then remove everything from the loop with he wah still plugged in, do you have noise?

Basically you are going to have to troubleshoot this, one effect at a time. Also it is possible that the sum of the pedals causes a ground loop, but that is more of a lower frequency hum then white noise.

 

[JerEvil]

Someone mentioned that digital pedals like my TC Reverb should not be used with the BBE? THat sounds off to me. Why would using a digital pedal with analog on a solid power supply be an issue. I think that has nothing to do with the noise issue I am having as I removed it from the signal chain and tried just running the chorus powered by a battery and still had the issue. Only the way was hooked up in addition.

Well it is obvious it is not the TC, because the issue is still there when it is not in the signal path. I have used all kinds of power supplies with he TC stuff with no issues. Focus on the common denominator, the WAh

That's what I thought. Who the hell would bother making a power supply unit that doesn't handle analog/digital at the same time! LOL.

Just found the manual for the CFH online. Does this mean there is a "True Bypass" option?

Switchable Output Jacks
"The Dime Crybaby® gives the user the ability to switch the input/output configuration for signal routing convenience. The two jacks on
the left hand side of the pedal can be configured as two effect outputs, with the right hand side jack as the input. In this configuration,
both left hand side jacks will be switched to bypass/effect alternatively when the toe switch is depressed. This is accomplished when
the small slide switch, JP2, on the internal PC board is put in the position closest to the toe of the pedal. When this switch is placed
in the alternate position, closest to the heel of the pedal, both the right hand side jack (input) and the left hand side jack closest to the
heel of the pedal, are hard wire connected together and are not switched. This is like a signal pass through configuration, and the
jack on the left hand side can then be used as an input and the adjacent jack (left jack closest to the toe of the pedal) as the output."

 

[baron55]

Someone mentioned that digital pedals like my TC Reverb should not be used with the BBE? THat sounds off to me. Why would using a digital pedal with analog on a solid power supply be an issue. I think that has nothing to do with the noise issue I am having as I removed it from the signal chain and tried just running the chorus powered by a battery and still had the issue. Only the way was hooked up in addition.

Well it is obvious it is not the TC, because the issue is still there when it is not in the signal path. I have used all kinds of power supplies with he TC stuff with no issues. Focus on the common denominator, the WAh

That's what I thought. Who the hell would bother making a power supply unit that doesn't handle analog/digital at the same time! LOL.

Just found the manual for the CFH online. Does this mean there is a "True Bypass" option?

Switchable Output Jacks
"The Dime Crybaby® gives the user the ability to switch the input/output configuration for signal routing convenience. The two jacks on
the left hand side of the pedal can be configured as two effect outputs, with the right hand side jack as the input. In this configuration,
both left hand side jacks will be switched to bypass/effect alternatively when the toe switch is depressed. This is accomplished when
the small slide switch, JP2, on the internal PC board is put in the position closest to the toe of the pedal. When this switch is placed
in the alternate position, closest to the heel of the pedal, both the right hand side jack (input) and the left hand side jack closest to the
heel of the pedal, are hard wire connected together and are not switched. This is like a signal pass through configuration, and the
jack on the left hand side can then be used as an input and the adjacent jack (left jack closest to the toe of the pedal) as the output."

No it's not true bypass. Most devices make a point to say true bypass. This way has a boost, most likely where the white noise is coming from, turn the boost off and see if you still have the noise

 

[baron55]

Here is some fact info from Dunlops site, this alone leads me to believe the noise is your wah


Q: Why do I hear radio stations through my wah pedal?
A: This is a common occurrence because the inductor in the Wah pedal acts as an antenna. When you are in an area with a lot of radio frequency, the pedal can and will pick up radio stations. It is not very easy to troubleshoot and fix, because it differs so greatly due to the different signals and the varying surroundings. What may work in one region might not work in another.

The first step in troubleshooting is to find out where in your rig the signal is coming from.

-First check to see if it is coming in through the AC Adapter. Use the effect with a battery and see if it is coming in through the wall. If it is, discontinue the use of the AC Adapter. If this doesn't work, then...

-Second, check to see if it is coming in through the guitar. Turn the volume of the guitar down to zero and see if you still get the radio signal. If yes, you might want to try putting a .0068-microfarad capacitor on the input jack between the tip and the shaft. (The capacitor can be a ceramic or polyester type and voltage rating of any size works.) This will also kill the high end of your sound. If this doesn't work, then...

-Third, check the inductor. If you have a metal inductor, you can purchase a shield from us and place it over the inductor with a ground wire that is placed under one of the screws on the PC Board. This acts as both an AC Hum and RF shield. (It is part number ECB99 - and lists for $12.00) If this doesn't work then...

-Fourth, open up the pedal and unsolder the black wire from the pot. Slide some Ferrite beads onto the wire and re-solder it. The size, number and shape of the beads depends upon the signal that you are getting, and we have not found any rhyme or reason as to which beads work with which signals. If this doesn't work then...

-Fifth, wrap the entire wire harness in Mumetal foil, which comes in a tape format, and hope that that works, because after that who knows!

Getting radio stations on your wah pedal is unfortunately the nature of the beast and has been since its inception. In some areas it is worse than others. It is especially bad in the Great Lakes region because the lakes act as large antennas sending out the radio signals to all areas - and all wah pedals.

 

[Enjolras56]

Is your power supply mounted under your board? If the wah is too close to it, it can cause issues. If so, try moving them further apart.

 

[JerEvil]

Is your power supply mounted under your board? If the wah is too close to it, it can cause issues. If so, try moving them further apart.

Actually it is right above the wah on top. I'll try moving that as well.

 

[just42dave]

In certain gigs i have horrible rf