how does one reduce 60 cycle hum

HerbieBoogie

HerbieBoogie

Active member
Hey All,

After taking a 2 year break from electric guitar, I have begun to assemble my new rig. So far I have a Mesa Lone Star for the amp, A Fender Jazzmaster for the guitar, and 3 pedals including a BB preamp, redwitch moon phaser, and a malekko ekko 616.

I did not have any hum until i introduced pedals into the mix. Does any one know how to reduce or eliminate 60 cycle hum?

It feels good to punish tubes again :rock:
 
I'm sure you want to fix the problem not throw a band-aide on it. What supply are you using for the pedals? Quality cables and placement of the pedals are key. You can start eliminating one pedal at a time and see if the hum goes away as well.



HerbieBoogie":3te9eqxa said:
Hey All,

After taking a 2 year break from electric guitar, I have begun to assemble my new rig. So far I have a Mesa Lone Star for the amp, A Fender Jazzmaster for the guitar, and 3 pedals including a BB preamp, redwitch moon phaser, and a malekko ekko 616.

I did not have any hum until i introduced pedals into the mix. Does any one know how to reduce or eliminate 60 cycle hum?

It feels good to punish tubes again :rock:
Click to expand...
 
It's a wonder someone hasn't come out with a simple 60Hz filter you plug in between your power bar & outlet.

:dunno:
 
Good quality power supply, patch cables, and a mild noise gate in the loop for the hiss every amp makes.

I use a cioks DC10, hosa patch cables, lava blue demon cables for guitar, amp, and loop. My rig is silent.
 
You probably have a ground loop. The good pedal power supplies have isolated outputs.
My supply isn't isolated but was ok because my buffer has an audio iso transformer that broke the loop.
You have to map out the ground path and make sure everything has one path to ground. Audio shielding and power supply.
 
PatF":wiqm373f said:
You probably have a ground loop. The good pedal power supplies have isolated outputs.
My supply isn't isolated but was ok because my buffer has an audio iso transformer that broke the loop.
You have to map out the ground path and make sure everything has one path to ground. Audio shielding and power supply.
Click to expand...

That right there. Get a good pedal power supply with isolated outputs


rcm78":wiqm373f said:
Good quality power supply, patch cables, and a mild noise gate in the loop for the hiss every amp makes.

I use a cioks DC10, hosa patch cables, lava blue demon cables for guitar, amp, and loop. My rig is silent.
Click to expand...

I use one of those as well. Low profile and rock solid. :thumbsup:
 
If you have pedals up front AND the loop and are using the same power (not isolated like on a PedalPower) you will get a ground loop.
 
1. Move away from/turn off the floresent lights
2. Move away and turn away from your amp
3. Get a power supply with isolated outputs (pedalpower etc)
4. Use humbuckers
5. Buy better quality patch cables. Evidence Audio Monorail and SIS plugs are my favourite
6. But better quality guitar cables. Mogami are my favourite

The solutions are listed from the simplest and most likely interference down to the potentially more expensive but lower impact than the one above it . They will all have a positive impact on cleaning up your signal.
 
Check out the pro stage audio for their rig building guide. It's a free download and
it will pretty much tell you everything you'd ever want to know about ground loops
and how to get rid of them.

Lukas is a real stand up guy and helpful beyond belief.

Good luck!
 
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