Will a power conditioner solve my problem?

[playas]

Seems like a grounding issue, i.e. hum until you touch the guitar strings. First I thought it was a guitar I had wired as that was what I was playing when I first noticed it...but tested others and they are all the same (including guitars that I have wired and factory stock) that I´m pretty certain are fine.
...so I figured it had to be the amp...but after recently getting another amp the same thing happens, albeit not quite as bad...which leads me to think that it may be wiring in the apartment where I live.
I don´t ever remember it being an issue in my previous apartment, nor do I remember exactly when it started but it may have been after I moved.

I will try bringing one of the amps and a guitar somewhere else I can plug them in, to isolate it to the wiring at some point when it becomes feasible - not sure when that will be though.

FYI I live in Spain where house wiring has no earth connection on the sockets, just live and nuetral.

Any wisdom you´d like to share?

BTW I had no idea where to put this so I figure this was the best place...admins please feel free to move it if it belongs somewhere else.

[beaubrummels]

Are you in a two-prong house with the polarity reversed? I would check the outlets and make sure the building wiring is correct, first.

[playas]

Yes the wiring is two prong. I have no idea about the polarity though nor how to check it.

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Run a copper wire from an unused jack of your amp to one end of a 1m metal rod buried deep into the ground. Easy peasy. Very basic grounding but might not be feasible if you live upstairs.

[Gtrjunior]

I recently sold my house when I got divorced and bought a different house which still has wiring like yours.
I too noticed more noise present in the signal.
I’d guess that’s likely what you have going on.
I’m in the middle of completely rewiring my LP.
I shielded the cavity and just yesterday received the parts I had on order to complete the job. I should be able to finish up this weekend.
If I remember, I’ll let you know if it helps at all.

[playas]

Run a copper wire from an unused jack of your amp to one end of a 1m metal rod buried deep into the ground. Easy peasy. Very basic grounding but might not be feasible if you live upstairs.

Thanks, but I live on the fifth floor of an apartment block so not so practical

[ItsaBass]

No, a "power conditioner" will not ground your apartment!

Nor will a "power conditioner" of the type commonly sold to musicians really do anything for anyone. It is nothing but a glorified power strip with a high price tag.

[AlexR]

Ideas - keep your hands on the strings if it is quiet that way as you intimate.
Thats the whole point of that grounding setup after all.

[playas]

No, a "power conditioner" will not ground your apartment!

Well it was worth checking even though I figured that was probably the case.

[playas]

I’ve heard Tripp-Lite UltraBloks reduce audible background noise in some systems. They’re not expensive.

Thanks, I'll check those out

[Erlend_G]

I had a MAJOR ground hum, while at my uncles house. Turned out to be his lamp! :o

So, well- I think a good power conditioner would take those issues away.

-Erl

[NegativeEase]

I deal with this all the time all over the place. Honestly, do you know where the hum is being inducted into the system? Your 230V right? does the sound like 50hz hum? or does it change based on proximity to the lighting or appliances or does it change with type of guitar or amp? How loud is it? are you recording or have plans to and that's the issue?

Most power conditioners you see marketed have just surge protection, and some basic passive conditioning which will possibly filter only some AC noise to ground. those 150-400 dollar units may help a little -but it's almost as likely a waste of money without true active filtering or even better active filtering with full isolated transformer and AC to DC and back to AC conversion which those units start at 1000.00 +

How long do you plan to be in the house? If the hum is from EMF interference, adding an isolated technical ground after a true META soil resistance test is actually not very expensive to do (for a single room back to the panel -maybe 2 electricians a day or two -and then you'll have externally interfered power cleaned up.

But likely your grid power is dirty too, so it's a combo of conditioning and technical ground to make it studio reliably quiet.

So my recommendation is -identify the noise, try a few affordable passive conditioning units that you can return, try an active conditioner if you can't live with the noises, and if you are in the house 5-6+ years and the noise is unworkable and plan on recording a lot - add a conditioner and technical ground to the room after a real META test to get the best ground possible.

I should add that in the US, many recording studios are fine without an isolated technical ground or conditioning -it's all about EMF, Soil, Grid quality, Industrial use nearby, and gear. And most people not in an Urban environment are fine to roll with a little hum -that's the grit!

[playas]

I had a MAJOR ground hum, while at my uncles house. Turned out to be his lamp! :o

So, well- I think a good power conditioner would take those issues away.

-Erl

After reading this I tested something different and I am pretty sure it's the wifi causing the problem. I had forgotten that the wifi is Powerline.

I'm not recording, but the noise is kind of annoying just for normal playing.

Without the wifi there is a very minimal hum that's barely noticeable - unless I were to record - which I can live with.

BTW, yes it's 230 v 50 hz mains.

It's a big relief at least knowing where it's coming from

Unfortunately the wifi is necessary for work purposes so not always practical to unplug it, but at least knowing the source is useful.