AMP + Pedals = buzzing and hum? (Desparate!)

[devilfish]

Hi,

I had band practice the other day and I am totally unhappy with my tone/sound and everything at the moment...so this thread is about asking for help to see if someone can identify my problem or give any advice to improve my situation with the amp/pedals side of things.

I’m currently using a Highway strat with a JB humbucker in the bridge and the original 2 singles.

A Marshall AVT275

These pedals (in order of the signal chain) - Dunlop Cry Baby - MXR Phase 90 - Visual sound Jekyll & Hyde - Bleat delay (I also have a compressor pedal but I haven’t added this yet)

Now...I turned on my amp stood well back and played, I got some hum from my guitar on all pickups not realizing my hand was touching the strings...when I took my hand off I got real BUZZ like not ear splittingly loud but was awful to hear it none the less.

I’m using my pedals with a 1spot 9V power supply and a daisy chain adapter to power the pedals. I’m using bog standard patch leads for the pedals (about the length of a ball point pen I’d say)

I’m using 2 planet waves custom gold plated leads swell

On all three pickups this buzz was heard, I have not touched the 2 singles in the middle and bridge yet it was exactly the same with all 3 pickup no matter how I split them using the switch.

Is this the pedals? What would be causing such buzz? Or is it the amp? Could this be a fault or what could I try?

I’m using the clean channel on around half gain, half volume, 1 third bass, 1 third middle and about 2 thirds treble with my pedals on top of this clean chanel.

The Jekyll & Hyde distortion made the buzz and hum worse but it was still there without the pedal even in the chain.

ANY help or advice will be GREATLY appreciated, I’m not very experienced with rigs and this is my first full setup I’ve had EVER so i have no experience fixing problems like this.

Thanks to anyone who can help

 

[scottish]

Re: AMP + Pedals = buzzing and hum? (Desparate!)

sounds like the grounding is screwed up in your guitar. if you have your strat cavity shielded and then all the grounds go to a lug on the shielding...that would be the first place i would look. it may have come loose

 

[devilfish]

Re: AMP + Pedals = buzzing and hum? (Desparate!)

Hi,

yeah its grounded with the paint stuff i think...am i looking underneath the pickguard or tremolo cover?

im pretty sure it has the soldering tag thing thats then soldered to a the back of a pot therefore bieng grounded to the output jack.

if that makes sense lol

thanks for the help..im getting nowhere at the moment haha

 

[devilfish]

Re: AMP + Pedals = buzzing and hum? (Desparate!)

AHHH i got it! but its not that...however i had a look at my soldering work and its aweful! it was my first EVER attempt at replacing a pickup and i realised my red and white wires are soldered to the back of a pot but arent connected to the ground directly by wire...could this be a reason for them all buzzing?

obviously tomorrow il get out my soldering iron and resolder those two wires but heres the thing....theres 2 pools of solder. one has a wire going direct to the ground on the output jack and one has the two ground wires from the single coils and a wire going to the solder trag on the conducting paint...whats going on??

hahaha, at the moment i have one volume pot, with my white and red wires from my JB HB on it....then separately from that ive got the ground wires from my 2 singles + the wire from the paint...then on another pool of solder ive got a few other connecting wires and the wire going to the output jack...

should it matter in the slightest that they arent all conected?

or should i unsolder that pot completely and put all wires on that pot together with a wire going to the output jack (ground)?

im a bit confused as to why fender would wire up the 2 single ground wires separately from the pool of solder with the wire going direct tot he output jack....doe sit matter? does the pot connect them all anyway?

if so...that isnt the problem is it? haha this is all buzzing around ym head at the moment.

any ideas as to what i shpould do with my wiring on the bakc of the volume pot?

thanks

 

[SlyFoxx]

Re: AMP + Pedals = buzzing and hum? (Desparate!)

Check the wire that runs from the trem springs claw to ground.

Also...are you near fluorescent lights or a neon light? Both give off a lot of EM garbage that can cause havoc.

 

[devilfish]

Re: AMP + Pedals = buzzing and hum? (Desparate!)

Hi,

yes the trem wire is fine as fara s i can see its jsut the wiring mess i have explained above.

and no ive tried this in a few places now but its either the guitar wiring, my amp, or my pedals in use with my amp.

at the moment im so confused with the mess ive explained above thats my first priority.

 

[ErikH]

Re: AMP + Pedals = buzzing and hum? (Desparate!)

Ok, problem number 1. Your JB is always split if you have the red and white wires connected to the back of the pot (which is connected to ground via the wire to the jack ground tab). Disconnect those, lightly solder them together and cover with a small piece electrical tape.

The black wire should go to the switch where the old bridge pickup's hot wire was, green and bare to the back of the pot. Single-coil grounds (mid and neck) to the back of the pot. Trem claw wire to the back of the pot as well.

Since you're running the stock Fender singles, you should reverse the green and black wires (green = hot to switch and black = ground to back of pot).

obviously tomorrow il get out my soldering iron and resolder those two wires but heres the thing....theres 2 pools of solder. one has a wire going direct to the ground on the output jack and one has the two ground wires from the single coils and a wire going to the solder trag on the conducting paint...whats going on??

hahaha, at the moment i have one volume pot, with my white and red wires from my JB HB on it....then separately from that ive got the ground wires from my 2 singles + the wire from the paint...then on another pool of solder ive got a few other connecting wires and the wire going to the output jack...

should it matter in the slightest that they arent all conected?

They ARE all connected via the metal of the pot. The solder keeps them in place. There is nothing wrong with that, perfectly normal.

Get the JB wiring cleaned up and I bet you'll be fine. Refer to the Duncan wiring diagrams if you're unsure of where to solder the JB's wires to.

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: AMP + Pedals = buzzing and hum? (Desparate!)

AHHH i got it! but its not that...however i had a look at my soldering work and its aweful! it was my first EVER attempt at replacing a pickup and i realised my red and white wires are soldered to the back of a pot but arent connected to the ground directly by wire...could this be a reason for them all buzzing?

obviously tomorrow il get out my soldering iron and resolder those two wires but heres the thing....theres 2 pools of solder. one has a wire going direct to the ground on the output jack and one has the two ground wires from the single coils and a wire going to the solder trag on the conducting paint...whats going on??

hahaha, at the moment i have one volume pot, with my white and red wires from my JB HB on it....then separately from that ive got the ground wires from my 2 singles + the wire from the paint...then on another pool of solder ive got a few other connecting wires and the wire going to the output jack...

should it matter in the slightest that they arent all conected?

or should i unsolder that pot completely and put all wires on that pot together with a wire going to the output jack (ground)?

im a bit confused as to why fender would wire up the 2 single ground wires separately from the pool of solder with the wire going direct tot he output jack....doe sit matter? does the pot connect them all anyway?

if so...that isnt the problem is it? haha this is all buzzing around ym head at the moment.

any ideas as to what i shpould do with my wiring on the bakc of the volume pot?

thanks

Well, assuming you are not splitting the JB, the red and White wires should be soldered together and taped off, not soldered to anything but each other. If you have them soldered to ground as you described you are only using one coil of the JB. Black wire to switch, red and white together, green and bare to the back of a pot.

The ground wires on the pot to the jack and singles respectively is fine.

Honestly, It sounds like you are in a little over your head at the moment. You might consider letting a tech get you squared away.

 

[devilfish]

Re: AMP + Pedals = buzzing and hum? (Desparate!)

Hey,

ok...heres the sitation at the moment. the black and bare wires are soldred together and taped off...the green is soldred to the switch and the white and red are soldered to the back of the pot but not directly connected to any other wires on the back of the pot.

i will re solder everything and make it neater and i will add the white and red to the back of the pot but connected directly to the solder that has the ground wire going to the output jack.

this way i know in my head that the JB is definitely grounded directly to the ground.

does that sound about right.

i knowi sound like a complete idiot but most of its in my head i jsut get confused when it comes to wiring. also this was my very first wiring job and was just so happy it worked after i didnt really try my amp volume very high at all.

thanks

 

[ErikH]

Re: AMP + Pedals = buzzing and hum? (Desparate!)

Sorry, you have it all wrong. Didn't you read what TheArchitect and I posted above?

Red and White soldered together and taped off - NOT connected to anything.

Black is the hot to the switch, though with the Fender pickups, you may want to use Green instead. If you use Green for the hot, Black is ground. If you use Black for the hot, Green is ground.

The bare wire ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS goes to ground.

Don't forget there's the wiring diagrams that come with the pickups and in the schematics section of the web site.

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: AMP + Pedals = buzzing and hum? (Desparate!)

Hey,

ok...heres the sitation at the moment. the black and bare wires are soldred together and taped off...the green is soldred to the switch and the white and red are soldered to the back of the pot but not directly connected to any other wires on the back of the pot.

i will re solder everything and make it neater and i will add the white and red to the back of the pot but connected directly to the solder that has the ground wire going to the output jack.

this way i know in my head that the JB is definitely grounded directly to the ground.

does that sound about right.

i knowi sound like a complete idiot but most of its in my head i jsut get confused when it comes to wiring. also this was my very first wiring job and was just so happy it worked after i didnt really try my amp volume very high at all.

thanks

That doesn't sound even close.

Do NOT solder the red/white to the back of anything.

Step by step directions.
1) Solder red and white together and insulate joint with electrical tape.
2) Solder Green to the switch
3) Solder black and bare to the back of the pot.
4) Do not worry about how the other two pickups are wired. They are fine from the factory.

Quit worrying about whether thing are using the same solder on the back of the pot. Anything soldered to a pot will have a connection to anything else soldered to that pot.

 

[devilfish]

Re: AMP + Pedals = buzzing and hum? (Desparate!)

Hi,

ok thanks very much...i know i sound like an idiot. but im pretty sure i followed the wiring dirams perfectly...however...ive obviously done sometihng wrong so thanks very much for helping me

il follow those instructions step by step and get back to you...sorry for being an idiot!

 

[ErikH]

Re: AMP + Pedals = buzzing and hum? (Desparate!)

I don't know what wiring diagram you followed but it sure doesn't sound like one that I've ever some across.

 

[devilfish]

Re: AMP + Pedals = buzzing and hum? (Desparate!)

Hi,

yeah i get it i suck hahaa. i must have gone wrong somewhere. could these meana difference in tone? or and can it help with the overall buzz of it all?

thanks

 

[FAC]

Re: AMP + Pedals = buzzing and hum? (Desparate!)

Once you get your guitar squared away, you may want to experiment with your other gear to see if one or more items may be adversely affecting your tone.

As stated in other posts, the best way to do this is to start with your guitar directly connected to your amp (guitar > cable > amp---NO EFFECTS). Does it buzz or sound bad? If not, then add ONE effect. How does it sound now? If OK, then add another effect...and so on. By doing this step by step, you can isolate any problem effects or perhaps bad cables.

Hope this helps.

 

[ErikH]

Re: AMP + Pedals = buzzing and hum? (Desparate!)

It's a good bet that once you get the JB wiring squared away that the noise problem will be gone.

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: AMP + Pedals = buzzing and hum? (Desparate!)

Hi,

yeah i get it i suck hahaa. i must have gone wrong somewhere. could these meana difference in tone? or and can it help with the overall buzz of it all?

thanks

A very significant difference in tone from the JBjr. The bridge position should get a lot quieter as well.