Coolrails hum

[Iced Dragon]

Hi,

when I use my coolrail with overdrive/distortion, there's an annoying hum.
It was so when it was in neck-position and now I've swapped it for the middle and it's also humming. So is it the CR or bad grounding or so?
Clean is ok.

Do others also have this?

Thanks

 

[Iced Dragon]

Re: Coolrails hum

Edit: tested it on a higher volume, everything hums: Hotrails, Coolrails and TB4, decreases when touching the strings, pots or bridge. Didn't notice it before (put in the Hotrails yesterday-evening), only the Coolrails was humming before..
=> bad grounding or amp (high-gain Engl pre-amp?
Clean is ok.

 

[Travis]

Re: Coolrails hum

If the hum decreases when touching the strings, pots, or bridge, that makes me think ground issue. I've actually got the same problem with one of my guitars. I can't for the life of me find the problem, so I'm just going to yank everything out and start over. The electronics are 17 years old anyway.

Coincidently, this guitar has a Distortion/Cool Rails/Hot Rails combo. Go figure.

 

[Iced Dragon]

Re: Coolrails hum

funny, I replaced a distortion by the TB4...but an invader just arrived today...

anyway, all pots, groundings are on a 'copper-tape', I think I touched that tape with the soldering-iron (or what's it called?) and got through the tape, but I can't believe that would cause all that hum? There are 2 strips of tape, about 10cm long both and both over 1cm large...


EDIT: the hum seems to be with all of my guitars so I guess it's due to the high-gain settings of the amp or so?

 

[Boston Joe]

Re: Coolrails hum

I recently encountered similar problems-- tested several guitars to find that they were all humming; similar to a ground loop. I discovered that the amp's plug was causing the problems; either it's freyed or just not grounding properly. At the moment it's doing well.

 

[Fritz6]

Re: Coolrails hum

Bad house wiring could cause it also. My guitars hum at my apt, nowhere else. Make sure outlet is properly grounded also. High gain amp'll make bad wiring sound worse. Check guitar connections with multi-meter.

 

[LesStrat]

Re: Coolrails hum

If it's with all of your guitars, then the problem is not the axes. Start by checking your cable. Use a different one and see if it continues. Are you using effects boxes/units? Take them out of the chain and see if it continues. Then check the amp. Is it grounding? Are their flourescent lights in the room? Does it hum when you play elsewhere?