help me shut my amps up...

[XSSIVE]

well all 4 of my heads (engl powerball, mesa dual recto, marshall '79 JMP and Peavey Ultra Plus) all do the typical high gain hum at idle no matter what and it's starting to bug me more now than ever before (some more than others due to the way they are built). granted once i start playing it's all gone but if there is a quick no sound pause in a song you get some hum where there should be no sound.

i know it's partly home wiring since my entire house has more electronics in the outlets than a best buy showroom. i also have all 4 amps and my pedalboard plugged into one pair of outlets so i know that can't help. however, i have no other choices due to the outlet layout in the room my amps are in. so a furman PL-Plus II conditioner is certainly on my list to help the problem.

now comes some form or noise supressor/reducer etc whatever term may fit. i'd like to stick with a rack mount unit and just put it in a simple 2 space rack with the furman.

so, the boss NS-2 is out (had one before and worked ok) as are the ISP pedal and the hush pedal.

what are my other rack mount choices? i've read some mixed reviews about the hush super C but so far it looks like it will fit the bill best as long as i don't physically abuse the unit. the ISP decimator pro rack is way too much $$$ for what i want/need at ~$400.

should i just go with the super C (any users of it?) or should i consider the ISP decimator pedal (again i rather stay away from a pedal and go rack mount though if possible).

what other rack mount units are out there that i should look into?

thanks!

-Mike

 

[Tom M]

Re: help me shut my amps up...

Turn your gain down! :nana:

 

[XSSIVE]

Re: help me shut my amps up...

crap i knew i forgot to cover that comment in my first post that one of you jokers would say lol. truth be told, my gain is between 12 and 1 o'clock max (depending on the amp) and that's not too crazy an amount of gain at all, more than enough to play some metal!!

-Mike

 

[Robert S.]

Re: help me shut my amps up...

The best fix that I have found is to run a gate between the preamp and power amp to fix the high gain hum problem. I have a Rocktron unit with Hush and that works great for front end transient noise but it doesn't kill the power amp gain hum.

The DXB 166XL compressor/limiter/gate used to be my solution. The gate is awesome and a little compression is always handy but there was one drawback. The gate level was constant so you had to do a balancing act between your clean and gained threshhold. My current solution is a TC Electronics G Major. Eack preset has its own gate settings so you can set a low gate for your clean presets and a higher gate for your high gain settings.

Works like a charm. I don't know of a midi switchable gate with presets.

 

[XSSIVE]

Re: help me shut my amps up...

Robert, thanks but i don't need anything that complex. all i want is a supressor or gate perhaps (whichever will work better). no effects or midi stuff. just plug it in the loop turn a knob and set it to shut my amp(s) up (and suck as little tone as possible) and go.

i just need to know what supressors or gates i should consider.

-Mike

 

[THE DUG]

Re: help me shut my amps up...

not trying to be an ass but do you have good cords?they will make a difference.if not get some good quality cords and use speaker cords for the speakers.cheap cords will add some to the noise.i dont know about the gates and stuff, but i have the same problem with hum/interference in our practice space,ive noticed some nights are worse than others as far as the hum goes.old wireing and tube amps dont mix.

 

[XSSIVE]

Re: help me shut my amps up...

i have loads of good cables of all brands, planet waves, monster, pro-co, george L's etc. i thought about that issue also but if it does it with every single cable i have (about 20 cables or so all of good quality) i know that's the least of the problem.

the power in my house is the main problem i think.

-Mike

 

[DeadSkinSlayer3]

Re: help me shut my amps up...

Is it hum that goes away when your volume (guitar volume) is on 0?


If so, an ISP Decimator or NS-2 will solve your problems.

 

[J Moose]

Re: help me shut my amps up...

the power in my house is the main problem i think.

Do you run multiple amps at the same time? Like an A/B/Y rig? Doing that can cause ground loops but they're generate MORE then a small buzz or some hiss...it's pretty noticeable...

Is there anything else sharing that AC circuit? Even things in other parts of the house? Dishwasher, microwaves...toasters, TVs, computers...lights with dimmers on them...

Ideally you'd have the amps on their own dedicated line, any recording or PA gear on another line, another run for "dirty" power like lights etc.

 

[XSSIVE]

Re: help me shut my amps up...

i just went and checked it...

when my guitar is plugged directly into any of the heads without my pedalboard the hum goes away 99% with the guitar volume on 0. but with the board plugged in only about 50% of the hum goes away. you can hear the hum change pitch as the guitar is slowly turned to 0. so now i know part or most i should say of it is due to the board and those stupid george l's connections i decided to try again. by just having the wires touch the hot and ground and not be soldered on to the cable plugs i still feel is a 1/2 ass way to do things. however everyone says the george l's are so great (since big name people use them they must be good right? LOL) so i thought i'd give them another try when i rebuilt my board. perhaps that was a bad idea and it's causing more of the problem than the house power may be.

i guess the logical thing to do would be to figure out the board hum and perhaps rewire it a-z and if that doesn't fix it i know the problem is in the power. it just started driving me crazy today since i was able to crank the amps (no one was home). i never stopped to check if it was the board by plugging the guitar in direct since i had only used the board at lower volume since it was finished :smack:

i think i'll still invest in a furman and some form of supressor or gate though just so i know i'm 100% covered and as close to 100% noise free as possible.

J: i'm pretty sure the amps do share a line with other things in other rooms but i'm not sure which. don't feel like hitting the breaker to find out either...just in case something important is on that line. as for multiple amps at once. sometimes i'll have two on at the same time with another person here playing at the same time. most times it's just my board and one head on though. then i swap cables around and switch to another head.

-Mike

 

[DeadSkinSlayer3]

Re: help me shut my amps up...

Alright - an NS-2 will fix most of your problems at the end of the pedal chain, but in the meantime, slowly eliminate pieces of gear to find exactly where it's comming from. "The Pedalboard" is really vague as to what could be causing it - could be the George L's, could be a pedal, who knows? Just eliminate things slowly to find exactly what it is.

And, if/when you do snag an NS-2, I've got a buddy who has one for sale in the trading post (page 3 LOL) for 50 .

 

[Kac]

Re: help me shut my amps up...

Damn... I didn't know there was an NS-2 for sale, I just bought one brand new.

Anyway, Mike, Get one, they're awesome!

Rock On ~ Kac

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: help me shut my amps up...

NS-2s are great for the cash and I like them as well as the ISP Decimator (which is what I'm using right now). I used to own a HUSH Super C and it wasn't as good as either of the two above pedals, trust me on that (I used it all the time with my Hughes & Kettner Triamp). Technology has gotten much better. It's too bad that the ISP rackmount Pro is so expensive because it looks killer (definitely the best option out there for noise supression)!

 

[jdm61]

Re: help me shut my amps up...

if it is your house power, get a dedicated outlet or two where you play. If you have a grounding problem like i did (hum is louder when you aren't touching a metal part ofg the guitar and it hums even with bucker equipped guitars), even a decent power conditioner won't totally cure that unless you buy a VERY expensive AC regenerator like the big PS Audio units. I'm not even sure if the big Monster volatge stabilizer unit would do the trick. for a really bad circuit. The Furman stuf definately won't cut it. It would be cheaper to rewire part of your house anyway :laugh2:

 

[Metalman_666]

Re: help me shut my amps up...

I think your best bet would be an ISP Decimator pedal in the loop of your amp, that is if you want to keep all of those pedals on your board. No doubt, it really does make your amp DEAD quiet, so you shouldn't have to worry about any noise.

I A/B'ed it with the Boss NS-2 (that I decided to keep because of it having a better front-of-amp gate chopoff ) and found that the ISP is definitely better for silencing your amp and not affecting tone.

 

[nahfuten]

Re: help me shut my amps up...

too bad I own XXSIVE's NS-2, and I don't feel like giving it back :laugh2:

 

[CapoFirstFret]

Re: help me shut my amps up...

if I remember correctly, XSSIVE's pedalboard is pretty xssive...so that could take a while sorting through all those pedals. I suggest a VHT Valvulator...it's a signal buffer and when i was running more pedals than I am now it took almost ALL of the hum out of my signal by giving me great regulated power to all of my pedals and also buffering my guitar signal so that it would run through the extra cables and circuitry without picking up any additional noise or interference.

 

[XSSIVE]

Re: help me shut my amps up...

nahfuten has a point he has my old NS-2 if i go with a pedal again i'm going to try out the ISP this time.

however the vast majority of the problem is once again the stupid George L's cables. this is strike 4 for them for me. they're OUT (and i even gave them an extra chance). time for something else custom...i'm thinking some G&H right angle plugs, pro-co cable and SOLDER, SOLDER, SOLDER should work great...enough of this push on no solder stuff!!

-Mike

 

[XSSIVE]

Re: help me shut my amps up...

my new board isn't that crazy at all...

-Mike

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: help me shut my amps up...

Try to lift the whole board from the floor!
Pedals picks up alot from the floor.