Humming Wah

[The_Tonemonster]

Just put my pedalboard together exactly as I wanted it, made the cables, all that stuff. Went well until I stepped on the wah...instant electrical hum. Checked everything I could think of, no change until I noticed the hum decreased when I moved my wah away from the power supply (It had been directly over my power supply. Anyone else have this experience?

 

[Nacho8807]

Re: Humming Wah

What brand and model power supply and wah are you using? I've definitely heard of this but I didn't know proximity was a factor.

 

[The_Tonemonster]

Re: Humming Wah

Voodoo labs power supply. Had no problem whatsoever when everything was patched together on the ground. Moving it away reduced the noise quite a bit. Guess I will have to reconfigure or possibly try to shield the wah.

 

[The_Tonemonster]

Re: Humming Wah

MXR wahs, tried a couple different ones with the same result.

 

[hydro]

Re: Humming Wah

I have had this problem too, with a voodoo labs. You can try additional shielding with mu metal. I have not personally tried this, but have heard it may help.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Tqqqe7xReII

Sorry I am on my phone and can't do a proper vid link -

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Humming Wah

Rule of the wah...place it far away from a powersource....

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Humming Wah

Interesting, I'm assuming because of the inductors in both the Wah and Power Supply?

It's always been easier for me to have the wah off-board powered by battery. Since you have to unplug every time, the battery lasts forever.

 

[The_Tonemonster]

Re: Humming Wah

Thanks for the help! In 35 years of playing, I guess I just never had my wah that close to a power supply to notice this until now.