I hate where I live.

Andrew Lamprecht

Minion of One
I live by a radio station and my fuzzes and wahs have always picked up radio signals. Now my treble booster started doing it last night. :cussing:
 
Re: I hate where I live.

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Re: I hate where I live.

Both.... I mean, I've had 2 fuzzes, 2 wahs, and the treble booster started doing it.

It wasn't crap either, a John Spina wah did it, a MXR 535Q, an analogman sunface, a basic audio scarab (? I forget which model I had), and now my rangemaster..... using both AC and battery depending on the pedal....

It is always the more raw circuits I guess because I only have problems with these types of pedals, never with overdrives or modulation or anything like that.
 
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Ha I'll never forget the first time my guitar picked up a cell phone conversation somehow while I was home alone at night...about 12 or 13 years old maybe. I nearly sh*t myself when I heard the voices. When I regained consciousness after passing out from fears of the supernatural, I realized what had happened.
 
Re: I hate where I live.

Ha I'll never forget the first time my guitar picked up a cell phone conversation somehow while I was home alone at night...about 12 or 13 years old maybe. I nearly sh*t myself when I heard the voices. When I regained consciousness after passing out from fears of the supernatural, I realized what had happened.

You can't see me right now, but I'm laughing my ass off. :fing2:
 
Re: I hate where I live.

get some ferrite beads or RF caps on the jacks and it should really cut things down for you.
 
Re: I hate where I live.

Where could I get those?

Sorry, I know very little about electronics. :)

You could put a 0.001uf from the tip of the output jack on the pedal to ground and it should do the trick you can get them from radioshack or any electronics place. A cheapo ceramic will do as all it's doing is bleeding rf frequencies to ground.

I usually do this on the input jack of amps that I build as that's the last input in my signal chain.

Ferrite beads I always get from mouser but they have a minimum order value that makes it non worthwhile just for one part as the postage will be more.
 
Re: I hate where I live.

Ferrite beads I always get from mouser but they have a minimum order value that makes it non worthwhile just for one part as the postage will be more.

Get him a part number and I'll order them, I'm planning on ordering some stuff from them next week.
 
Re: I hate where I live.

Get him a part number and I'll order them, I'm planning on ordering some stuff from them next week.

Most likely in this situation a cap from the tip to the sleeve on from the input jack.

Ferrite beads are a bit harder to recommend as the value/size varies depending on the frequency that is affecting you

there are loads here though and theyre really cheap so you can grab a few to try.

http://uk.mouser.com/Passive-Components/EMI-RFI-Components/_/N-18v9d?Keyword=ferrite+bead&FS=True

Another thing to check is where exactly the noise is being picked up in the chain.

It could just be one pedal or multiple or even the guitar or first cable.

One thing to keep in mind though is if you go too OTT with the rf caps it can affect the high end of your signal if all of your pedals are true bypass.
 
Re: I hate where I live.

...Does your control cavity have foil (aluminum or copper) shielding? Are your pedals and amp on isolated power supplies (avoiding ground loops)?
 
Re: I hate where I live.

...Does your control cavity have foil (aluminum or copper) shielding? Are your pedals and amp on isolated power supplies (avoiding ground loops)?

I am not sure about the shielding now that I think about it. It is an HH strat. It has happened with multiple guitars though.

I run everything on a one spot or battery.
 
Re: I hate where I live.

I am not sure about the shielding now that I think about it. It is an HH strat. It has happened with multiple guitars though.

I run everything on a one spot or battery.

Just as a process of elimination I would try everything one at a time on batteries with just two high quality cables preferably short ones.

This way you can find out exactly where the issue lies or is greater if it's in more than one spot.

Do you get the same issue when going straight from the guitar to the amp?

Shielding guitar cavities and even pickup cavities can also greatly help with this. Also turn off any pcs etc whilst doing the testing so you only have the items in use powered on.
 
Re: I hate where I live.

You could also look into getting a power conditioner such as this thing. It will help clean some of the RF noise out of your power and hopefully reduce noise some. This is the kind of gear that radio stations use to keep their own audio gear clean.

There are cheaper power conditioners than that one that will probably do the job just as well. I believe the most affordable Furman unit is about $65 or so new.
 
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Re: I hate where I live.

Build a Faraday cage from coat hangers large enough for you to stand in with your guitar and your amp. Then play exclusively from inside the cage.
 
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