My amp picks up radio station?

[C-Martin]

This has been and issue for long... tho it wasnt that bad at first i began cranking the amp up more as the band got bigger and better equiped. When i use more overdrive on my amp while using a OD-1 or other pedals i have it picks up radio stations.. nothing clear and not that loud, just sort of in betwen two stations static but loud enough for if i everyone stops playing you can hear it.. its always been a bit noisy, but the radio thing is a bit odd.. any idea what could cause this? or is it something typical of the jtm-45 if boosted with more gain maybe?

 

[marvar]

Re: My amp picks up radio station?

do you get the radio without anything plugged into the amp?, if not, I'd be looking at the chain before the amp.

 

[Cory_Dylan]

Re: My amp picks up radio station?

That's pretty typical. Happens with my amp especially if I crank the amp and turn my guitar down. I would like to know where it comes from though.

 

[Danglin' Fury]

Re: My amp picks up radio station?

It's RF (Radio Frequency) interference. A Furman power conditioner should take care of that.:rocket:

 

[C-Martin]

Re: My amp picks up radio station?

It's RF (Radio Frequency) interference. A Furman power conditioner should take care of that.:rocket:

where do you find one of them power conditioners and how does it work? something you plug in or does it require moding? never heared of that thing

 

[J Moose]

Re: My amp picks up radio station?

Yah...RFI. Radio Frequncey Interference.

Good news is that it's a really common problem for a lot of devices besides guitar amps so there's a lot of things you can try to make it go away. Sometimes it's even easy to fix...sometimes it's kinda pesky.

Bad news is that it's sometimes hard as hell to track down because there are so many things that attract it from the chassis of the amp, to a stray cable, the guitar...and sometimes, rarely though...the power from the wall.

Running lots of gain just magnifes the problem.

That's 'cause it's "radio" waves...from radios, cell phones, microwaves, sattelites etc. We're surrounded by it constantly and it's quite near impossible to get away from.

Power conditioners (not any of the $100 Furman stuff!!!) do wonders at reducing EFI, electrical interference...but they ain't gonna do nothin' for radio interference.

Not unless you can break the laws of physics anyway!

Big loops & piles of cable are a magnet for this stuff. Those ions just LOVE tangles and piles of cable with voltage running through it. Coiled snakes are bad news and the same goes for random piles of AC cable, even surge strips around the house. Keeping audio & power cables as seperated as possible will greatly reduce the chances of picking up RFI.

I've literally gone into probably 20 different personal studios to troubleshoot this problem and in just about every case...even after guys bought "Furman" boxes for power, a simple rewiring to tidy things up cures or mostly elminates the problem.


Does the amp pick up the radio with nothing plugged into it?

If it does, take it somewhere else...your buddies house or something and see if it persists. Another room in the same building might be enough, but probably not. We want to see if it's "in the air" or not.

If the radio doesn't go away at 'yer buddies crib, then it's probably the amp and most likely a flaky ground.

If it DOES goes away well, then 'ya gotta start trouble shooting...piece by piece in the chain to see what's causing it at your home or wherever the amp is.


Hopefully you won't have to move.

 

[jotrimble23]

Re: My amp picks up radio station?

Yea i totally had that problem when i first got my Ampeg, since ive been using it in my basement i don't seem to get it anymore though. i still get a faint humming sound on the amp though (even on clean with volumes all the way down)..

 

[C-Martin]

Re: My amp picks up radio station?

this is at the studio.. and we've moved the amps/drum arround a few times and i always seem to pickup RFI, my friend never got any and he got a slightly stronger amp than me and he cranks the gain up higher than me too.. cant realy change rooms but i do remember when my amp was at home it wasnt that bad.. it stil picked up some very slight frequencies tho so its always been there..

 

[Scott_F]

Re: My amp picks up radio station?

Try a better quality guitar cable. (even if what you have is good quality, it might be old or have a crappy connection).

When I was trying to do the dual FX loops on the Dierdre, I had them in single stereo jacks, one each FX loop. I made some non-shielded Y splitters that turned out to be a very bad idea. Lots of noise and plenty of RF.

Like others have said well, unplug the guitar cable from the amp. If the noise goes away, it's the chain.

 

[Mincer]

Re: My amp picks up radio station?

ok, check this out. This happened *today*. Every 2 months I play outside in the park for the City of Tampa. So I go downtown with my pedalboard, my acoustic and a Crate Limo amp. This is really a mini PA, and it has a 10" and horn, 3 channels.
Thing is, it is battery powered. So is my pedalboard. I can play outside without any electricity- the Limo has a sealed internal battery good for over 6 hours at full volume, but I never had it that high. It is pretty loud.
So, I turn it on, and yes, Mexican radio (why is it always Mexican?). No cords plugged in, no AC power. Just turn it on, and there it is- almost as loud as the guitar signal when I plug it in. It only happens in Tampa at this particular place, so there must be a transmitter close by. Haven't found any solution yet.

 

[J Moose]

Re: My amp picks up radio station?

Thing is, it is battery powered. So is my pedalboard. I can play outside without any electricity- the Limo has a sealed internal battery good for over 6 hours at full volume, but I never had it that high. It is pretty loud.
So, I turn it on, and yes, Mexican radio (why is it always Mexican?). No cords plugged in, no AC power. Just turn it on, and there it is- almost as loud as the guitar signal when I plug it in. It only happens in Tampa at this particular place, so there must be a transmitter close by. Haven't found any solution yet.

heheheheheheheheh

You wanna know why?




You REALLY wanna know?!



Straight up.

I can say with a really solid hunch, I'm 94.79456% sure that you can thank your local pirate radio station set up for, & run by Mexicans. They get transmitters and setup in an apartment or basement or run-down office somewhere and blast the **** off the top of any one of maybe a thousand different rooftops.

It's a whole lotta fun when you roll into a place with 15 channels of wireless...


It's 110% illegal.

Feel free to call the FCC & tip them in. They LOVE this kinda stuff.

The pirate Mexican radio that's invading your amp is broadcasting on AM/FM bandwidth which is & always has been controlled & allocated by the US Gov't since the early days of radio...say 1920's or so. Originally those frequencies were allocated for military & other "offical" communications.

Anyone, and I mean, anybody who wants to broadcast FM/AM radio has to apply for a license. WDHA 105.5 NJFM...the call letters that identfy the station, there are laws in place stating that they need to be played.

Think about it...you hear the Mexican radio...you ever hear call letters?!

I've been in bajillion dollar studios where EVERY precaution is taken, no expenses spared, no details to small to be overlooked...and that **** still creeps in from time to time.

Nasty...NASTY stuff.




Our poor guitar rigs don't have a hope in hell.






Spinal Tap. :rocket:

 

[34029324079]

Re: My amp picks up radio station?

Haha

like spinal tap and stuff

"this is my 3 pickup with a wireless"

 

[WhoFan]

Re: My amp picks up radio station?

here's the cheap sollution.. at least it should work... My Classic 50 is like a home stereo/radio.... really bad at interference..

Someone told me to get a computer rated power bar strip with RF filters in it... So i went into Home Depot and they had some powerbars with RF filters marked down for clearance, priced $10.... Plug the amp into that power bar and no more noise from radio stations..

It really worked!

Peavey said to have my amp looked at by a pro repairman when i asked them about the radio interference, Called the repair guy, a very good one in my area that does pro guys gear... he said it could be anything that causes it... and went on to say not to worry about it if the power bar worked... so on his advise i have not looked into it farther

 

[YJM_Rocks]

Re: My amp picks up radio station?

My wah gets the oldies station. Sometimes you can tune it.

 

[Mephis]

Re: My amp picks up radio station?

My amp pickups up the weather station...

 

[YJM_Rocks]

Re: My amp picks up radio station?

My amp pickups up the weather station...

Hey at least its something useful :bigok:

 

[Mephis]

Re: My amp picks up radio station?

What's also funny is, even under high gain it comes through clear as a bell. What is with that lol?

 

[Markk]

Re: My amp picks up radio station?

Just accept it as a natural part of your playing, tone, sound, and setup. Learn to live with it and it'll stop bothering you because you and the radio station/signal become one!

 

[JohnnyGuitar]

Re: My amp picks up radio station?

What's also funny is, even under high gain it comes through clear as a bell. What is with that lol?

I once tested a Strat and when I switched to the high gain channel on the amp instead of the common distortion buzz I heared the radio playing loud and clear.

 

[milkbone]

Re: My amp picks up radio station?

Yea i totally had that problem when i first got my Ampeg, since ive been using it in my basement i don't seem to get it anymore though. i still get a faint humming sound on the amp though (even on clean with volumes all the way down)..

Funny! I played in church one sunday (Dads the music director) and I had my trusty Ampeg AX70 by my side and then loud and clear, I pick up the local police that must have been sitting outside running radar or somthing. Never happened before! Went straight from guitar - planet waves cable - boss tu2 - planet waves - to amp. Sould have seen the look the old man gave me for that one!:butkick: