Quieting Amps Externally

[Skarekrough]

So, I've been playing my Vox Valvetronix in my basement fairly frequently.

The electrical service down there's fairly new but all the lights are on dimmers and as to be expected when any of them are on it hums like crazy.

Even with the lights off there's significant hum going on.

Is there a way to condition the power or something in order to change this?

I've also noticed that some patch cables, just by being plugged in to the amp alone, will cause more hum. What's hysterical is that some of the cheaper cables are actually VERY quiet yet some of the ones that were supposed to be more "premium" have turned out to be louder, almost to the point of being intolerable.

Thanks in advance.

 

[sosomething]

Re: Quieting Amps Externally

Is there a way to condition the power or something in order to change this?

Thanks in advance.

Maybe I'm misinterpreting your question, but isn't that what a power conditioner does?



http://www.sweetwater.com/c960--Power_Conditioners

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: Quieting Amps Externally

My understanding of what a power conditioner was that it acted as a regulator for power.

I guess I would be looking for something that removes the element that causes the hum.

Maybe I'm looking for something like this?

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HumX/

 

[ErikH]

Re: Quieting Amps Externally

That would be a voltage regulator. A power conditioner filters out the unnecessary garbage and noise from the power so it is clean. A voltage regulator helps keep the supply voltage constant without wavering. Some units have both together in one package.

That little HumX looks interesting.

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: Quieting Amps Externally

That would be a voltage regulator. A power conditioner filters out the unnecessary garbage and noise from the power so it is clean. A voltage regulator helps keep the supply voltage constant without wavering. Some units have both together in one package.

That little HumX looks interesting.

Ahh....now that makes a little more sense.

So it sounds like a power conditioner is what I'm looking for.

Do these HAVE to be rack-mount units? Are there any stand alone bricks like I see for UPS' for computers?

 

[Johnny L]

Re: Quieting Amps Externally

I know Monster makes some power-conditioning power strips for use with amps, etc. I'm pretty sure one of the guitarists in one of my bands uses one of these:

http://monstercable.com/productdisplay.asp?pin=2142

 

[ErikH]

Re: Quieting Amps Externally

Most of them are rack components. There are some out there though, like the ones from Monster, that are not. I have a Furman power block, the SS-6B, and it does the job enough for me. It has noise attenuation and surge protection built in. It's not as good as the rack units would be but it does the job.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Quieting Amps Externally

i've been thinking of getting a Conditioner for a while now... i found the source for some of the hum and buzz i get with my guitars and amps.. one is the hard wired fire detector on the ceiling out side my bed room... the closer i get to the hall the more noise i get and when i step out into the hall and hold my guitar up at face level i get some serious noise from that thing!

the other i found is my dad's garage below my floor has florecent lighting fixtures on the ceiling/my floor...

compaired to our old house i've had a fair bit of noise incress here...

 

[Fresh_Start]

Re: Quieting Amps Externally

Has anybody else tried a UPS (uninterruptable power supply) intended for a computer with their amp? I've got one that is old and the battery is shot, but it seems to clean up the crappy power here and make a single-ended amp quieter. Costs a lot less than that Monster boondoggle.

Chip

 

[ErikH]

Re: Quieting Amps Externally

I bet a UPS would be great for modeling amps. Think about it, they are computers, just tailored to guitar players without the LCD, keyboard and mouse.

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: Quieting Amps Externally

Has anybody else tried a UPS (uninterruptable power supply) intended for a computer with their amp? I've got one that is old and the battery is shot, but it seems to clean up the crappy power here and make a single-ended amp quieter. Costs a lot less than that Monster boondoggle.

Chip

I tried mine yesterday.

There was no real difference.

I think the idea is that it probably just prevents spikes via a fuse rather than acts as a power conditioner.

But as I don't have access to one I can't say for certain.

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: Quieting Amps Externally

Have you done a hard reset on the Vox? Sometimes the software gets buggy and needs a hard reset. I had mine making all grades of noise and it quietened down dramatically once I reset the amp. I even went so far as to replace the tubes because I thought one went microphonic. It was feeding back and squealing uncontrollably. I have not figured out how to use the pedalboard to backup my patches, so I have to reprogram them all each time I reset the amp.

 

[GoldenVulture]

Re: Quieting Amps Externally

B 4 you go buying anything!
Is your basement floor concrete?floors in such places quite often have a metal mesh in them to re-inforce them.The mesh also acts like an inductor and induces fields into nearby[on floor] devices .It could be the source of your hum.
The inductance can be strong enough to upset the very sensitive coils in CD laser,s;to the point they wont work, on the floor;raise the CD player a foot off the floor -it works.Maybe try putiing your amp up on something[ at least a foot] and see if that gets rid of the hum.Leads trailing on the floor might do the same thing!

Who fan ;could be similar prob ;mesh in the floors!?

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: Quieting Amps Externally

Have you done a hard reset on the Vox? Sometimes the software gets buggy and needs a hard reset. I had mine making all grades of noise and it quietened down dramatically once I reset the amp. I even went so far as to replace the tubes because I thought one went microphonic. It was feeding back and squealing uncontrollably. I have not figured out how to use the pedalboard to backup my patches, so I have to reprogram them all each time I reset the amp.

The amp spent an inordinate amount of time in Guitar Center so the reasonable thing for me to do would have been to reset the thing as soon as I got home.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen.

I probably should.

The only issue is that I have a few patches that I'd really rather not lose and I have no way to know what the specs on them are or how to back them up without buying a pedalboard.

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: Quieting Amps Externally

B 4 you go buying anything!
Is your basement floor concrete?floors in such places quite often have a metal mesh in them to re-inforce them.The mesh also acts like an inductor and induces fields into nearby[on floor] devices .It could be the source of your hum.
The inductance can be strong enough to upset the very sensitive coils in CD laser,s;to the point they wont work, on the floor;raise the CD player a foot off the floor -it works.Maybe try putiing your amp up on something[ at least a foot] and see if that gets rid of the hum.Leads trailing on the floor might do the same thing!

Who fan ;could be similar prob ;mesh in the floors!?

It is a concrete floor, but I don't think there;s any mesh to be concerned about.

The amp does the same thing when I have it a floor above on hardwood.

 

[GoldenVulture]

Re: Quieting Amps Externally

Do you have a two wire power system ? or three with earth?
If you don,t ;try a psuedo earth.In other words attatch a piece of wire to a metal part of the amp and the other end to a water pipe[if you have one in the basement-upstairs]or something metal that literally goes to the ground.[a metal support,maybe]

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: Quieting Amps Externally

The amp spent an inordinate amount of time in Guitar Center so the reasonable thing for me to do would have been to reset the thing as soon as I got home.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen.

I probably should.

The only issue is that I have a few patches that I'd really rather not lose and I have no way to know what the specs on them are or how to back them up without buying a pedalboard.

Easy fix. Pull up the patch that you want to document and sweep the knobs individually back and forth until the preset LED lights. Document where each knob is and you will eventually have the whole preset written down.