Radio signal interference...

[wickenspoet]

Hey guys. I'm using a rig consisting entirely of planet waves guitar and patch cables (which were expensive and I'm assuming they're shielded) My amp and pedal board are both plugged into a standard 3 prong power strip which is going to a grounded wall outlet.

Mi audio Crunch Box and Blues Pro overdrive pedals into delay pedal and a clean Roland JC 120 amp.

2 questions:

1) What could be the reason that I'm picking up radio signals with my humbucker equipped guitar whenever I engage one of my dirt boxes?

2) Why is the signal interference always mariachi music, bluegrass, or religious evangelism?

 

[jtougas]

Turn down each piece of equipment in the chain, going in order: guitar first, then each pedal you run through. Also, flip between your pickups, see if one brings it in louder than the other.

 

[LesStrat]

Re: Radio signal interference...

The signal already is being picked up, it's just that the pedals are amplifying it.

I had a receptacle that used to pick up a radio station.

 

[Bfeeney]

Re: Radio signal interference...

I had that happen to me when I was new to guitars. It FREAKED me out!! I was picking up some talk show guy I swore it was like a ghost talking to me or something. I was also hitting the pipe that day which didn't help!

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Radio signal interference...

I had that problem once and it turned out to be a bad cable. I ditched the cable and that took care of it.

I was getting radio stations with my Les Lius on. Turns out it was just really good at amplifying what my crappy cable picked up.

 

[jtougas]

The signal already is being picked up, it's just that the pedals are amplifying it.

I had a receptacle that used to pick up a radio station.

Yes.

The idea is to find out *where* it's being picked up. It isn't necessarily the guitar.

 

[Scott_F]

Re: Radio signal interference...

I get that now and then when i'm building a new amp. Good clue something ain't hooked up right!

 

[ErikH]

Re: Radio signal interference...

I ran in to this issue when I would jam at my brother-in-law's house. Turns out there was a radio transmitter tower nearby. I'd kick on a pedal and we'd be able to hear a local AM station. Was a cool way to catch the score of the hockey game when we were jamming while a game was on. Came in clear too. It only happened there too, never anywhere else. We chalked it up to a wiring issue somewhere in the garage.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Radio signal interference...

I get that now and then when i'm building a new amp. Good clue something ain't hooked up right!

Can you at least spam with working links? Effin' amateurs...

 

[uOpt]

Re: Radio signal interference...

To the OP. Verify you don't have a broken cable.

If the cables are not broken, then break one. You need to lift the ground between amp and pedal board.

 

[Red_Label]

Re: Radio signal interference...

2) Why is the signal interference always mariachi music, bluegrass, or religious evangelism?

I suspect that it's because those types of stations mostly seem to exist in a certain frequency range, which just so happens to be the range your gear wants to pick-up.

 

[Ball&Chain]

Re: Radio signal interference...

I had a mesa boogie awile back that would pick up transmitions that Im guess were from the middle east. The language sounded very arabic to me. It was pretty freaky and happened quite often.