Guitar picking up computer noise?

E

ekstasis

New member
I've got a new electric guitar I'm plugging into the Inst inputs of my Digi002 rack.

When I apply compression or select an amplifier preset (Guitar Amp Pro in Logic Pro 7) that has a lot of gain, the hum/noise seems worse than it I would have guessed it should be (I come from a synthesizer background).

I don't think it's the guitar's internal electronics or a ground loop problem because I discovered today that if I hold the guitar with the neck vertical and the strings away from the studio equipment the hum/noise disappears! The guitar had to be just so: neck vertical, strings pointed away from the computer et al. In a specific spot in the room, too.

Also, the loudest noise I could get was to face the strings right nearby the computer.

So the guitar's pickups are acting like an antenna for the internal electronic noises of the computer, right? What does one do?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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Fun Facts:

G5 Dual 2.0, Logic 7, Digi 002R, Epiphone Les Paul ($500 recently), the noise is broadband (not effected by notching multiples of 60hz), and has random light clicks like a geiger counter.
 
Went out and bought a Monster Rock guitar cable. 95% shield coverage. There was no improvement. I'm guessing it's the pickups, but aren't they supposed to cancel out interference, because they're humbuckers?
 
Do you have a CRT or am LCD screen?

CRTs throw off a lot of EM garbage that guitars are good at picking up.

The guitar cable has nothing to do with it.

Guitars are also good at picking up noise from transformers (like in tube amps and computers and just about anything else electronic) YOu just need to get the guitar away from these things.

Humbuckers cancel the hum that the pickups make, not external stuff.
 
I got an LCD -- I guess it's the computer itself.

I think I'll return this 12ft Monster cable (which doesn't sound an iota different from my other cables) for a cheaper cable that's longer.
 
Electric guitars (especialy if you have single coil pickups) are notorious for picking up electrical interferance. Distance between the guitar and your computer/monitor is the best and cheapest cure. Yeah, it's hard to hit the record button from across the room so just give yourself a few seconds to move away from the computer before you start playing.
 
It could be as simple as just turning around. You also have to worry about how you are routing the guitar cable. If it is laying on top of the cabling coming out of the back of your computer, that's bad. If you are plugging it in to the back of the computer, that might be the problem. If it is sitting on top of any power cables, near any dimmer switches, etc...
 
Experiment. Move your guitar closer to your monitors, then closer to your PC . move it around till you find when it gets the loudest. If it does not get louder when you move it closer to your PC then its not your PC. Also I have seen CRT monitors waving when up against a wall. Which indicates that something behind the wall is emitting EM. So it may be something behind the wall.
 
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