Big Buzz From Guitar Pickups -- Help!

[EARMEN85]

First post, inexperienced at recording. Sorry if dumb.
But, we recently moved, and in the section of our new apartment where we put my amps, guitars, and 8 track digital deck, there seems to be a strong electrical field.
Whenever I plug in, and this can be thru an amp or direct into the deck, there is a very pronounced buzz. It's able to be somewhat reduced by controlling my orientation, but never eliminated. It doesn't exist in other parts of the apartment, but it's not possible to do my stuff there; we built a dedicated room for my music.
There is a circuit breaker box in the room with my stuff, but this field extends many feet outside the room as well; it's not just the very local buzz such as when you play a single coil near an incandescent bulb.
I experience the buzz with both singles and buckers; worse with singles.

Someone has suggested to me that there exists a device that can cancel this buzz --
do any of you know what it is and where I can get it? We have a great space for music that I can't make any (electric) music in!!!
Thanks.

 

[ggunn]

First post, inexperienced at recording. Sorry if dumb.
But, we recently moved, and in the section of our new apartment where we put my amps, guitars, and 8 track digital deck, there seems to be a strong electrical field.
Whenever I plug in, and this can be thru an amp or direct into the deck, there is a very pronounced buzz. It's able to be somewhat reduced by controlling my orientation, but never eliminated. It doesn't exist in other parts of the apartment, but it's not possible to do my stuff there; we built a dedicated room for my music.
There is a circuit breaker box in the room with my stuff, but this field extends many feet outside the room as well; it's not just the very local buzz such as when you play a single coil near an incandescent bulb.
I experience the buzz with both singles and buckers; worse with singles.

Someone has suggested to me that there exists a device that can cancel this buzz --
do any of you know what it is and where I can get it? We have a great space for music that I can't make any (electric) music in!!!
Thanks.

You could just be SOL. I have some electrical distribution lines running alongside my garage studio, and they put a little bit of hum in just about everything, so I can never do "serious" recording out there. I've tried shielding, grounding, etc. , and nothing gets rid of it. It's the worst with a single coil pickup on a high gain amp when the guitarist is standing with the guitar parallel to the lines. The hum is cut about 80% if he turns 90 degrees.

I had the city come out with their meters and stuff, and all they could say is , "Yep, you got a field in here of (some number of) milligauss. Sorry about that." I asked them what I could do about it. They said, "Move."

 

[amra]

You can get something like this;
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/General/Accessories/Power/Conditioners?sku=182650

They make less expensive versions, but this is the one I have been looking at.
Try searching for "power conditioner"

 

[stetto]

With that distribution box where it is, and the fact that you're in an apartment building, the likelyhood is great that the main line for every apartment in the building, if not just your side of it, runs right up that wall...Look outside the window and see how close is the nearest transformer and transmission line; That'll do it too...

...And don't forget all those little labels on your gear, little love notes from the FCC stating that ALL of your equipment MUST accept interferance from other sources...Like TVs, radios, digital watches, computers, etc....Then multiply that by how many apartments surround you...The guy in the room above you may be a ham radio operator or some such shit...

This is why home ownership is so important...

Unless you can line your room with copper shielding tape or lead or something, I think ggunn has it pegged--SOL...

Eric

 

[EARMEN85]

Thanks To Ggunn, Amra, And Stetto.

I Am Hoping The Power Conditioner Thing Amra Suggested Will Do The Trick; That Is The Name Of The Device Another Friend Suggested.

I Appreciate The Input, Will Let You Know If I Find Success, Or Indeed If I Am Sol.

Only Question Is, Will The $60, Or The $200, Or The $1600 Unit Even Do The Trick?

 

[ggunn]

Thanks To Ggunn, Amra, And Stetto.

I Am Hoping The Power Conditioner Thing Amra Suggested Will Do The Trick; That Is The Name Of The Device Another Friend Suggested.

I Appreciate The Input, Will Let You Know If I Find Success, Or Indeed If I Am Sol.

Only Question Is, Will The $60, Or The $200, Or The $1600 Unit Even Do The Trick?

If it's RF coming at you, then NO power conditioner is going to help. Power conditioners only help with line noise.

 

[EARMEN85]

Well, I went out and got the Monster Power power conditioner for $200, and sorry to say, though it looks cool and is certainly a heavy-duty unit, it did not addresss my problem. It'll have to go back.

I think, and this is what the guy at the store told me he also thought, that it's the electromagnetic field in that part of the house interacting with my pickups - the noise comes before anything gets processed and would exist even absent any amplifying or recording/playback equipment. The equipment is picking up the noise from the guitar pickups; it's not originating any noise, just amplifying it.

Have tried to identify the worst and best combos --
Worst -- any single coil pickup alone.
Better -- humbuckers; I have Schecter splittable and Joe Barden Tele buckers; both give reasonably quiet signal.
Best -- Strat neck/middle or middle/bridge pickups together -- instantly these selections cancel most of the buzz.

Do any of you know if I can get my single coil pickups/guitars shielded to cancel this noise?

Thx !

 

[ggunn]

Well, I went out and got the Monster Power power conditioner for $200, and sorry to say, though it looks cool and is certainly a heavy-duty unit, it did not addresss my problem. It'll have to go back.

I think, and this is what the guy at the store told me he also thought, that it's the electromagnetic field in that part of the house interacting with my pickups - the noise comes before anything gets processed and would exist even absent any amplifying or recording/playback equipment. The equipment is picking up the noise from the guitar pickups; it's not originating any noise, just amplifying it.

Have tried to identify the worst and best combos --
Worst -- any single coil pickup alone.
Better -- humbuckers; I have Schecter splittable and Joe Barden Tele buckers; both give reasonably quiet signal.
Best -- Strat neck/middle or middle/bridge pickups together -- instantly these selections cancel most of the buzz.

Do any of you know if I can get my single coil pickups/guitars shielded to cancel this noise?

Thx !

Well, that's what I figured you would find out. Shielding probably won't help, either; low frequency RF is a tough nut. If you find something that works, please tell me.

My Strat is pretty quiet in the bridge/middle position, too; I think the pickups must be wound in opposite directions (the bridge pup is a replacement), so together they are acting as a humbucker.

 

[legionserial]

Do you by any chance have a dimmer switch in that room for the lights? I know thats what causes me major problems.

 

[EARMEN85]

No dimmer switch, though the light in there is a halogen.
But the electrical buzz effect extends throughout half the apartment, and I can't help but think that it's due to the lines going into the circuit breaker box that happens to be in the room. The field extends well beyond the room itself.
Elsewhere in the apartment -- no problem, but we built the room just for me to record in!
Doh!

 

[ggunn]

No dimmer switch, though the light in there is a halogen.
But the electrical buzz effect extends throughout half the apartment, and I can't help but think that it's due to the lines going into the circuit breaker box that happens to be in the room. The field extends well beyond the room itself.
Elsewhere in the apartment -- no problem, but we built the room just for me to record in!
Doh!

Is it the feed for a bunch of apts or just your own? The more current that goes through electrical lines, the more RF interference they emit.

 

[EARMEN85]

Don't believe it feeds the whole building, but fairly certain it feeds the whole line; that is, 14 floors of vertical apartments.
It seems I am fucked.

 

[Dani Pace]

Got any idea of how many other power lines run through (inside) your walls? It is quite possible that lines to other appartments run through your walls. You can check for electrical/magnetic fields in several ways, one of the simpleist is to slowly move along your walls holding a compass (about 4 inches from the wall.) If you pass a strong electrical field it will cause the needle to move. A carpenter's tool known as a "stud finder" will do the same thing. A transistor radio ( smaller and cheaper is better for this )moved along a wall will pick up interference from electrical wiring also. If you find a field strong enough to affect a compass needle it is definately strong enough to cause a lot of hum in almost any electrical device. There isn't much you can do to eliminate interference if it is caused by power lines. Grounded shielding may help but can be expensive and isn't very pleasant to look at. Aliminum mesh (screan wire) connected to a good grounding source and covering an area of interference might help to reduce some but is not likely to completely eliminate the problem. It's frustrating to have a noise (hum or whatever) which is beyond your control. As others have said, you may just be S O L.