Eliminating Guitar and Amp noise

  • Thread starter Thread starter MarkoPolo
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MarkoPolo

MarkoPolo

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As everyone knows there are many Amps and guitars that are noisy, What are some fav gear and or tricks besides gating that some of you have found usefull in dealing with recording such guitars Amps etc ??? Thanks
 
I don't want to be smartass or anything, but look into proper grounding. It's amazing how many people overlook that simple idea. You can by "the best" guitar and amp set up you can imagine, but if you are not properly grounded, there will be noise.
 
There's a number of FFT based noise reduction programs that can do a good job of this. What you need to do with them is to record a few seconds of just the amp noise, with no guitar sound. Then the FFT filter can analyze the noise print and filter it's components out of the track. It's best to not try for 100% reduction, but this approach yeilds very good results with minimal impact on the instrument.

-RD
 
Try to pay attention to what the source of the noise, too. I bought a brand new amp and couldn't figure out why every time I took it to band rehearsal I got a clicking sound from it (tick, tick, tick).

It turns out that after a year of annoying noise, I discovered that an electric fence plugged into the garage outlet was causing my clicks.

Whaddya know?
 
At the mixing level, expanders are commonly used to reduce audible noise when the guitar isn't playing. It doesn't do anything for he noise when the guitar is being played, but usually the sounds masks the noise enough. Less agressive than gating, anway.

Chris
 
Please be more specific about the type of electric guitar you are recording and the type of noise you are referring too. I assume you are referring to the amps background noise (hiss).
 
I draw volume envelopes to eliminate amp noise. This eliminates any of the problems with gating or artifacts from noise reduction. Also, I don't use linear fade-in and fade-outs either... gotta use a curve so the fades aren't as obvious.
 
Don't record around CRT monitors, or you will never get rid of the noise. That is all I know, aside from using a Variax and A POD which will be as quiet as possible :) .
 
boomtap said:
Don't record around CRT monitors, or you will never get rid of the noise. That is all I know, aside from using a Variax and A POD which will be as quiet as possible :) .
Click to expand...

This may be a stupid question, but you won't have the noise problem with the monitor if it's turned off right? (I don't record to computer, but there is one in my control room.)
 
It helps if the CRT is off for sure, but I found it is a bit hard to hit record, turn the monitor off, record, then hit stop, because I like feedback on what I am recording while I am doing it. I recomend a LCD if you have $150 to spare.
 
thediscoking said:
Instead of defaulting to "fix it in the mix", take care of the problem in the guitar rig. Getting better pickups or investing $100 in a Boss noise supressor is so much easier and it is a permenant solution.
Click to expand...

I'm all about avoiding fixing things in the mix, but I think things like amp noise are practically unavoidable. I've got a Budda Superdrive 30 amp-- not exactly a cheap and crappy amp-- and it's a little hissy with the gain and master volume cranked. For recording, I plug an American Strat and a couple of vintage Ibanez Artists (both loaded with Seymour Duncans) into it without any pedals in-between.

I guess what I'm saying is that I've got a really nice guitar rig and I still have problems with amp noise when the guitar is not playing anything. I would rather "fix it in the mix" by drawing volume envelopes than let some noise supressor pedal jack with my tone. YMMV.
 
Yea, I have play a high gain set up, and use a Boss Noise suppressor live, but it does change the way your notes fade out. Not real noticeable in a live setup, but if you recorded like that, you would be stuck with it, and it might ruin an otherwise perfect take. You can always noise suppress it after the fact, and you can use it selectivley, and tweak and change however much you want before you mix it down....

Just some thoughts.
 
Don't forget the stomp boxes and pedals, some of them make a lot of noise. Good cables might help too. Amps and some guitars are sensitive to all sorts of interference so turn off everything you are not using, appliances and florescent lights are notorious for hum. Eliminate as much noise to start with as possible.
 
Fridges, flourescent lights and air conditioning will help to create hum through a guitar. Shutting as many of these things off as possible will help. Stay away from computer monitors. If you're using stomp boxes, power them with batteries rather than AC adapters. Electrical buzzing noises will fade in and out sometimes depending on if you're facing the pickups in a certain direction or not. Rotate the guitar (and player) to the direction that cancels the most noise. Single coil pickups are especially prone to these kinds of problems, but they also produce tones that you can't get from active pickups or humbuckers. Use cables that are as short as possible.


sl
 
sometimes "noise" is part of the guitar and amp sound... I like to keep it as natural as possible. oh and short cables won't do anything.
 
What program is Bruce using on that site? He's got a lot of control it seems.
 
I used some copper tape to shield my Pods and on the inside on my pick-ups.
That took care of the Guitar.
Got myself a Pod XL and that took care of my amp humming.
Also,when not playing and the guitar is on trying turning around to see if the hum goes away at certain spots and record in that spot.
 
Thanks for all the responces I was out of town for the weekend and didnt see them untill now.
Strats with single coil pickups seem to be real noisy and I have a guy that uses an old strat and plays threw a Fender amp, he will be recording in Jan at my studio, in the past it has been pretty hard to deal with, so I was just seeing if there was a product or grounding device that would help in this matter, I will be checking out all the ideas that have been printed here and will see what might work for Me.

http://www.backalleystudio-band.com/
 
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