Guitar amp recording buzz!

[k1enneth]

The signal coming out of the Fender amp is clean, no noise, no effects, nor is it overdriven...into Shure sm 57...into tascam portastudio at clean green signal. The signal is exceptional going into headphones, but upon playback each note or chord is slightly preceded by fuzzy ghost of noise. All my chords are quality new chords and the computer moniter is off during recording. I have moved the mike away from the amp grill cloth to about 8" away and still seem to have this RF interference. (if that is what it be). Has anyone had similiar solution?Thanks.

 

[The Ghost of FM]

Try a ground lift on the guitar amp.

Some amps have a switch on the back of them for lifting the ground. If not, plug the amp and the recorder into the same power bar and everything else for that matter that is in the signal chain. There might be a ground loop problem which is causing the buzz.

Let us know if that worked.

Cheers!

 

[k1enneth]

buzz

No help...tried plugging into same outlet and the ground loop. I don't think it is a ground loop hum...I'm guessing...maybe some kind of rf interference of tube guitar amp-dynamic mic-humbucking guitar pickups. But it only comes thru on tape playback and not thru the headphones during tape cue...The noise does NOT come thru on vocals or the bass amp recording(solid state Bassman 60).

 

[k1enneth]

Mystery solved!

Tape-Tape-Tape...I am using TDK SA-X 60minute tape. If I play over a completely fresh section...no buzz...however if I re-record a couple of times (guitar track only) on one track, then the buzz reappears. It took 4hrs today to figure this out. And the previous tracks had drum machine stereo, bass on one track, and the guitar double tracked...in the same section of tape rerecorded a couple-three times each to get it right...So I guess print-thru is the term. Thanks for responding.

 

[The Ghost of FM]

It's not print through but, it might be a mal-functioning erase head which could be something as simple as excessive oxide on the head or a poor head to tape pressure or it could also be simple dbx processing artifacts that can be more audible on certain types of instruments.

It's probably best to judge the severity of the problem based on how audible this distortion or noise is when the mix is going in it's normal state.

Many soloed instruments may sound less then ideal when heard all alone but perfectly acceptable in a mix.

Try a different tape formulation as a test to see if it helps the problem and keep the tape path clean.

Also, bare in mind that cassette is not a perfect format for recording flawlessly. It has its limitations to the fidelity it can produce so, don't expect perfection from it or you will set yourself up to for a let down.

Cheers!

ps; post an mp3 of the track here with a link to where we can listen to this buzz to see the severity of the problem.

 

[k1enneth]

buzz

thanks, I've had this recorder only a couple of months, and I believe there is more than meets the eye. Two steps forward, and one step back. When I get more versed, I'll post something for all to hear. Today's wrinkle took a lot of detective work, and since I bought a dozen of these TDK tapes, I don't want to toss em if I know their limitations. I can just work around it.