Terrible Noise From Amp

  • Thread starter Thread starter Walt-Dogg
  • Start date Start date
Walt-Dogg said:
Well it's a tiny better now, not by much, so it's gotta be something else.
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The P-90 is (I'm pretty sure, and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong) a much hotter single coil pickup than is a Strat pickup. Consequently, it will pick up a lot more of everything, including noise from its surroundings. Shielding the routed cavity, especially underneath the pickup, *might* help, but it might not.

I've been playing a Strat (with single coil pickups) for over 30 years. Noise is *always* a problem with single coils. You figure out ways of dealing with it, reducing its effects on your playing, etc. but you aren't going to find a magic fix that will silence it.

Live it or live with it.
 
ocnor said:
If you are getting a loud buzz that stops as soon as you touch the strings then your bridge ground is bad and soldering may help.
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If his bridge is not grounded, touching the strings won't do anything.
 
This horrible noise... have you considered giving up and taking a vow of silence?
 
I think the wire to the bridge is bad, because the ground is not working at all.
 
The TS9-DX sucks on an amp with its distortion/gain engaged, either that or my pedal just has a bad ground.

Thanks for all your help.

Oh, my ADA6 does have a bad ground but I need to figure out where first, is there any way to figure that out?
 
Walt-Dogg said:
I think the wire to the bridge is bad, because the ground is not working at all.
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Be that as it may, it's not at all likely that the ground wire to the bridge is much of a factor, if any at all. But what exactly do you mean by "the ground is not working at all"?

In my opinion, what you have here is simply a hot single coil pickup going into a buttload of gain. You are going to have noise. Shielding may be an issue on an inexpensive guitar, but otherwise, what you've got is what you've got. You can't always get what you want.

For example, outside my studio on a utility easement, there is a set of medium voltage overhead electric distribution lines. A friend of mine likes to play his Strat into an overdriven Twin, but when he comes over to play, he has to stand facing north or south. If he faces east or west, his amp howls at 60Hz when he's got his volume up and not playing, because his pickups are "hearing" those electric lines. There's nothing wrong with either his guitar or his amp; it's just the combination of ambient conditions and the way he likes to set up his rig. We deal with it.
 
When I change the direction I play, the buzzing only slightly dissipates and comes back when I move again. So that's not really it.

I checked the guitar with another amp, albeit without gain, the guitar is not grounded.
 
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Walt-Dogg said:
When I change the direction I play, the buzzing only slightly dissipates and comes back when I move again. So that's not really it.
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That doesn't prove anything. In my studio there's a field from a line source which happens to be very directional. Where you are the ambient conditions are different; there may be several RF sources acting independently. The fact that it changes at all when you turn points toward external fields and not a problem with your equipment.

I hope you find something that helps, I really do, but I know for a fact that hot single coils through a lot of gain are very noise sensitive, and there may not be a damn thing you can do about it.

Good luck. I'd put in some shielding behind the pickup(s); I think that has the best chance of doing you some good.
 
ggunn said:
That doesn't prove anything. In my studio there's a field from a line source which happens to be very directional. Where you are the ambient conditions are different; there may be several RF sources acting independently. The fact that it changes at all when you turn points toward external fields and not a problem with your equipment.

I hope you find something that helps, I really do, but I know for a fact that hot single coils through a lot of gain are very noise sensitive, and there may not be a damn thing you can do about it.

Good luck. I'd put in some shielding behind the pickup(s); I think that has the best chance of doing you some good.
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Yeah that's what I said.

There's no way to really shield the pickups in an ADA6 I could shield the cavity though.

Well I can try again with my Strat...

Also, I'm taking the TS9-DX out of rig it doesn't do much more than add noise and a tiny bit of gain and sensitivity.
 
Walt-Dogg said:
There's no way to really shield the pickups in an ADA6 I could shield the cavity though.
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The cavity under the pickup(s) is what I was talking about. But if you're over it, then great. Live long and prosper.
 
ggunn said:
The cavity under the pickup(s) is what I was talking about. But if you're over it, then great. Live long and prosper.
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I just dont think there;'s a way to shield that cavity since the pickup is snug in it. I could shield the cavity where all the wiring is though.
 
Walt-Dogg said:
I just dont think there;'s a way to shield that cavity since the pickup is snug in it. I could shield the cavity where all the wiring is though.
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Well, shielding the electronics cavity cannot hurt, but the back side of that pickup is going to be the most noise sensitive area.
 
ggunn said:
Well, shielding the electronics cavity cannot hurt, but the back side of that pickup is going to be the most noise sensitive area.
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The bottom of the pickup has a bit of a dip in it, maybe I should put some foil shielding in that dip then?
 
Walt-Dogg said:
The bottom of the pickup has a bit of a dip in it, maybe I should put some foil shielding in that dip then?
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Without seeing it I can only talk in general terms, but shielding the back of the pickup might help you. You do know that the shield must be grounded to be effective, right?
 
ggunn said:
Without seeing it I can only talk in general terms, but shielding the back of the pickup might help you. You do know that the shield must be grounded to be effective, right?
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Never knew that. Well that impossible to do that. You can't route Plexiglas.
 
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