VOX AD15VT (no FX Loop) wanna use Boss pedals, but noisy

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johnnymegabyte

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I just got VOX AD15VT amp. Sounds OK for my basement hobby playing, It doesn't have an FX loop, but I wanna use Boss pedals. Phaser / Flanger / Analog Delay / Digital Delay / Octaver / Original Cry Baby

I don't want to be limited to the onboard one FX at a time.
So, I put my Boss pedals from guitar straight into amp.
BUT... when using hi-gain amp sim ... I get some pulsating noise every other 20 seconds, for a few second, that sounds like a heartbeat or cheap drum-machine. This was without the cry baby connected, as I somehow lost the AC adapter, for it.

Any ideas or solutions ?
 
Remove one stomp box at a time from your signal chain to see if you can identify a culprit. I'm not sure if Boss pedals have true bypass or not.

Stupid question here: Have you run your guitar straight into the amp (no stomp boxes) with the same high-gain amp sim to see if the problem is not the stomps?

Also, do you have any sources of RF that might be causing interference (maybe a cell phone in your pocket or on top of the amp)?
 
Zaphod B said:
Stupid question here: Have you run your guitar straight into the amp (no stomp boxes) with the same high-gain amp sim to see if the problem is not the stomps?
Click to expand...
Yes, and clean ... not one issue, even with Gain on 10 with Hi-Gain Amp Sim's.

The possibiltiy of a few factors, as I have tried one pedal at a time, and still have the problem. These Boss pedals are from 1981 to 1983. And so are the AC adapters.
Maybe, I should try one via battery to see if that helps.
I even replaced my old short-cables between pedals with new ones last week. All my guitar cables are new, and guitar direct is A-OK.

I used to have these Boss pedals with a Marshall transitor 50 watt combo from 1982 up to 2000, with no issues and not using FX loop. I even had a Zeus Pre-amp overdrive pedal and that added no noise.

A friend suggested plugging the amp in another socket. His Marshall is sensitive if in the living room, he thinks because of the TV.
 
Interesting. I guess it could be power line noise but usually unless someone has got a vaccuum cleaner or something similar plugged into the same circuit, you wouldn't expect to have a problem. And if it only happens with the pedals plugged in you would have to think that they are the culprits. The pedals' wall warts should filter most line noise, but trying battery power is a good idea and will at least eliminate another possibility.

It does sound as if something is picking up some RF.
 
Thanks for your input

I have the Vox amp + Boss pedals on a power bar connected to another powerbar on the back my old stereo stand, which has my Pentium 3 + monitor and Yamaha 4 track recorder. The PC was not turned on while I was doing this. The nearest outlet has my wife's PC, so no gains there, if the oC is the culprit.

I had a power issue in an apartment where the TV and Receiver were on the same plug, and the receiver would not blast out the same power when the TV was on ... some form of power drain caused by TV. Moving the two to separate plugs made a big difference.

I am aware of the vacuum causing noise. Snow on TV and whining in the audio.

My music gear is down in the basement, and there could be other factors like the furnace, water heater ... I don't know.

I am having a grounding issue when I tried to connect my PC audio to my Panasonic surround receiver ... the cable TV was the culprit ... so I had to unplug the cable to listen to tunes from the PC. However, I have since setup my "studio" ofwith my old Sansui receiver 100 watts/channel and some studio monitors, and it has 2 feeds. One from PC and one from 4 track. PC feeds into 4 track, too. Audio quality is way better this way than via surround receiver, which is supposed to be 100 watts X 5, but seriously 1/3 in reality.
 
johnnymegabyte said:
The PC was not turned on while I was doing this.
Click to expand...

How about the monitor? Those things are major RF noisemakers.

johnnymegabyte said:
My music gear is down in the basement, and there could be other factors like the furnace, water heater ... I don't know.

I am having a grounding issue when I tried to connect my PC audio to my Panasonic surround receiver ...
Click to expand...
Sounds like there are some supply issues. At any rate, I would think that a modeling amp would be more sensitive to the higher frequency interference sources since that's where the digital circuitry plays.

Anyhow, good luck and I hope you get it ironed out.
 
Thanks Zaphod B :cool:
Gonna move the amp to another outlet and away from the PC + monitor -- -see if that helps.
But without the pedals, plugged straight-in everything is OK.
Also, going to experiment with batteries and one Boss pedal.
Keeping my fingers crossed.
 
hey all ... I returned the Vox AD15VT for the AD100VT. It has the Wattage setting and FX loop. $555 vs $190.
Even when the amp is set at 1 watt, it's pretty loud.

Interesting, the Boss analog delay in the FX loop wasn't sounding like it did in the guitar-to-amp chain. I have it set to give "big echo" like Alex Lifeson.
So, I moved it back between guitar and amp .. and the Delay pedal sounded right. And, no weird noises with hi-gain amp models.

Anybody experienced similar, where some pedals don't sound good in the FX loop, but do in the guitar-to-amp signal path ?

Now, I gotta find an 9V AC adapter for my original Cry Baby. Batteries ... I don't use no stinking batteries.
 
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