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  #1  
Old 09-07-2020, 05:48 AM
hatamoto hatamoto is offline
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Default Is my amp broken?

Hi everyone,

First time I'm experiencing this since I'm only starting to play electric now. I noticed that a week ago my guitar or amp started to make a whitenoise/static sound. At first I thought it was my guitar but I opened it up to see and found no loose wiring. Basically it would make a static sound when the cord is connected to the amp (no guitar yet at this point). When plugging in my guitar the noise would disappear once I touch the strings or any metal part on the guitar. The only thing that would eliminate it is when using a wireless system so that's what I've been doing.

So today, it got worse, the whitenoise static sound changed into a loud static/crackling sound. It would only start once I plug in the cord only. Plugging in my guitar doesn't fix it unless I hold the guitar in playing position and I have to be touching any metal part. Simply touching a metal part without actually holding it in playing position doesn't eliminate the noise.

Youtube links below. First one is not mine but the sound is the same when it was "better". Second one is me.

I've tried a few things such as turning off my lights, turning off my computer, plugging it into another power source. No luck

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7WkFEVbxu8 (before-not my video)

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XS9...ature=youtu.be (mine)

If you're watching with headphones, don't have it cranked to max volume. It gets pretty loud.
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  #2  
Old 09-07-2020, 06:19 AM
Dru Edwards Dru Edwards is offline
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When you have a new noise issue and it goes away when you touch a metal part of your guitar then it may be a grounding issue (as you already thought of). Perhaps there's a loose connection at the output jack - did you check the soldering point there? It's common for the screw to come lose and twist/loosen the wires.

Given that it goes away with the wireless I'm guessing it's not an issue with the amp's input jack or the guitar's input jack. Is there a different cable/connection that is used with the wireless? Did you try a different cable?
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  #3  
Old 09-07-2020, 07:07 AM
hatamoto hatamoto is offline
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I'll check if the input jack connection is loose so I'll take it apart again tomorrow.

I only have two cables. One is attached to the wireless receiver/charger of the actual wireless jack which goes through the amp. The other one is connected to a looper pedal. I've tried using both cables and they both are noisy.

I don't think it's an issue with the guitar, but I could be wrong. I tested it with a multimeter under ohms setting, and everything including the input jack wire tested ok, meaning the meter hand moved, is that correct?

Unfortunately all shops are closed right now so I can't take it to a guitar tech yet...
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  #4  
Old 09-07-2020, 07:33 AM
YamahaGuy YamahaGuy is offline
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I wouldn't be surprised if you have a bad cable. Are you running your looper pedal off battery or wall wart? If you're using a/c power, is the amp and looper plugged into the same outlet or power strip? If not, they should be. That could be creating a ground loop issue. Do yourself a favor and get some new instrument and patch cables that have Neutrik connectors. Then see what happens.

Have you tried a different outlet in the house? Some appliances, like refrigerators make a lot of a/c hum. Try a different circuit in the house.

Also, you should never turn your amp on with a cable plugged into it and no guitar hooked up. You will experience that static sound every time. Do not turn your amp on unless your guitar is hooked up to it.
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Last edited by YamahaGuy; 09-07-2020 at 07:40 AM.
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  #5  
Old 09-07-2020, 07:46 AM
Puerto Player Puerto Player is offline
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Above; never turn your amp on without having guitar plugged into it.

Are you sure you're using instrument cables only in your guitar to looper to amp connections and not a speaker cable?
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  #6  
Old 09-07-2020, 07:49 AM
Paleolith54 Paleolith54 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hatamoto View Post
Hi everyone,

First time I'm experiencing this since I'm only starting to play electric now. I noticed that a week ago my guitar or amp started to make a whitenoise/static sound. At first I thought it was my guitar but I opened it up to see and found no loose wiring. Basically it would make a static sound when the cord is connected to the amp (no guitar yet at this point). When plugging in my guitar the noise would disappear once I touch the strings or any metal part on the guitar. The only thing that would eliminate it is when using a wireless system so that's what I've been doing.

So today, it got worse, the whitenoise static sound changed into a loud static/crackling sound. It would only start once I plug in the cord only. Plugging in my guitar doesn't fix it unless I hold the guitar in playing position and I have to be touching any metal part. Simply touching a metal part without actually holding it in playing position doesn't eliminate the noise.

Youtube links below. First one is not mine but the sound is the same when it was "better". Second one is me.

I've tried a few things such as turning off my lights, turning off my computer, plugging it into another power source. No luck

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7WkFEVbxu8 (before-not my video)

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XS9...ature=youtu.be (mine)

If you're watching with headphones, don't have it cranked to max volume. It gets pretty loud.
Sounds like a grounding problem with the guitar, but could be other things too. Get the wireless stuff out of the equation, then just change one thing at a time until you eliminate extraneous variables. So, try a different cable. Then the same cable but a different guitar. Then maybe the same cable and guitar but into a different amp. Just that should narrow it down pretty definitively (in terms of the source.)
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  #7  
Old 09-07-2020, 06:06 PM
hatamoto hatamoto is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by YamahaGuy View Post
I wouldn't be surprised if you have a bad cable. Are you running your looper pedal off battery or wall wart? If you're using a/c power, is the amp and looper plugged into the same outlet or power strip? If not, they should be. That could be creating a ground loop issue. Do yourself a favor and get some new instrument and patch cables that have Neutrik connectors. Then see what happens.

Have you tried a different outlet in the house? Some appliances, like refrigerators make a lot of a/c hum. Try a different circuit in the house.

Also, you should never turn your amp on with a cable plugged into it and no guitar hooked up. You will experience that static sound every time. Do not turn your amp on unless your guitar is hooked up to it.
Yes I'm using an a/c powered looper and both the looper and amp are plugged in the same power strip. I'll go get a neutrik equipped cable and see.

Also tried other plugs in the house with the same result.
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  #8  
Old 09-07-2020, 06:08 PM
hatamoto hatamoto is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Puerto Player View Post
Above; never turn your amp on without having guitar plugged into it.

Are you sure you're using instrument cables only in your guitar to looper to amp connections and not a speaker cable?
Yes. I bought two cables from the guitar store just to have this setup. One is a Planet Waves brand and the other is Ernie Ball.
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  #9  
Old 09-07-2020, 06:12 PM
hatamoto hatamoto is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Paleolith54 View Post
Sounds like a grounding problem with the guitar, but could be other things too. Get the wireless stuff out of the equation, then just change one thing at a time until you eliminate extraneous variables. So, try a different cable. Then the same cable but a different guitar. Then maybe the same cable and guitar but into a different amp. Just that should narrow it down pretty definitively (in terms of the source.)
I'll see what else I can do. Unfortunately this is my only electric and only amp and I have no one else to borrow from. I have one acoustic that's equipped with a K&K Mini Bridge Pickup (no battery required). I plugged it in and no hum, but will that count?

I've emailed Vox about this so we'll see if they reply. I don't want to resort to replacing the 12AX7 yet....
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  #10  
Old 09-07-2020, 09:56 PM
hatamoto hatamoto is offline
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Tried it again after a few hours. The annoying loud crackle is gone and now it's just static hissing just like this---> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7WkFEVbxu8

The only thing different that day was that it was raining pretty hard outside. Not sure if that is the cause?
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  #11  
Old 09-08-2020, 07:23 AM
Paleolith54 Paleolith54 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hatamoto View Post
Tried it again after a few hours. The annoying loud crackle is gone and now it's just static hissing just like this---> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7WkFEVbxu8

The only thing different that day was that it was raining pretty hard outside. Not sure if that is the cause?
Try taking it all to a place with clean power, plug in and see what you get.
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  #12  
Old 09-08-2020, 07:47 AM
roylor4 roylor4 is offline
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Sounds like the problem may be your guitar, or at least part of it.
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  #13  
Old 09-08-2020, 07:52 AM
CSB123 CSB123 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hatamoto View Post
Tried it again after a few hours. The annoying loud crackle is gone and now it's just static hissing just like this---> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7WkFEVbxu8

The only thing different that day was that it was raining pretty hard outside. Not sure if that is the cause?

When i first powered on my vox ac15hw the very first day,i had exactly the same hissing as this, and freaked out, for me thankfully it was just a combination of top boost volume and normal volume was cranked. When I dialed those down and dialed back up correctly it was gone, and comes in again as i crank the gain On top boost.

I am also new to electric, so unsure if this is at all helpful.

What i did do at the time was :

Switch out cables (didn’t help in my case)
Moved amp to various plug out lets and off any extension leads etc (didn’t help)
Made sure i had no other electrical equipment close by that could cause interference (didn’t help)

Twisted a lot of knobs till i figured out what made it worse and better, before figuring out its normal and dialed it out.

Your first video however, is more concerning with that rattle and hum.
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  #14  
Old 09-08-2020, 08:27 AM
hatamoto hatamoto is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CSB123 View Post
When i first powered on my vox ac15hw the very first day,i had exactly the same hissing as this, and freaked out, for me thankfully it was just a combination of top boost volume and normal volume was cranked. When I dialed those down and dialed back up correctly it was gone, and comes in again as i crank the gain On top boost.

I am also new to electric, so unsure if this is at all helpful.

What i did do at the time was :

Switch out cables (didn’t help in my case)
Moved amp to various plug out lets and off any extension leads etc (didn’t help)
Made sure i had no other electrical equipment close by that could cause interference (didn’t help)

Twisted a lot of knobs till i figured out what made it worse and better, before figuring out its normal and dialed it out.

Your first video however, is more concerning with that rattle and hum.

I finally figured it out! I feel pretty silly about this but I just had noise cancelling off all along! I didn't even know it had this feature. Had to read the manual again as the controls are not really that intuitive but problem solved!
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  #15  
Old 09-08-2020, 08:54 AM
CSB123 CSB123 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hatamoto View Post
I finally figured it out! I feel pretty silly about this but I just had noise cancelling off all along! I didn't even know it had this feature. Had to read the manual again as the controls are not really that intuitive but problem solved!
Well isn’t that just fantastic outcome !!!

Might feel like a noob, but better than the alternative, was exactly my experience the first time too haha

Switch on, freak out, think its broken, all the frustration of returning It etc.

Soooooo much better if its simply a user error

Enjoy it, and have loads of fun and noise
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