noise issues

[jsanfilippo5]

Hi All -

I have been dabbling with electric guitars again.. .And as usual gas got the best of this man, and I ended up with 3 electrics in my arsenal...

Anyway, I dont have an Amp at the moment - I actual had purchased a fender princeston reverb - but I have already returned my third one due to defective reverb tank.. So I am playing through amp simulators on my computer. They actual sound great - but the issue i am having is with noise.

When I let go of the strings i get noise, if i touch anything metal it goes away. If I touch the computer I am plugged into it goes away. This happens with all 3 electrics.. a tele, an epi es335, and an ibanez af75.

I am running direct into a presonus USB interface, into different apps, garageband, sometime guitar rig, and some times amplitube. OR sometimes ill go straight into garagband with nothing but a bit of reverb. Noise is horrible when I am playing quieter passages!!!

When I have mics plugged into the interface I get no noise... I figured becasue they have a balanced signal - So I bought a direct box so i can plug the guitar in and send it out through an XLR. Still have noise. The DI Box also has a ground lift. It makes no difference in the noise.

I also get no noise whne plugging in an acoustic electric...

This is really annoying and not sure where to go from here... I tried on a different computer as well AND tried on my laptop with no plug in the wall to see if it could be a grounding issue iwth my outlet... No go.

I read that this is just interference and to deal with it... but I cant help but feel that isnt right... But what the hell do i know!

Can anyone shed some light on this for me?

Thanks!

[pieterh]

Are you using grounded power outlets in your home?

[jsanfilippo5]

Yes. My outlets are grounded. I even tried different circuits in the house in case ground was not working on the circuit with my computer.

But if geounding was an issue wouldn't I experience issues with microphones, acoustic electric, or my electric keyboard?

Also when i use my laptop.running on batteries not plugged into my power system I have the same issues.

[pieterh]

Good point though RF interference is more likely to affect guitar than microphones etc.

Normally I would say it sounds like there might be a grounding fault in the guitars though if it has happening with all three that seems unlikely. I had terrible noise problems with my Tele until I bought copper shielding sheets and lined the cavities and linked it all to the grounding point at the controls. After that it was very quiet, almost quieter than my G&L. My son has an electric where the wire came loose from the grounding point in the vibrato cavity and that made it very noisy of course.

What was the noise floor like when you used an amp?

[jsanfilippo5]

I am playing around with this some more this morning..

So I originally had though my laptop on batteries was still giving me hum - BUT it is NOT! I must have had it plugged into the wall and didnt realize I didnt unplug it..

Tested on my laptop with battery - NO NOISE.
Tested with Laptop plugged into wall - NOISE

Tried my VOX headphone Amp on battery - NO NOISE

Tried direct on my zoom H4N recorder - NO NOISE

My guess is some type of interference in my electric system.

I have my computer hooked up to UPS/Power conditioner - so I would think that would clean up the power, or no??

Thanks for the respsonses!

[jsanfilippo5]

BTW . I did notice this when my Amp was here as well and it did have this issue - but wasnt as noticable.

[srick]

Can you describe the noise? Is it the 60 hz ac hum? Is it crackling? Are their voices (seriously - strong AM radio stations can do this)? Is it like a high buzz? A whine?

And does it vary in frequency or pattern?

One more thought - does it only happen in this room?

best,

Rick

[jsanfilippo5]

definitly not 60hz hum.

ill record it later today.

[jsanfilippo5]

i just ordered an outlet tester - should be here on tuesday. Im going to test if anything is going on with the outlets in the 2 rooms I tried in.. Both of these room are new addition to my house and new wiring. on 2 seperate circuits.

[srick]

Things to think about -

Light bulbs (fluorescent and LED); compressors (AC and refrigerator); poorly shielded computer components (including guitar effect pedals -(this is a big one); cell phones (is it in your pocket?). And one more - overhead lights and dimmers!

Rick

[jsanfilippo5]

Ill have to start turning stuff on teh electrical system off. I will do that when the wife isnt home.

no pedals being used.

actually turned cell phone off!

On tuesday when the tester comes i am going to test the outlets - Then I will go through each breaker on panel and turn each one off until i hopefull get no noise..

If i dont get any noise until I plug into my wall outlet - Im guessing it has to be something in the electrical line..

[srick]

Originally Posted by jsanfilippo5

If i dont get any noise until I plug into my wall outlet - Im guessing it has to be something in the electrical line..

I have heard cases about bad gfis causing noise. An old trick is to get a transistor am radio and tune it to the noise between the stations. Turn it up and see if you hear the noise. Then walk around the room/house/electrical box to see if you can pinpoint it.

[jwguitar]

Originally Posted by jsanfilippo5

Hi All -

I have been dabbling with electric guitars again.. .And as usual gas got the best of this man, and I ended up with 3 electrics in my arsenal...

Anyway, I dont have an Amp at the moment - I actual had purchased a fender princeston reverb - but I have already returned my third one due to defective reverb tank.. So I am playing through amp simulators on my computer. They actual sound great - but the issue i am having is with noise.

When I let go of the strings i get noise, if i touch anything metal it goes away. If I touch the computer I am plugged into it goes away. This happens with all 3 electrics.. a tele, an epi es335, and an ibanez af75.

I am running direct into a presonus USB interface, into different apps, garageband, sometime guitar rig, and some times amplitube. OR sometimes ill go straight into garagband with nothing but a bit of reverb. Noise is horrible when I am playing quieter passages!!!

When I have mics plugged into the interface I get no noise... I figured becasue they have a balanced signal - So I bought a direct box so i can plug the guitar in and send it out through an XLR. Still have noise. The DI Box also has a ground lift. It makes no difference in the noise.

I also get no noise whne plugging in an acoustic electric...

This is really annoying and not sure where to go from here... I tried on a different computer as well AND tried on my laptop with no plug in the wall to see if it could be a grounding issue iwth my outlet... No go.

I read that this is just interference and to deal with it... but I cant help but feel that isnt right... But what the hell do i know!

Can anyone shed some light on this for me?

Thanks!

The fact that you touch your guitar and you get no noise means that all three guitars are are grounded correctly. You might be getting interference with your amp because of either radio waves if you have towers nearby or possibly the wiring in your house. It could also be that the amp you are using does not have shielding.

[JeffreyAK]

Laptops run on DC power, so your laptop power cord has a transformer along the path that converts wall AC to DC. Transformers are notorious sources of electrical noise, and a simple test would be: Plug the cord into the wall, but not into the computer (so the computer is running on battery, but the transformer is powered up), and see if you still get noise. If so, unplug the cord from the wall and see if it goes away.

[jsanfilippo5]

I am convinced it is something in my home electrical system..

Using my laptop on battery I get ZERO NOISE. Once I plug it in the noise is back...

NOt using an amp at the moment - just direct into computer Audio interface