Guitar Gear Forum

Concerning the dirty power from my house.. I've noticed it a lot lately and I'm fairly certain it's coming from my house power, but I'm not 100% sure.. There is without a Doubt times during the day where it's horrible and other times where it's fine.. With that said, if I unplug everything going into the amp, the hum is gone. If I plug back in just the cord and it's during the time where the noise/hum is at it's worst, then it hums like crazy.. If it's not during one of those times, then it's basically ok.. So, I guess I could be getting some nasty interference at times that is just the right frequency that it really interferes with playing.. And this happens with all my guitars at some point or another, so it's not them. I've tried different cables with no improvement.. Also, both amps have the same symptoms..

I also think it might be a grounding issue in the house, but I'm not sure that would be a periodic problem like I'm noticing.

I don't use a power conditioner or voltage regulator at the moment. Obviously, I'm not looking to spend a ton on a high priced solution, like some I've seen, and I don't want to buy a $100 glorified power strip which I think the low end Furman power conditioners seem to be.

Any advice from those who have dealt with similar noise issues and what power conditioners and/or voltage regulators that have helped you out..

EndTime wrote:Concerning the dirty power from my house.. I've noticed it a lot lately and I'm fairly certain it's coming from my house power, but I'm not 100% sure.. There is without a Doubt times during the day where it's horrible and other times where it's fine.. With that said, if I unplug everything going into the amp, the hum is gone. If I plug back in just the cord and it's during the time where the noise/hum is at it's worst, then it hums like crazy.. If it's not during one of those times, then it's basically ok.. So, I guess I could be getting some nasty interference at times that is just the right frequency that it really interferes with playing.. And this happens with all my guitars at some point or another, so it's not them. I've tried different cables with no improvement.. Also, both amps have the same symptoms..

I also think it might be a grounding issue in the house, but I'm not sure that would be a periodic problem like I'm noticing.

I don't use a power conditioner or voltage regulator at the moment. Obviously, I'm not looking to spend a ton on a high priced solution, like some I've seen, and I don't want to buy a $100 glorified power strip which I think the low end Furman power conditioners seem to be.

Any advice from those who have dealt with similar noise issues and what power conditioners and/or voltage regulators that have helped you out..

Are you using pedals? FX Loop?

I had a problem with one of the pedals causing a ground loop. I had to run it off a separate AC adapter instead of the DC Brick.

How are you powering your pedals? A One-Spot type device or something with isolated outputs like the PP2+?

If the former, dump that POS out immediately and get something like the PP2+ or a Cioks DC-10 (depending on how many and type of pedals you have, you can also opt for the smaller DC-8)

If you are 100% certain that your home has dirty power, I'd save up money and get a Voltage Regulator. They're pricey but it's a long term investment.

Check all your cords and try different guitars to rule out your guitar shielding or bad cords.

When you say "unplug everything" you mean effects pedals unplugged, or guitar unplugged too?

Is this a tube amp?

Check if the outlet is grounded. The testers are <$10. You just plug them in and see if they light up.

Other than that I'd look around the room and see if is anything is making noise e.g. a computer or fluorescent lights.

if the amp is quiet when nothing is plugged in then I doubt it's the houses wiring but as Wayne said above, there are cheap testers you can get to check if that's the problem.

as everyone else has asked above, are you using pedals and how are you powering them.... also, have you tried just plugging your guitar in to the amp directly? if so what kind of guitar do you have?