Humming sound from Amp

liangerism

liangerism

New member
Hi all,

I have this constant humming from studio amps whenever i activated my pedals.

I'm using a series of pedals, which includes an overdrive, 2 distortions and a Zoom multi-effect, all connected together in short cables and a daisy chain.

Is this suppose to be normal? Or there's a way to eliminate this?

It might look stupid to post this thread, but I'm a newbie and i would like to find out more. So I need guidance from you guys.

Cheers.
 
Some MFX processors cannot be used alongside single stompboxes, but there are some who use Zooms together with other pedals and it works fine apparently. How about you try without the other pedals / the Zoom MFX, and see if the humming still occurs?

By studio amp, you mean amplifiers in jamming studios? Maybe you can share which jamming studios you're talking about too, because there are some studios with improper positioning of things, causing a lot of hum or feedback. Believe me, I had some really terrible experiences with a jamming studio in Sembawang.
 
Here are the possible reasons for hum :
1) Too many distortion pedals are activated at once, hum is expected from this set-up.
Advice : Get another drive pedal specifically for your intense music, rather than stacking them.

2) The pedals used (at least one, or a combination of several) generally produce hum when powered by an adaptor
Advice : Try using batteries.

3) Multi-effects don't go well with your single pedals. In fact, without a line out option from an mfx unit, they will suck the tone dry from your single pedals (just something extra for you to know :mrgreen:)
Advice : Try your luck! Some pedals simply have chemistry with others. My friend's OCD(I think) will stop buzzing once his BYOC Delay is switched on. Weird huh?

4) The amplifier is not grounded! What's that you ask? Google it or search on SOFT! There's a comprehensive guide to ground your amplifiers.
Advice : DIY some grounding!

5) Cheap cables, especially patch cables! Some say that the patch cables that connect your cables should be the same, and the ones connecting to your amp and guitar must be the same too. Usually cheap cables are the unsung heroes of buzzing/humming!
Advice : For patch cables I'm using TY ones for around $6 each, for longer ones I use my RDM cables for $30 per ten feet

6) Adaptor/daisy chain used! For example, some Line 6 pedals will need their own power supply for it to not produce hum.
Advice : Get higher quality adaptors/daisy chains, or an isolated power supply

7) It's your guitar! Loose input jacks, dirty or broken pots etc.
Advice : Go to Beez or something to get them replaced.
 
godspeed64: i'm amazed and thankful for all the info that u've provided me. thanks dude.
btw, do u listen to "godspeed u! black emperor"? haha... irrelevant question.. ignore me.
well, guess i have to start off with all the troubleshooting again. i'll keep all ur points in mind.

eugene: the recent studios i went are 4tones (boat quay) and wee lee (outside aljunied station). and i think i got the same kinda humming from both studios. i'll try without the daisy chain and power up my pedal one by one. thanks!

subversion: i powered my pedals with a daisy chain and a cheapo 9v adaptor. maybe this is the cause of it. haha... anyway thanks.

last but not least, u guys are real helpful! :- )
 
Hmm.

The one thing you should NEVER do is to power up your multi-efx with the same daisy chain power going into your individual pedals.

Also, try placing the drive pedals BEFORE your multi-efx too: guitar > OD > Dist > Dist > multi-efx > amp.
 
damn....... u can't be anymore right, crawldaddy! haha..

i was troubleshooting my pedals last night, and i finally knew what's wrong.
indeed my zoom mfx must be placed AFTER all my drive pedals.

just when i came online, wanting to thank the rest of guys for helping me out. i saw ur post. haha..

so once again, i wanna thank everyone of u here. : -)
 
Crawldaddy said:
Hmm.

The one thing you should NEVER do is to power up your multi-efx with the same daisy chain power going into your individual pedals.

one more question, the reason y i should never power up my mfx with the same dasiy chain i use for the rest of my pedals is to minimise the humming or for the well-being of my mfx and pedals?
Click to expand...
 
Sounds like a song by Emperor :cool: if I remember correctly. Its a black metal band, I'm sure Sub is familiar with them.

Having two distortion/overdrive pedals activated together produces a lot of feedback. I used my bad monkey as a booster for solos with my HM-200 activated, and whenever I took my hands off, there is a loud humming and buzzing, and squealing.
 
thanks guys,

i've found the culprit.
everything goes well now, as long as i don't place my zoom mfx before any of my pedals. haha...

eugene: i never activate 2 or more pedals at one time, coz it'll produce too much feedbacks.

subversion: prob resolved. it's not the adaptor. still thanks for ur help anyway.

cheers guys!!! and many thanks!!!
 
haha, got emperor, must be black metal...
icon10.gif
 
erm.... guys.. juz an extra info..
actually it's juz an indie instrumental band named "godspeed you! black emperor"
absolutely not metal and definitely not black metal. haha...
 
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