problem with buzzing in tube amp help!

[nigellum]

hey guys, just a question i've been dying to find a cure
currently, im using a black heart little giant 3/5 watt amp stack. sounds great on clean and all. slight buzzing but its normal im guessing. nothing too irritating. but when i plug in my pedal chain consisting of a stock DS-1, ZW-OD and a CE-2, the buzzing just amplifies and its so loud, i can't play pass 3 on the volume knob.
need some help!

 

[PatheinRaindropMoe]

heh, since the rest of us here dont really have the same setup, what i can only think of, from the way you describe

plug you geetar straight to amp without pedals, turn up the amp till beyond 5 on volume, hear for the hiss level and hum if theres any

follow by

isolating each pedal one by one and plug in your geetar, with the same setting on all knobs on pedal and amp, turn up volume on amp if necessary, listen to the hiss level and hum level if theres any, when the pedal is activated. Identify which pedal when activated, will amplifed the hum you heard, adjust the setting on the pedal till comfortable

after which,

try connecting 2 pedals together with the same setting on pedals and amp and listen all over again as above, combined activate the pedal together, listen, adjust setting all over as above.

If possible, put on some backing track in the back ground, blast the stereo as in jamming situation with band and listen if still able to hear the hum/hiss etc, whatever.

hehe, if the hum still persist, find another geetar, go thru the same test above, all over again and listen to the result.

 

[whee]

I suspect its the cabinet construction. the buzzing is probably cos of the volume/speaker action and all. its a common problem for small tube amps, esp at higher volumes (near break-up). typically you don't get really well constructed cabinets either =/

 

[nigellum]

would replacing the tube help?

 

[PatheinRaindropMoe]

the important thing know is to determine the exact source of buzzing, whether is it really from the amp, geetar or pedals. If not, it will be hard to find exact solution over a forum.

as for the tube changed, no one can/will confirm whether tube changed can solve the problem thou, wihtout knowing what or where exactly the buzzing came from

 

[thor666]

Use a systematic approach to isolating the problem. Don't blame the amp at first glance.

My guide should help.
http://soft.com.sg/forum/how-guitar/10437-guide-diagnosing-guitar-chain-problems.html

 

[mikemann]

1) If you bought the amp brand new and since day1 you have this symptom. Likely the amp is built like that. (ie. could be front end gain very high)

2) If using humbucker position on your guitar reduce the hum, source of noise could be from your guitar pickup. (shifting position while playing like turning 90degree yourself, could reveal the noise position)

3) If your amp is built for local voltage (ie. 240V), check if the power plug is 2pin USA type or local 3pin UK type. Grounding might help most of time.

4) (A/B comparison) Put another amp beside it and switch between both amps by putting the jack from one to the other (both amp must remain on). Will reveal if source of noise is from the amp or your signal chain.

5) If you determine its the amp which is like that. See if you can accept it and live with it or not.

6) Mod - simply replace the first 12AX7 or ECC83 to a lower gain tube like 12AU7. Only be done if you are confident or risk damage. My experience is that wont make a very noticable change to gain normally, but likely make the sound flabby. So not reccomended.

 

[nigellum]

the amp is using a 2 pin plug. gees

 

[gsonique]

1)try another guitar ....
2) and turn off your PC monitor if its in close proximity or sharing power source.
3) Use local three pin power plug

 

[guitar141]

Hi, is the Epiphone Gold top '57 the one with the P90s equipped? Those are single coils and will produce hum, so you might wanna try it out with a HB equipped guitar to isolate the humming problem.

 

[nigellum]

no no,the goldtop is using humbuckers. both my guitars are. could it be the playing position of where i usually sit and play? cause i sit about 3 or 4 metres from my amp when i play. room's alittle small. plus grounding my amp, how do i find out and get the right power cable for it?

 

[PatheinRaindropMoe]

http://soft.com.sg/forum/gear-guitar/7982-changing-2-pin-plug-3-pin-plug-grounding.html

 

[whee]

sorry read the thread wrongly.

it might be a case of bad cables/patch and what nots. You might want to change them... Have you tried plugging the guitar straight into the amp with a brand new cable? If you've got that settled and no hum it might be the cable or a bad p/s.

If you're using onespot that might be the case. I used it before I switched to pp2+ and it was a real noisy beast.

 

[thor666]

Have you systematically checked what's wrong?

It could easily be that your PEDALS are the ones having issues.

 

[nigellum]

yeah im using one spot to power my pedals. okay so far i've tried this.

guitar > amp = nothing wrong

i'll do the pedal test tonight and check out whats wrong. thanks so much guys. i'll update soon!

 

[liangerism]

hmm... for my case that time, i switched the placement of my pedals around and i've got my problem solved...