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Power. Humm... power


GtrWiz

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Rather than hijack Jims thread...

I've been having a problem lately with noise coming through my rig. I figure it must be the power here at the house, coz it doesn't happen elsewhere, it happens with any guitar humbucker, SC, noiseless Kinmans, straight into any amp, using any cable... I'm renting, so I don't want to do anything drastic, any suggestions on power conditioners?

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Anything with a powerful electrical motor nearby...

 

This would be far easier to diagnose if I were there and could take some readings. Sounds like something has put voltage on the ground of your home. Do you have a volt meter? If so, check the potential between the two spades, then check between positive and the OSHA ground, finally between the negative and ground.

 

If you read a voltage between negative and ground it's probably the source of your noise. If so, try lifting the ground to all your gear and see if the noise disappears.

 

If this works, you'll need to find an alternate ground to tie the third prong too, to ensure proper grounding without the noise. This can be accomplished inexpensively with a copper grounding rod placed in the ground with appropriate connecting wire to the OSHA ground of your outlet, but better you should have an electrician isolate your studio circuits to provide clean power.

 

I don't know if this is still the case (what with PVC plumbing), but OSHA ground used to be tied to the cold water pipes in some buildings, to reach ground. One of my teachers discovered a power transformer on a pole outside a building his friend's studio was housed in that was inducing hum into the cold water pipes of another floor's bathrooms, injecting noise into the system ground. At this time the plumber's union in the city they were in prohibited use of PVC. They cut the pipe away from the transformer and replaced it with PVC, spackled to look identical to the metal pipe on either side. This disconnected the noise source from his friend's studio. ;)

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Soundclick

fntstcsnd

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