humming is it ok? how to eliminate?

quaternotetriplet · Post by **quaternotetriplet** » 15 Mar 2010, 04:47

are there anyways to eliminate hum?? specially with overdrive?

another question.. low gain overdrive hum is it ok?

frequencycentral · Post by **frequencycentral** » 15 Mar 2010, 07:53

Don't keep bees.

quaternotetriplet · Post by **quaternotetriplet** » 15 Mar 2010, 23:32

frequencycentral wrote:Don't keep bees.

is it impossible?

rocklander · Post by **rocklander** » 16 Mar 2010, 01:21

learn the lyrics?

IME hum has usually come from the PSU.. does it hum on battery?

earthtonesaudio · Post by **earthtonesaudio** » 16 Mar 2010, 02:44

The No. 1 source of hum in guitar-related noise is from single coil pickups.
Switch to humbuckers.

The No. 2 source is lame-ass stock shielding of the guitar's controls.
Shield that motha'.

The No. 3 source is anything else -- effects, amps, etc.
For effects, you can use batteries, or otherwise use isolated power supplies for each device. If you have a hum-prone amp, it's often practical to simply get a different amp that doesn't hum so bad.

There are other things you can do to reduce it further, like active hum canceling (which requires modification to the guitar), balanced cables, etc. But that's getting in pretty deep, only recommended if the sound of hum makes you want to go on a killing spree.

quaternotetriplet · Post by **quaternotetriplet** » 16 Mar 2010, 12:20

rocklander wrote:learn the lyrics?

IME hum has usually come from the PSU.. does it hum on battery?

yes it does..

DrNomis · Post by **DrNomis** » 13 Oct 2010, 11:20

I have found that the way you wire up the grounding in DIY stompboxes has an effect on hum reduction,I do what's called "Star-Earthing" with all the pedals I build,here's what you do:

1,Count the number of earth connections needed in your stompbox.
2,Cut a length of wire for each earth connections,you can colour-code the wire,use either yellow or green.
3,Strip off about 1cm of insulation of one end of each wire.
4,Get all the bare ends and twist them together so that they form 1 conductor.
5,Solder this to the tag of an eyelet,these look like a ring of metal with a solder tag on it.
6,Using a nut and bolt,bolt this solder tag to a spot in a convenient location,to the casing of your stompbox.
7,Solder the other end of each wire to the earth connections on the circuit board,pots,footswitch,in/out sockets,etc.

That should go some way to reducing hum in your pedals....

DrNomis · Post by **DrNomis** » 13 Oct 2010, 12:05

Here's a pic to clarify what I mean by Star-Earthing,all those yellow wires go to earth points on the circuit board,pots,sockets,and footswitch.....

The solder eyelet is bolted to the pedal case under one of the circuit board standoffs....

DahakaNishoba · Post by **DahakaNishoba** » 23 Oct 2010, 12:06

When i'v done a "star grounding" like thing here a LOT of the hum went away.....
btw no high gain inside here...
and try to connect firmly the ground to the enclosure.....i used a thick wire soldered to the nut of one of the led bezels (are they called bezels?)

Grendahl · Post by **Grendahl** » 25 Oct 2010, 17:44

DahakaNishoba wrote:(are they called bezels?)

Yes they are.