LOUD buzzing when I turn on my Overdrives

[blowtorch]

He found the noise source.

Yep
but

that doesn't matter


the hens will keep clucking

 

[Killing Floor]

making my own cables didn’t fix the noise issue

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[black_doug]

I was using a splitter for 2 of my overdrives, and had noise issues there too. My EB Volume/Tuner pedal was running off it’s own dedicated tap on the Zuma. As soon as I pulled the volume/tuner from the chain the buzz stopped. I think there is something that the active component in the pedal, possibly the touch screen power grid, that causes problems. Oh well. I was using it as a volume pedal only because the tuner function is… terrible.

I have the EB Jr and never had a problem like that. It’s not active.

 

[gwmullins]

I know this discussion is primarily about the pedal board, but the OP also mentioned buzzing/hum from his ‘75 Princeton Reverb amp. It’s likely the AA1164 circuit and there is a grounding issue with the layout. The RCA jacks for the reverb and tremolo are not properly grounded using the stock chassis ground. They all buzz/hum unacceptably with reverb set above 3. There is a fix (I’ve done to mine).

Replace the standard RCA jacks with insulated RCA jacks and run a ground wire from the insulated RCA jacks to a ground on the eyelet board. There are only a few ground eyelets on the board and some are better than others. Find the right one and the reverb hum goes away, even set on 10.

Hope this helps,
Greg

 

[39martind18]

Could it bee caused by your bee string? Ok, I'll leave...

 

[abcsoundguy]

What does the 1M pot do?

I looked at it like a guitar volume pot, because adding a volume pedal is like adding ANOTHER 250k ( Strats, Teles) volume pot, so replacing the stock 250k pot inside the passive old Ernie Ball Vol pedal, with a 1meg, there was SUBSTANTIALLY LESS treble loss, aka tone suck. It really works, for a cheap fix. I just made the $jump to active, for the buffer, and available boost, but I kept the old full size 14 shoes EB pedal ( with the 1 meg in it ), for backup.

 

[JuneauMike]

I looked at it like a guitar volume pot, because adding a volume pedal is like adding ANOTHER 250k ( Strats, Teles) volume pot, so replacing the stock 250k pot inside the passive old Ernie Ball Vol pedal, with a 1meg, there was SUBSTANTIALLY LESS treble loss, aka tone suck. It really works, for a cheap fix. I just made the $jump to active, for the buffer, and available boost, but I kept the old full size 14 shoes EB pedal ( with the 1 meg in it ), for backup.

Cool. What pot did you use to replace it? I've seen pots with super long posts before. Is it one of those?

 

[GPoint]

My Tele or LP straight into my PR sounds pretty awesome! But at church I need a couple overdrives, an “ambient” reverb, delay and volume pedal (for swells) at the minimum. I could take the 808 or Clone and the Rat off the board and be fine, but the 808 and Clone sound SO good when stacked. And the Rat… it’s a Rat!

But I agree, less is more. I have a couple friends who have pretty large boards because they are playing at churches that “play it like the album” so they have to have a lot of options. My church, we play it as best we can without being a distraction.

Move your gears to the side, if it helps/changes noise - check what is going on under the floor. Maybe there is something like an AC transformer or something else radiating noise.

 

[abcsoundguy]

Cool. What pot did you use to replace it? I've seen pots with super long posts before. Is it one of those?

I wish I knew, as the 1meg pot was installed by a tech friend, not by me. Since this tech is primarily a guitar ( not pedal ) tech, I'm assuming he used what he had handy, which would be likely a CTS common 1meg Vol. pot for a guitar. Sorry I can't be of more help.

 

[Alex_C]

Straight in first. Does it buzz?
Yes - check cable, check guitar, check amp, change ac outlet to another location.
No - add a single OD to the chain, repeat the procedure of checking all added components.

Usually it is cables. imo.

 

[ClashCityTele]

Sell all your pedals & buy new ones. Plus a new guitar & an amp.

 

[Lowspeid]

Sell all your pedals & buy new ones. Plus a new guitar & an amp.

I’m not there yet, but Helix is looking more attractive than ever before.