Dealing with amp’s white noise while recording SOLVED!

Jarold Carlton · From: Michigan, USA

I have a 70’s Peavey Session 400 that has an noticeable amount of white noise that my Shure SM-57 picks up while I record. I’ve tried placing the mic at different angles and distances up to 6” with no significant improvements. I just got the amp back from Ken Fox who isolated the noise to my pre-amp area, and he performed an intense mod on the amp. It sounds really great and, perfectly quiet when nothing is plugged into it. The moment I plug my cable into it, and especially with any of my guitars plugged in, the noise returns.

I’ve tried different cables along with four different humbucking pickups. I’ve tried plugging the amp directly into different electrical circuits. There is no known interference like fluorescent lights, dimmers, radio signals, or transformers on these circuits. The problem is still there regardless of what I do. I had a different Peavey Session 400 back in the 70’s and I don’t ever remember any white noise like this.

So my question is this. Have any of you had to deal a noticeable amp hiss while recording through a pre-amp unit and mic where the hiss actually is visible on the input gain meters? Is this something that we must live with? I don’t necessarily want to use a noise gate or purchase noise cancelling software. If I turn the Presonus pre-amp unit’s input gain level down to eliminate the hiss, then I can’t get enough gain in my recordings so that when I mix everything, the guitar stands above the background music.

Any insight would be most certainly welcomed.
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Emmons LeGrande II, GFI Ultra, Sho-Bud, BJS Bar, Hilton Pedal, Peavey Session 400's, Nashville 400, Martin, Ibanez

Greg Cutshaw · From: Corry, PA, USA

I run my SM-57 with a Studio Projects BTV1B tube pre-amp and get minimal hiss and tons of gain. With just the SM-57 straight into the board I get a huge amount of white noise that can't be overcome later. You do have to play loud enough and with a high enough signal coming out of the steel guitar/volume pedal to get the signal to noise ratio over the level of hiss that's there. I just edit out all the sections of hiss or hum that might be there when the steel is not actually playing. I've also used some low end Yamaha mixer boards that have almost no pre-amp noise so there are a lot of great pre-amps out there that won't break the bank.

Greg

Jarold Carlton · From: Michigan, USA

Hi Greg, thanks for the response. Just so we’re on the same page, the hiss is not because of the mic or Presonus VSL-22 pre-amp box as they are just doing their job picking up whatever is fed to it (including the hiss) coming from the Session 400. My guess is that I’m not playing the amp loud enough to obtain the correct Signal to noise ratio, so I will try to crank things up and move the mic maybe a foot away from the amp and at an angle. I agree with you about cutting out the areas of the track where the steel is silent.

Thanks again for your helpful insight.
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Emmons LeGrande II, GFI Ultra, Sho-Bud, BJS Bar, Hilton Pedal, Peavey Session 400's, Nashville 400, Martin, Ibanez

Steve Hinson · From: Hendersonville Tn USA

Jarold,you are right...you need to play louder!Signal -to- noise is important.

Have you got the Sensitivity knob turned way up?Seems like that could be part of the problem...if I remember correctly,the higher you have that turned up,the more white noise you get...I use an LTD 400(same amp-different cab)to record at home,and I turn the Sensitivity knob off.

Hope this helps!

SH

Steve Hinson · From: Hendersonville Tn USA

Jarold,you are right...you need to play louder!Signal -to- noise is important.

Have you got the Sensitivity knob turned way up?Seems like that could be part of the problem...if I remember correctly,the higher you have that turned up,the more white noise you get...I use an LTD 400(same amp-different cab)to tecord at home,and I turn the Sensitivity knob off.

Hope this helps!

SH

Jarold Carlton · From: Michigan, USA

Hi Steve, thanks for the support. Yes, signal to ratio is a large part of my problem. I was playing with Sensitivity set to 0 and Volume set to around 4. In fact, I was getting a lot of white noise with this setting.

The Sensitivity and Volume knobs have often been confused with these 400 amps. Just recently I read that you can enhance your tone by cranking the Sensitivity up and then using the Volume to set the overall loudness of the amp. This scenario does give my guitar a better overall tone, but is not very practical when recording.

I just discovered a phenomenon that really has me puzzled. Just for the heck of it, I plugged my 10 ft cable into the amp’s Jack #1 and walked around the room holding the cable at about 6 inches away from the end. I could walk in different directions and my amp would suddenly hum, and I mean hum loudly. I had been playing in the middle of my family room, and that’s right where the amp’s hum was the loudest. The same thing is true on my second floor. I can move in different directions in my bedroom and the hum will increase or decrease. I just read where a guy would get similar results when he played his lap steel. The hum disappeared when he held his guitar’s top facing toward the walls in his house, but would return when he played it in the correct orientation. I don’t live near any transformers, so I just don’t know what to think.
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Emmons LeGrande II, GFI Ultra, Sho-Bud, BJS Bar, Hilton Pedal, Peavey Session 400's, Nashville 400, Martin, Ibanez

Steve Hinson · From: Hendersonville Tn USA

Jarold,that hum is coming from wiring in the walls,under the floors,etc...

You need to find the"sweet spot"...you find that by moving your steel around in relation to your amp...there will be a certain spot where it is at the minimum hum...do this with the volume pedal down...

Speaking of the volume pedal,if you use a pot pedal,a lot of hum comes from that...some people shield it with a piece of aluminum foil folded and placed underneath the pedal...it will sometimes reduce the hum coming from under the floor wiring...I've used a piece of steel,too...

Most of the time I don't worry about it...there is always going to be some hum.

Hope this helps...

SH

Jarold Carlton · From: Michigan, USA

Thanks Steve for the insight. I will have to move both around until I can find that "sweet spot". I use a Hilton pedal, so I don't think it's the culprit. I will have to eliminate as much interference as I can as I am leaning toward the sound from a single coil pup and will try one of those out.
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Emmons LeGrande II, GFI Ultra, Sho-Bud, BJS Bar, Hilton Pedal, Peavey Session 400's, Nashville 400, Martin, Ibanez

Jarold Carlton · From: Michigan, USA

Moving my amp around my guitar didn’t solve the problem unfortunately. I’ve isolated it to a “One Spot” power adapter used to power my DD-2 and RV-5 pedals. The moment I plug that into the extension cord, I get a horrific hum. I can run the pedals on 9V…for a few hours, or look for another power source.
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Emmons LeGrande II, GFI Ultra, Sho-Bud, BJS Bar, Hilton Pedal, Peavey Session 400's, Nashville 400, Martin, Ibanez

Greg Cutshaw · From: Corry, PA, USA

Interesting. My one spot is dead quiet but my Boss power adapter is loaded with hum. As you say the hum is gone with batteries. I run 3 effects at a time with the one spot and no ground loop hum and the voltage hangs in there. Wonder if one of your effects boxes has a bad regulator.

Greg

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