Big, Big, Hum

Dave Seddon · From: Leicester, England.

I am one of those guys that sit at home and pick along to backing trax I generate with the use of the good old Band in a box. I just plug the guitar in the computer via the Live Drive IR input and away we go. The thing is I've always noticed this hum but I just got on with it. The other day I got my Nashville 400 out, plugged the guitar in and the hum was just unbelieveable. I tried the Evans Fet 500 and the same thing happens.
I am using a Carter S12 (extended E9)and a Goodrich pot pedal. I tried it without the pedal, still the same. I did turn off the computer and that reduced the hum a bit but it's still not acceptable.
I have a brand new TT12 I would like to use but at the moment that is out of the question.
By the way the current pickup is a George L and reads 18.81KOhms. If I plug my son's 6 string guitar in (Gibson copy) no problems.
Can anyone give me any Ideas what the problem may be, I've completely run out of ideas and guitar leads.
Cheers Dave.

T. C. Furlong · From: Lake County, Illinois, USA

I assume that you have done troubleshooting that might include the steel directly into the amp (bypassing the volume pedal) I also assume that the George L is a humbucker and your son's guitar has a humbucker. Let us know if that's not the caes. Is it possible that the shield and hot on the pick-up wires are reversed? That might be a factor. The problem is that you probably have a nasty electro-magnetic field in your house. The computer being part of that. It's just a matter of managing the problem.
TC

Dave Seddon · From: Leicester, England.

Thanks T C everything is as you say and I did actually try revesing the pickup and it made no difference at all. I've been around the house looking for something that may be plugged in that could cause the problem, but nothing. When nothing is plugged in to the amps they are both very quiet no hum at all.
Cheers Dave.

ray qualls · From: Baxter Springs, Kansas (deceased)

Dave, make sure you're not using a PA cord instead of an instrument cord. Sometimes that will do it. Ray

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Ray Qualls
President(KSGA) www.rayqualls.com

Miguel e Smith · From: Phoenix, AZ

Hey Dave,

TC's advice is solid. However, if you continue to have difficulty and if you feel like going to the trouble, take off your strings and then unscrew your pickups and examine the bottom to make sure there are no cracks or even broken pieces of the pickup housing.

Three times in the last 6-years, after I've flown my steel, I've had horrible hum problems only to find that the bottoms of the pickups are literally broken (horrific handling by the airlines I'm sure). I'm assuming your guitar was shipped air to GB.

Best of luck,

Mike

Lee Baucum · From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier

Dave - Has anything changed outside of your home? Perhaps a new electrical transformer was installed nearby.

Lee

T. C. Furlong · From: Lake County, Illinois, USA

Dave, what Mike mentioned brings to mind the notion that the pick-up may be damaged. Perhaps the coil that is the hum cancelling one is open, shorted or partially shorted and the pick-up is now acting more like a single coil. I suppose that would have a lower impedance than what you report so maybe that's not it because you actually measured the DC resistance at 18.81K ohms. Also, if there is an inexpensive UPS (uninterruptable power supply) in your house or nearby, those have been known to introduce all kinds of hum into the line. However, that would probably affect the six string guitar and the amp with nothing plugged into it. I'm thinking outloud now..maybe the George L was made incorrectly with the "non-magnetized coil" wired in the same polarity as the magnetized coil. Not likely, but you never know.
TC

[This message was edited by T. C. Furlong on 14 February 2006 at 09:36 AM.]

Dave Seddon · From: Leicester, England.

Thank you all for your suggestions, I should have said I am using George L solderless plugs and leads. I tend to think there may be a fault with the pickup my problem is I don't have a spare pickup to replace it, except the TT12 and of course being a single coil that is going to hum anyway.
Cheers Dave.

Papa Joe Pollick · From: Swanton, Ohio

Dave,I get a lot of noise if I have any insturment close to my PC..By moving away 4 ft.,the noise goes away.I use a remote keyboard and mouse allowing me to operate the PC from a safe distance.Remember "KISS".
I wouldn't start tearing things apart before try other options.Good luck..PJ

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Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body,but rather to skid in broadside,thoroughly used up,totally worn out,and loudly proclaiming:"WOW,what a ride!"

Willie Crisel · From: Charlotte, Tennessee, USA

Yea monitors are known to csuse hum, my amps hum at home, thought about adding a secondary ground from the breaker box to a 7 foot rod in the ground, only problem is where i live in the tenn. foothills, it's all rock.

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MId seventies Push Pull D10 8 and 4, Peavey LTD Peavey Session 400 Ibanez analog delay

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

"Dave - Has anything changed outside of your home? Perhaps a new electrical transformer was installed nearby."

That would make no difference. Neither would house wiring, lights, computer or anything nearby. Note that a 6-string *isn't* humming but the steel is. That pretty much lmits it to something from the output jack on the steel *inwards* to the pickup and ground.

Either a bad jjack or bad pickup is my guess. I'd try the single coil....if it hums less then you've got you're culprit. If it's the same, keep tracing - there's a short somewhere.

Does it have pots? If so, check the ground leads soldered to the pot. That's a notorious weak spot. Also, clean the heeck out of the jack and check the wires on it for small frayed ends that may be shorting.

I still think the pickup is a dud.

Mark Dunn · From: Suffolk, England

Hi Dave,
It does sound like your pickup to me, I've heard people say old Strat pickups go very noisy if the windings short to pole pieces. If my steel is too close to the PC monitor that creates a loud hum, but I am using single coil pickups.

PS Has JD told you all about his Steel King, I think his pleased with it, a bit...

Mark

Lee Baucum · From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier

Jim - I thought perhaps the 6-string (Gibson copy) might have humbucking pickups in it.

Lee

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

Lee - it might, but if there was a non-guitar problem it would still hum a bit.

Dave Seddon · From: Leicester, England.

Well tomorrow I think I will find out for sure, I have a guy comming over to my place with his GFI, I don't know what pickups he uses but I think it should give me a goog indication as to whether the fault lies with my pickup or not.
Yes Mark, I think John is over the moon with his new setup, and this from the man who swears by valves!!! Still as long as he's happy eh!
Cheers Dave.

Jennings Ward · From: Edgewater, Florida, R.I.P.

FELLAS, MY 25 CENTS IS BET ON A LIGHT FIXTURE OF SOME SORT....FLORESCESENT IS BAD FOR THAT PROBLEM IF THE PICKUP IS TOO CLOSE...REGULAR LITE BULBS CAN ALSO CAUSE THE PROBLEM....TRY MOVING THE STEEL TO A DIFFERENT LOCATION....
ALSO TRY SHIELDING THE PICKUP. PLACE A SHEET OF ALIMINUM FOIL OVER THE PICKUP AND SEE IF THE HUM GOES AWAY OR LESSENS...ALSO WALL WORTS WILL CAUSE THE SAME THING......LOOSE WINDINGS IN TRANSFORMERS OF ANY KIND WILL CAUSE THAT PROBLEM, BY MOVING AWAY A SHORT DISTANCE SHOULD MAKE A CHANGE...THIS TYPE OF PROBLEM IS A TRIAL AND ERROW TYPE TO TROUBLESHOOT...BE PATIENT AND GOOD LUCK...
JENNINGS

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EMMONS D10 10-10 profex 2 deltafex ne1000 pv1000, pv 31 bd eq, +

John Davis · From: Cambridge, U.K.

Dave get yourself down here and plug into this Steel King, No hum here!

basilh · From: United Kingdom

Bring it to the "Bluebirds" meeting on Monday and we'll ALL hum along with you..!!! LOL
Basil

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John Daugherty · From: Rolla, Missouri, USA

Dave, I don't see any mention of you trying a different cord other than the Geo-Ls you assembled.
I know it's a long shot, but it is possible to get a bad connection when assembling those plugs ... even I have done it. The ends must be cut clean and square, with no "whiskers" causing shorts. The screw should bite into the shield, but not go through and short the shield to the center wire.
You,most likely,did it correctly. I just want to make sure you have done all the obvious before you start any "heavy" work.

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www.phelpscountychoppers.com/steelguitar

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

Jennings - a light fixture is unlikely if it's that severe AND doesn't happen with his son's guitar.

90% chance it's a problem with the steel.

Dave Seddon · From: Leicester, England.

I have a feeliing I know what the problem is.
It came to light in our local newspaper. I'm talking about mobile phone relay masts. I don't know about in the States, but over here in the UK phone companies are allowed to erect these things anywhere they want as long as they are no higher than 15 feet. According to the Leicester Mercury these units are being erected in street lamps all over the City and the local authorities are powerless to anything about it. Do any of you guys know if this type of unit could cause this problem. If so it won't be too long before every electric musician is in the same boat.
Cheers, Dave.

T. C. Furlong · From: Lake County, Illinois, USA

Dave, If the pick-up in your son's guitar doesn't hum and your pick up hums, it's probably your pick-up. There are many things that can induce hum into a single coil pick-up. The cell towers that we have in the US don't induce much in the way of RFI (radio frequency interference) into and electric guitar circuit because they are very high frequency, like 700 Megahertz and higher. A steel guitar doesn't go much higher than .01 Megahertz. You can sometimes hear a noise that we call "motorboating" that is an energy related signal that comes from cell phone transmission. The phone itself not the cell tower.

There may be a transformer near the cell mast that is putting out an EMI (Electro Magnetic Interference) field. That's what will cause hum. But your solution will probably be to prevent hum with a properly functioning Humbucking pick-up. Good luck.
TC

Dave Seddon · From: Leicester, England.

T C. I get the same hum even with the George L pickup, three different amps, 2 Peaveys and an Evans, I have tried countless guitar leads, (not all George L.)I have disconnected every appliance in the house whilst trying to trace the culprit. It's got me completely baffled.
Cheers Dave.

Micky Byrne · From: United Kingdom (deceased)

Dave, this has got me beat too, I was going to say that I once had problems with George L leads too, and I was getting feed back on gigs, and even picking up Taxi cab messages through my Peavey, but you said you'd tried other leads too....the mystery deepens. Perhaps Mike Smith is right ,that the bottom of the pick up may have a small crack.Looking forward to seeing you on March 4th. By the way Mike Smith, I had the pleasure of backing Barbara FDairchild in England and Germany in 1983....at the time I looked like you on the cover of "Dreams of India" but I sure couldn't play like you. Barbara did a double take when I walked in the room

....see me on "Bad hair day" on my website. Cheers to you and all.

Micky Byrne. England http://mickybyrne.50webs.com/index.html

T. C. Furlong · From: Lake County, Illinois, USA

Dave, Sounds like you need to get your hands on another humbucking pick-up and try that. From the info that you have supplied, I am certain that it's your George L pick-up that is not bucking the hum properly.
TC

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