Now we are in water FAR over my head...

Friend gave me an old Brownsville 15G amp. So, since I just wired up my Psycho box, let's see how it goes.

Lots of hum.  Amp works, Psycho works, though I think I need to dial it in as far as amp settings go.

How do I deal with the loud hum?

Why does the amp have 2 gain controls?

Views: 331

Replies to This Discussion

Hum is the scourge of electric guitars and amps. The causes are almost endless.

Realize that as you overdrive the signal (distortion, high gain, etc) you will pick up hum. You can minimize this with a number of steps.

1. Ground the strings. They act as antenna to stray noise like from florescent lights.

2. Check your wall outlet to be sure it is properly grounded (many are not).

3. Try a different amp to see if the guitar or the amp are the source of the hum.

4. Try a different guitar to see if the amp or guitar are the source.

5. If the amp has a wall-wart power supply it is likely creating a lot of hum. Good, clean power supplies are not that common. Boss makes some good ones.

6. Turn the gain down a lot and turn the volume up to the level you want. Is gain driving the hum?

7. Bypass the Psycho knob and try  #6, Is the psycho knob adding a lot of noise? If you did the assembly, remember that poor solder joints add a ton of noise.

Okay, that should keep you busy for a while. If you can get the hum down a bit, you may have to live with it when the gain and psycho knob are both turned up into the high distortion (metal) range.

If you find something, let us know so we can learn as well.

Ditto what Tom T says, but you can sometime try touching metal components to see if the hum stops. Touch the metal ends of the cable, the guitar jack, the bridge (provided its grounded), a screw on the amp, etc. If you hear the hum stop (or lessen) when you touch one of these things, you've got a grounding problem. Also, if you reversed positive and negative that can often lead to unwanted hum. Double-check your positive and negative leads on both ends of the psycho knob.

Tom T's suggestion of localizing the problem is great. Try it w/o the Psycho Knob, try a different guitar, try a different cable, different amp if you have one, etc. See if you can nail it down to one thing. It could possibly be the amp you just got.

BTW, your amp has two volume pots because the first is a trim/gain pot. You can think of it a lot of different ways but oversimplified... the first one is gain and the second one is volume. Piezos have lower output than magnetic pickups which have lower output than active pickups. The first gain pot is normally used to get the level right for your setup (prevent clipping to the original signal), the second is used to control the actual volume. As Tom T states, try turning the gain down and the volume up and see if that helps. For a clean tone, I typically start with the gain knob in the middle and adjust from there.

Good tips, Poorness. When chasing hum, buzz, whatever, every tip helps to narrow it down. So much for the idea of a Hum-bucker.

Real life example (swear I did not make this up).

Earlier today I was finishing up some modifications on one of my three stringers. It uses the Gitty 3-string hard tail bridge and I ground the strings by drilling a hole under the bridge and running a ground wire from the audio jack to the bottom of the hard tail bridge. Works great and grounds the strings well.

So I finish up my work which involved loosening the hard tail a bit to the neck to be tilted. I put it all back together and give it a test run. First thing I notice is a lot of hum that wasn't there before. I touch the strings and nothing happens. I touch the jacket of the cable and the hum goes away. (light bulb flashes)

I get out my ohm meter and do a quick test and confirm that my strings are not grounded. So, I undo every thing (again) and find that my ground wire had slipped down its hold just enough that it no longer touched the bottom of the hard tail. Put things right, reassembled and back to the amp. Funny thing, no hum, even with my Blue Driver pedal turned up pretty high and the amp with a good bit of gain of its own.

I guess I confirmed the importance of ground strings.

No advice on the hum(except learn the words). One of my amps has two gain knobs, one is used with the drive button and the other is without it engaged.  Do you have two inputs? They could be for them.. Hope this helps

Every time I try to look your amp up. I get pics of my Fender. Can you post a clear pic of the control panel?

RSS

The Essential Pages

New to Cigar Box Nation? How to Play Cigar Box GuitarsFree Plans & How to Build Cigar Box GuitarsCigar Box Guitar Building Basics

Site Sponsor

Recommended Links & Resources


Discussion Forum

Swamp Lion Circuit- 3 P90s!

Started by ILL GREEN. Last reply by David Bowes Jul 31, 2022. 2 Replies

No Volume

Started by Steve Bookout. Last reply by BrianQ. Jun 15, 2021. 15 Replies

External Power Adapter- How To

Started by BrianQ.. Last reply by BrianQ. Jun 23, 2020. 3 Replies

Wiring diagrams

Started by David L.. Last reply by Ray Stanis Mar 24, 2020. 10 Replies

Wickedbucker + Piezo +Volume Jack

Started by Adam Jellison. Last reply by Paul Craig Feb 28, 2020. 9 Replies

Psycho knob install

Started by bizzaro guitaro. Last reply by Paul Craig Jan 31, 2020. 16 Replies

Splitting P-Bass pickups?

Started by John Mark Perchalski. Last reply by Paul Craig Jan 30, 2020. 3 Replies

Output method

Started by Holly Hodson. Last reply by KOOL DOG HOOCH Sep 22, 2019. 5 Replies

Creackle from Volume and Tone pots

Started by Arthur Payne. Last reply by KOOL DOG HOOCH Sep 21, 2019. 4 Replies

Dealing with hum...

Started by James Pobog. Last reply by KOOL DOG HOOCH Sep 21, 2019. 6 Replies

Copper foil tape as shield.

Started by Arthur Payne. Last reply by Arthur Payne May 2, 2019. 5 Replies

Why have a switch?

Started by Arthur Payne. Last reply by ILL GREEN Apr 12, 2019. 3 Replies

Problem with second-hand amp.

Started by Arthur Payne. Last reply by Arthur Payne Apr 1, 2019. 5 Replies

Added the CB Gitty “Psycho Knob”

Started by Tim Pannabecker. Last reply by Paul Craig Mar 8, 2019. 16 Replies

Lipstick pickup and Telecaster neck pickup. What goes where?

Started by Slow Blues Dani & Ol' Grey Bear. Last reply by Slow Blues Dani & Ol' Grey Bear Mar 1, 2019. 12 Replies

Wiring CB Gitty Black Ice Single Coil

Started by ILL GREEN. Last reply by ILL GREEN Jan 9, 2019. 5 Replies

Minimal effect from volume or tone pot

Started by Arthur Payne. Last reply by Paul Craig Dec 21, 2018. 9 Replies

Problem posting discussion

Started by Arthur Payne. Last reply by Paul Craig Dec 17, 2018. 2 Replies

Vol, tone, 3 way toggle and 2 single coils?

Started by Slow Blues Dani & Ol' Grey Bear. Last reply by Paul Craig Nov 24, 2018. 20 Replies

Latest Activity

A.D.EKER commented on Dar Stellabotta's video
Thumbnail

A Cigar Box Guitar Six Stringer Built by Louie Lamanna

"i See Your ready to Blow away the GRAND STADIUM ! tree strings more of DAR DELIGHT !! Shine Girl !…"
4 hours ago
A.D.EKER commented on A.D.EKER's video
Thumbnail

Im Troubled (Tribute) Mc K Morganfield by BCB - A.D .Eker 2024.

"Thank you for the kind comments Doug! Glad you liked the Picture !"
4 hours ago
BrianQ. commented on Dar Stellabotta's video
9 hours ago
BrianQ. liked Dar Stellabotta's video
9 hours ago
Southern Ray commented on Southern Ray's photo
Thumbnail

Project Punch!

" Thank ya again Keith!"
11 hours ago
Southern Ray commented on Southern Ray's photo
Thumbnail

Punch Project!

" Thank Ya Keith!"
11 hours ago
Doug Thorsvik commented on AGP #'s photo
Thumbnail

AGP #527 - ''Led-Zep 2''

"This build really strung you along Alan! Reminded me of all my fishing line experiments; a lot of…"
13 hours ago
Doug Thorsvik commented on A.D.EKER's video
Thumbnail

Im Troubled (Tribute) Mc K Morganfield by BCB - A.D .Eker 2024.

"Diggin’ the slow blues. I like that last pic Andries! Look at all those cool guitars. Yeah!!!"
13 hours ago
Dar Stellabotta posted a video

A Cigar Box Guitar Six Stringer Built by Louie Lamanna

This video is the unboxing and the demonstration of a beautiful, six stringer built by Louie Lamanna. Join Louie and I June 15 at the second annual Pittsburg...
14 hours ago
Doug Thorsvik commented on Doug Thorsvik's video
Thumbnail

Hail the Resurrection Day: 2-String Violin Chugger Cigar Box Guitar

"Happy Easter to you too Andries! The passion is definitely in full swing. Turns out I’m…"
15 hours ago
A.D.EKER commented on Doug Thorsvik's video
Thumbnail

Hail the Resurrection Day: 2-String Violin Chugger Cigar Box Guitar

"Happy Easter Doug ! the Passion is in full swing !"
15 hours ago
A.D.EKER commented on Ricky D's photo
15 hours ago

Music

© 2024   Created by Ben "C. B. Gitty" Baker.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

\uastyle>\ud/** Scrollup **/\ud.scrollup {\ud background: url("https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/963882636?profile=original") no-repeat scroll 0 0 transparent;\ud bottom: 25px;\ud display: inline !important;\ud height: 40px;\ud opacity: 0.3 !important;\ud position: fixed;\ud right: 30px;\ud text-indent: -9999px;\ud width: 40px;\ud z-index: 999;\ud}\ud.scrollup:hover {\ud opacity:0.99!important;\ud}\ud \uascript type="text/javascript">\ud x$(document).ready(function(){\ud x$(window).scroll(function(){\ud if (x$(this).scrollTop() > 100) {\ud x$('.scrollup').fadeIn();\ud } else {\ud x$('.scrollup').fadeOut();\ud }\ud });\ud x$('.scrollup').click(function(){\ud x$("html, body").animate({ scrollTop: 0 }, 600);\ud return false;\ud });\ud });\ud \ua!-- End Scroll Up -->