JamieFinch

Hey!

I was getting a pretty loud hum from my amp so I bought a Boss NS-2. But even with that the hum is pretty loud...I'm thinking maybe it's to do with my cheap patch cables? I'm hoping it's not because of my power supplys.

I run all my pedals off my Boss BCB-60 and my whammy with the factory 9v AC supply that came with it.

Guitar > Boss TU-3 > Digitech Whammy 4th Gen > OCD Fulltone > DD-20 > NS-2 > Rocker 30

I'm aware that the NS-2 is in a bad place at the moment but I just want to sort out the hum before I bother rewiring my board around the thing.

Cheers, Jamie.

Robbgnarly

If your amp has an FX loop run the NS-2 in the X patern so it would go : Guitar>fx.NS-2>amp>FX loop send>NS-2>FX loop In.

__________________
2002 PRS CE22
197? Sanox Sound Creator LP clone (GFS Fat Pat)
2009 Epiphone G-400 (SH-4)
Marshall JCM2000 DSL100
Krank 1980 Jr 20watt
Krank Rev 4x12 (eminence V12)
GFS Greenie/Digitech Bad Monkey
Morley Bad Horsie 2
MXR Smart Gate

JamieFinch

It doesn't

Robbgnarly

Does it go away if you max the thresh-hold knob at any point?

__________________
2002 PRS CE22
197? Sanox Sound Creator LP clone (GFS Fat Pat)
2009 Epiphone G-400 (SH-4)
Marshall JCM2000 DSL100
Krank 1980 Jr 20watt
Krank Rev 4x12 (eminence V12)
GFS Greenie/Digitech Bad Monkey
Morley Bad Horsie 2
MXR Smart Gate

Robbgnarly

You may have a microphonic preamp tube, you have any spare 12ax7's lying around? If not I suggest you buy a few and try swapping out the preamp tubes.

__________________
2002 PRS CE22
197? Sanox Sound Creator LP clone (GFS Fat Pat)
2009 Epiphone G-400 (SH-4)
Marshall JCM2000 DSL100
Krank 1980 Jr 20watt
Krank Rev 4x12 (eminence V12)
GFS Greenie/Digitech Bad Monkey
Morley Bad Horsie 2
MXR Smart Gate

JamieFinch

No thresh-hold knob on the Rocker 30

I think i'll have to look into either the tubes or better patch cables. Where should I go first?

JamieFinch

I've noticed that the hum i'm left with after using the NS-2 is the same hum I get if I inset a jack into the input of the Rocker 30 without a guitar attached to it. (The other end of the jack has a silencer on it for when it's not connected to a guitar).

This must mean it's the amps fault right?

Robbgnarly

I was talking about the controls on the NS-2 not your amp

I use an MXR smart gate so I'm not too familiar with what the controls on the Boss are called

It is probably a pre-amp tube. You can check them by gently tapping the preamp tubes with the eraser of a pencil. If you hear any excessive noise from one or more, thats your problem (most of the time)

__________________
2002 PRS CE22
197? Sanox Sound Creator LP clone (GFS Fat Pat)
2009 Epiphone G-400 (SH-4)
Marshall JCM2000 DSL100
Krank 1980 Jr 20watt
Krank Rev 4x12 (eminence V12)
GFS Greenie/Digitech Bad Monkey
Morley Bad Horsie 2
MXR Smart Gate

JamieFinch

HAha oops! My bad. Yeah i've tried putting that to max. It gets rid of a lot of the high end and tbh, a majority of the hum. I just want my amp to be as close to silent :p

Awesome! i'll try that now.

JamieFinch

Just tapped all the tubes and didn't hear any noise whatsoever :/

Robbgnarly

Like I said it wroks sometimes, but not always. I would really suggest you get a few 12xa7's to try any ways. besides it is always good to have spares handy.

how old is the amp? have you ever change the tubes in it since you've had it ? If it has been a while, you may want to do a full re-tube of the amp

__________________
2002 PRS CE22
197? Sanox Sound Creator LP clone (GFS Fat Pat)
2009 Epiphone G-400 (SH-4)
Marshall JCM2000 DSL100
Krank 1980 Jr 20watt
Krank Rev 4x12 (eminence V12)
GFS Greenie/Digitech Bad Monkey
Morley Bad Horsie 2
MXR Smart Gate

JamieFinch

I've had the amp for about 2 years and it's second hand. I'm not sure if they got changed before me.

How much would I be looking at for a full retube? I may take my amp in to get serviced when I get a chance.

Robbgnarly

where do you live in the world?

__________________
2002 PRS CE22
197? Sanox Sound Creator LP clone (GFS Fat Pat)
2009 Epiphone G-400 (SH-4)
Marshall JCM2000 DSL100
Krank 1980 Jr 20watt
Krank Rev 4x12 (eminence V12)
GFS Greenie/Digitech Bad Monkey
Morley Bad Horsie 2
MXR Smart Gate

Robbgnarly

www.Eurotubes.com has full retube kits for $63-$102 depending on what you want.
And they are all JJ tubes which are pretty good tubes.

__________________
2002 PRS CE22
197? Sanox Sound Creator LP clone (GFS Fat Pat)
2009 Epiphone G-400 (SH-4)
Marshall JCM2000 DSL100
Krank 1980 Jr 20watt
Krank Rev 4x12 (eminence V12)
GFS Greenie/Digitech Bad Monkey
Morley Bad Horsie 2
MXR Smart Gate

Van Noord

Try the pedal by itself without everything else and see if the problem is still there. Process of elimination is the best bet with pedal chain noise issues..

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JamieFinch

Yeah I tried that Van Noord. Theres still a low hum. Even when theres nothing connected to the amp (apart from a jack).

I'll have a look at a UK version of that site Robbgnarley. Thanks for the help!

Tremolo Bum

I would suspect the power supply to be the culprit before patch cables. Have you tried with no pedals or using batteries to see if the power supply is the issue?

Robbgnarly

He said it was doing it before the pedals, but it is a good I dea to try the pedals with batteries.

__________________
2002 PRS CE22
197? Sanox Sound Creator LP clone (GFS Fat Pat)
2009 Epiphone G-400 (SH-4)
Marshall JCM2000 DSL100
Krank 1980 Jr 20watt
Krank Rev 4x12 (eminence V12)
GFS Greenie/Digitech Bad Monkey
Morley Bad Horsie 2
MXR Smart Gate

Tremolo Bum

Missed that.

TS- Try plugging the amp into another outlet that is on a different circuit (usually a different room). If the room you are in has dimmer switches, that can cause some weird humming. Any sort of power impurity may cause hum so before you buy new tubes, try just switching outlets.