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Joined:
April 2006
Posts: 1017
Location: Budd Lake, NJ | Hi, all;
Here's the scenario; my Genz Benz Jr. has developed a very, very slight hum, which doesn't always manifest itself, and at home is much less pronounced when I run it through a breaker bar first. (The house has 50-yr-old wiring, but as near as I can tell, the outlets have all been grounded.)
Sunday, I decided to spend the whole afternoon playing (what luxury!), and played 5 of the girls. With 4, no noticeable increase in hum level. With Rosa, the 1621-4, the hum level increased drastically as soon as I plugged her in. Changed cords, channels, no effect. Volume off on the guitar, "normal" hum--as the volume came up, I finally had just plain in-your-face hum. As soon as I put the cord into one of the other girls, the hum level dropped off again.
She's set up very simply--just a single volume knob. Any suggestions....? What will I need to replace in her? (Right now, a new amp is out of the question....)
Thanks to all of you more knowledgeable than I.
--Karen |
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Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4075
Location: Utah | Have you checked the outlets for proper grounding? They sell little plugs with leds built in to test outlets. Just plug it in and look to be sure the correct lights are lit/dark. Someone who's done some home wiring probably has one rattling around in their tool box, or they're only a few $ at the hardware store.
Flourescent lights can cause hum. If you're near any, or plugged into the same circuit, that might be the problem. The one guitar might be more susceptible to the interference than the other guitars. A flourescent bulb may be going bad or you are just nearer than you used to be to some flourescents.
Do you have anything else plugged into the amp, or the amp plugged into something else via a line out? If you have two pieces of gear plugged into different polarity outlets, and those two units are somehow connected, it can give hum. For example, your amp line out going into a computer for recording.
Ground loops can cause hum. Probably not an issue with a simple guitar into an amp. But if you have pedals, mics, other amps, PA, etc, you can end up with a ground loop. If you have a complicated setup, try reducing it to just the amp, one cord, and the one guitar. |
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Joined:
December 2004
Posts: 577
Location: Denmark | Some preamps are sensible to battery condition, so try replacing the battery. |
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Joined:
March 2008
Posts: 2683
Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | Karen, not knowing a lot about electronics, I suggested you post it here and see if anyone could help. I see not too many had ideas of what it might be (thanks Flysig and tpa) so I thought I'd bump this to the top and see if Paul Temp might see this and chime in. He seems to know so much about these guitars and we're so lucky to have access to someone with his knowledge. (Hint...hint) |
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Help with a hum...
