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Every pedal I buy has a loud buzz. Help!!
- Thread starter Mr. Chuffey
- Start date
I've done a similar process... but I also try it in different rooms or locations. Took me forever to realize one of the outlets in my music room was the issue.
Troubleshooting is really just a break it down to orderly steps process - and it inevitably seems likes it's step 9 out of 10 that finds the issue!
on a dimmer ? Some dimmers throw hella amounts of rf/emi out...
This problem was solved by taking the battery out of the pedal. It's quiet enough now. I think I'll keep the pedal, although it's not a whole heck of a lot different from my Big Muff pi. I think it might have a little bit more in the low end, which is what I'm looking for. We'll see how it cuts through the mix at the next gig. Thanks again to all who chimed in.
FWIW, I usually read and hear and experience that batteries are quietest, unless the battery is dying - something weird there ...
If that's the case, I'm totally at a loss to explain why the pedal is now useable. For the previous fuzz pedal I tried, a Death By Audio Absolute Destruction, it didn't make any difference if I ran the 9v power supply into the pedal while the battery was still in it. There was so much buzz, both on my bass, and our guitarist's rig, I just sent it back to where I bought it. Like I posted, once I took out the battery of the Fat Fuzz Facotry, that buzz is manageable. I can still hear it very faintly if I turn down the compressor and gate real far. I don't like the pedal set that way, anyway. I dunno, maybe the battery was shorting, or possibly the transistors inside just started to work better once the battery was out of there. Or the Gods stepped in to help. All I know is that it's working, and I'm going to try it out on my next gig, see if it cuts through better than the Big Muff pi.
@Mr. Chuffey ,
You haven’t answered any of the questions about what does or does not change the noise.
You haven’t answered any of the questions about what does or does not change the noise.
I'm not sure what questions I didn't answer, but I swapped cords around (they're all good), I took my phone out of the room, I tried different power conditioners and/or not using my power conditioners, had the pedal not running through the pedal board, got down on my knees and prayed. None of that worked to get rid of the buzz. Took out the battery - boom, problem fixed. That's all I can tell ya. I know it doesn't make sense, because as far as I know, you're right, running a pedal with a power supply and a battery at the same time shouldn't be a problem. But it seems that for this pedal it was.
As a heads up for future troubleshooting - since you experienced this with other pedals as well...
I've had certain dirt/high-gain pedals that did not agree with most of my 'wall-wart' power supplies. This included ones that came with various pedals from the manufacturer, and a 1-spot. They did, however, work perfectly and quietly when using a proper, high-quality isolated power supply. All that is to say, you haven't really ruled out the power supplies as the issue just because they are quiet with your other pedals or quiet with another fuzz.
Additionally, the room issue is worth noting. I've had 2 basses that were incredibly noisy in my old house (picking up RF/EMI) while all my other basses and equipment were fine in that house. High gain pedals have the potential to magnify that.
This. A noise gate only cuts the noise out when you're not playing. Soon as a note overpowers the gate, the noise is there with the note. In a bar gig, NBD, but you wouldn't want that sound quality when sound quality counts.