Jakester

Hmm, what a pain! I did get one of these but never got round to trying it - might be worth a crack on each pedal to try and sort it? https://www.thomann.co.uk/joyo_zgp_noise_blocker.htm

I found one of the problems I was having with ground loop hums (despite having a ground lift on my preamp) was to do with daisy chaining pedals. I had a fully isolated Cioks PSU but even so, I ended up with a lot of noise in the signal chain. I've ended up trying to make sure that only pedals that don't contribute to the signal chain (such as a tuner driven from a separate tuner out, MIDI switcher pedal, A/B switch etc) are daisy chained. Can you reconfigure your 'other pedals' if they're daisy chained?

I went to Bowspeed for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Absolutely fantastic that shops like this still exist. The wealth of knowledge Hamilton has is amazing and I could spend hours listening to him!

Ah, that sounds like the same issue then. Don’t even need to open it up, just tapping the pedal (or even the board) makes a clunking noise.

Difficult to say what the mic could be from that pic, but the windshield shape suggests it could be a DPA: https://www.dpamicrophones.com/microphones/instrument/4099?variant=29

@Quatschmacher @Kev Could either of you expand on the issue with the tubes please? By PM if easier. I've recently received a new Finally V3 and love it, but the first time I used it in anger at performance volume today (I'd only set it up beforehand) there was a lot of noise which seemed to be coming from the physical pedalboard chassis - i.e. when you stepped on a pedal the clunk seemed to reverberate through the board. It seems linked to the Finally as when bypassed it was fine, all the connections are good and didn't happen before it was on the board.

We've all been there! 🤣

Well, I'd have thought it's because (not sure whether that developed by design or convention) the XLR pins tend to 'point' the way the signal is going - so something with male pins (such as a mic) 'points' the signal into something that receives the signal (female sockets). So something supposed to carry signal but having a female output is fairly rare I'd have thought as it would go against convention. Are you sure your mixer has female outputs? This suggests the MG06X has male outputs...

Oh yeah, maybe not. Unless perhaps OP got a double-stop one (I had one that would do both drop-D and C); that might do it.

I don't think it is as I used 'real' DB strings on mine when I had it.

Do you have any content blockers on your router/ISP? We set up a child portal on ours and it was blocking all sorts (including Google Classroom) that it shouldn't; even though stuff was whitelisted, it still kept doing it. Ended up binning it. Other option is to check your DNS servers - try setting them to 8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4, or 1.1.1.1 - if that works, it could be an issue with your router or your ISP's DNS configuration.

Whisper it, this is what I've done in the past - using chalk paint (which washes/wipes off) or light acrylic paint (Games Workshop paints my son had). For a neat finish, you might want to use a stencil or tape to get really straight lines, but a quick bosh with a thin brush works too. You could even use luminous paint if you wanted. If you want something more permanent, and it's not a bound neck (assuming not as you mention the lines) you could partially cut out some of the fret lines on the fretboard and insert some brighter material and sand it back; fairly drastic though!

Ah, you got the special version that describes my playing!

I used to gig with a guy who did exactly the same (maybe it’s the same guy!). In colder months his keyboard would always fritz out because of the condensation caused by bringing it from a cold car into a warm venue.

Well, it's fiddly in the sense that you need to understand how it works; but once you do it (usually!) works. I had a Tonebone, but found because it was cut only, and at the levels needed to equalise the DB and EB, it reduced the signal going to the amp too much. You can select input impedance for acoustic instruments on the Stomp if you like. I don't use a DB preamp (ATM - that's going to change) but it is a Realist pickup which as I understand outputs a 'usual' level signal.

Yep, EB in L and DB in R, and with a pan block at the start of the input to hard L or R and assigned to one of the foot switches allows an A/B switch. It can be a bit temperamental though - I’m sure I’ve set it and saved it so L is the starting input on each patch, but sometimes it will start on R, which is confusing. It does limit the available blocks and if you’re doing a patch where you’re not intending to use the DB (such as a synth) you have to remember to add a pan block, otherwise you get horrendous feedback from the open DB. Ask me how I know!

And, wouldn'tcha know it, reassembled the pedalboard back home and presto, no problems at all. Very strange. It has reminded me of the risk of having a single potential catastrophic point of failure in the signal chain though, so I think I'm going to be introducing a bit of redundancy going forward, at the risk of going back to a larger pedalboard (which is what I was trying to avoid in the first place!!)

It really is! 😁 Yep, strange it’s been fine on other gigs and rehearsals though! Not yet, just got home and can’t face it! Will check it out tomorrow.

Just got back from a fun gig, made somewhat scary by my pedalboard simply giving up the ghost moments before we started! For this particular gig, I use both electric and upright, and I'd recently rationalised my pedals down to a HX Stomp and drive pedal, with an always on tuner and a MIDI pedal to change presets on the Stomp. It's worked fine since I had that setup, the only previous hiccup being the power doubler cable worked its way almost imperceptibly out of the connection, giving some horrible noises. Once pushed back in though, all good! Used absolutely fine last weekend with no issues. Get on stage in a very rushed setup (15 mins to set up a 45-piece orchestra!) only to find no sound. Quick diagnostics suggest it's the pedals (direct into amp works); and for some reason, it's the Stomp. Ended up bypassing it completely and going direct into the amp; interesting swapping between DB and electric that way! One tune which called for swap mid-tune just had to be played electric. The other issue was when the first tune started I realised I hadn't actually tuned up on stage, so had to mute the amp, unplug, reroute into the always on tuner, tune, and then plug back into the amp before the bass solo part! Bit of a faff is understating it. Also meant no time to really EQ as it was all done on the Stomp, so DB was on edge of feeding back (because no HPF) and electric sounded very harsh until I'd tamed it later on. Still, blasted through the gig and got good feedback from the organisers, so can't say fairer than that! Someone's potato-phone cam footage: 014ab591-c0e8-4d1c-a969-e55664ef2f02.mp4 71b15e94-dbcb-458c-83bd-11248081c44c.mp4

The orchestra I play with, Orchestra of Everything, is playing the Main Stage at the Bradford Roots festival at Wiltshire Music Centre tomorrow at 1.15pm: https://www.wiltshiremusic.org.uk/event/bradford-roots-festival-2025/

If Boeing made speaker chassis the cone would fall out and they would spontaneously catch fire....

I’ve not tried the vinegar/steel wool thing, sorry.

I should say I had a fingerboard which someone else had dyed with leather dye, and whilst it looked great, under 'vigorous' playing the dye tended to leach out over your fingers, staining them black. It is possible to impregnate wood with epoxy resin (often used to stabilise softer woods). You need a vacuum chamber or bag etc and the proper type of resin though, and not sure how it would work on a harder wood like rosewood. (Is it 'proper' rosewood?)