TRBboy Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 (edited) Hey guys, I'm sure this sort of question has been asked many times before...... I seem to get a high pitched "noise" from my pedal board sometimes, it's not normally an issue live, but I was in the studio tonight and it was a real problem. So much so that I had to skip the pedal board altogether....... My board is as follows: TC Polytune -> GTX Bass Limiter (LMB-3 clone) -> MXR M80 Bass DI+ -> Boss ODB-3 I've just got a basic daisychain PSU from effectpowersupplies. Tried just using the comp and M80 because they were the only necessities for these tracks, but no improvement. Do I need to spend a small fortune on a better PSU? I'd be grateful for any suggestions! Edited January 27, 2013 by TRBboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantherairsoft Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Cheap supply with poor filtering. You get what you pay for I'm afraid. You don't have a demanding pedal set up so something like a Diago MicroPower9 should do the trick! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRBboy Posted January 27, 2013 Author Share Posted January 27, 2013 Thanks Shep I'll check it out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby K Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 I've had the same issue with cheap psu's in the past. As the man said, you get what you pay for it seems with these... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xgsjx Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Like Shep says, most likely the PSU. Another thing to check is how many mA the PSU puts out & how many mA all your pedals add up to. Though I doubt all your pedals will take more than 250 mA, if the PSU isn't putting enough juice out, it could cause noise. I had a similar issue when I tried daisychaining all my pedals. For a couple of pedals, I use a Godlyke Powerall (same as a OneSpot) with a daisychain & have no noise issues. But the Moog MF101filter doesn't like to daisychain at all, so it has it's own PSU. Try taking 1 pedal out at a time & see if you still have the same issue. If you find removing a certain pedal fixes the issue, try it on it's own PSU or put some copper shielding in the case. If that fails, bin the pedal. Another thought that it might be... If your limiter isn't set up right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRBboy Posted January 27, 2013 Author Share Posted January 27, 2013 [quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1359294647' post='1952565'] Like Shep says, most likely the PSU. Another thing to check is how many mA the PSU puts out & how many mA all your pedals add up to. Though I doubt all your pedals will take more than 250 mA, if the PSU isn't putting enough juice out, it could cause noise. I had a similar issue when I tried daisychaining all my pedals. For a couple of pedals, I use a Godlyke Powerall (same as a OneSpot) with a daisychain & have no noise issues. But the Moog MF101filter doesn't like to daisychain at all, so it has it's own PSU. Try taking 1 pedal out at a time & see if you still have the same issue. If you find removing a certain pedal fixes the issue, try it on it's own PSU or put some copper shielding in the case. If that fails, bin the pedal. Another thought that it might be... If your limiter isn't set up right. [/quote] Interesting..... what would cause the limiter to make that noise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Obvious question but was this into/thru an amp? I had similar problems with effects in an effects loop of an amp but when I went Bass-effects-amp input I had no probs... I may be up the wrong tree but just throwing it out there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xgsjx Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 [quote name='TRBboy' timestamp='1359321755' post='1953135'] Interesting..... what would cause the limiter to make that noise? [/quote] I tried the boss LMB3 & if the "Enhance" was too high, it raised the noise floor. In my instance there was a feint buzz in bypass & a shed full of wasps doing backing vocals when it was engaged. Just a suggestion to help narrow things down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRBboy Posted January 27, 2013 Author Share Posted January 27, 2013 [quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1359324878' post='1953192'] I tried the boss LMB3 & if the "Enhance" was too high, it raised the noise floor. In my instance there was a feint buzz in bypass & a shed full of wasps doing backing vocals when it was engaged. Just a suggestion to help narrow things down. [/quote] Ah, right! I read the Ovnilabs review of the LMB-3 before I bought this pedal, and I've always kept the enhance knob turned right down. It should be labelled the "hissy whiny horrible noise" knob! As an aside, until last night I forgotten what a big difference the MXR M80 makes to my sound! I basically have it on all the time as a pre I guess. I run it with just a little grit for the rock band stuff, and clean for the soul choir stuff. Adds real balls and presence to my sound, makes it sound a lot fuller and more authoritative. Still, the bass sound was great on the rough mix I heard last night with just pure Sandberg & Markbass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRBboy Posted February 10, 2013 Author Share Posted February 10, 2013 Well, I tried the different effects on their own today, and still got the noise. I then tried them with batteries in instead, and still got more noise than if i go straight into my amp, but without the high pitched electrical hum that I get with the PSU although not much difference. Stupid question maybe, but will effects always add an increased noise level to your signal path? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 Do you have a mobile phone in your pocket? Or are you just pleased to see me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xgsjx Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 If you're getting noise with the batteries then it's either your amp or one (or more) of your cables between the bass & the amp. It might be something simple like one jack is wired the opposite way or you could have a damaged wire (I used to get this when my cats were kittens & they'd pop a fang in a lead, causing all sorts of noise). Or like Mr Letts says, it could be interference from your phone. Good luck with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRBboy Posted February 11, 2013 Author Share Posted February 11, 2013 Thanks for the replies guys. My phone is normally in my pocket, but wouldn't that be causing interference when I'm going straight into my amp too? When I tested it earlier I had my bass on a stand nearby anyway, not on a strap. Tried both the cables straight into the amp too to rule that out.... Maybe I'm being too fussy, but obviously it was a problem in the studio before anyway. Effect power supplies will let me return the psu because it's just inside warranty, but I'm not convinced it's the root cause of the problem now! Had a play with my zoom B3 tonight, I thought if I just use that it might sound cleaner. I like the compressors, but the drive sounds aren't really doing it for me at the moment, and i can't get the MXR M80 to sound much like the real thing at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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