60 cycle hum from guitar

[HobbswheresCalvin]

Any chance.anyone.knows if there is a way to get rid of this in an express
or should i just use a noise gste before the amp[/b]

[passfan]

Well , is it in your guitar (as in"my guitar hums in every amp I plug it into") or is it in the amp (as in "my amp hums with nothing plugged into it") ??
Fix whichever one it is and you'll be amazed at how much better it will sound fixed, instead of gated.

[HobbswheresCalvin]

Yaa i dont really want to gate it. But normally no i dont notice the hum from this guitar and it does only do it when i have a guitar plugged in. Tho the guitar is shielded very well inside and is dual humbuckers.. its also probably from the house wiring but was wondering if it could be an imput impedance issue

[geetarpicker]

An Express IS a high gain amp, like having a cranked Fender amp with a tube sceamer dimed into it running 24/7, so you have to work with it as such. You may have to get away from the walls to minimize the hum pickup from the house hold wiring. Also keep away from the amp head, even if it means stacking it elsewhere or leaving it on the floor. Make sure the amp has a ground plate cover on the bottom. You might work with your guitar position and see if simply pointing it a certain way minimizes the hum. When I'm recording I often find the sweet spot of the guitar position to minimize hum. That said humbuckers usually aren't much of a problem, it's wide open single coils that can really be hard to work with. Another trick is to run a single AC power cable into the room for the amp, and perhaps a table lamp, then turn off the wall breaker that feeds the wiring in the walls of the room or even that end of the house. In the end learn to drop your guitar knobs back to off when you play, or toggle to a different pickup that is dailed off. This is something one learns to do with most high gain rigs, especially really loud ones!

Also don't forget to turn OFF any fluorescant lights, and if you have any dimmers anywhere in the house turn the lights on those OFF. In my experience hum from these sources is airborne and even expensive power conditioners won't work againts it. You simply have to turn off Fluorescants and dimmers period, even one will ruin things. Heck if you are in a town house it's very easy to pick up dimmer buzz from a neighbor even...

That all said if you have humbuckers with really mismatched coils their hum cancelling properties may be marginal. In my experience guitar shielding has little effect, it's mainly the pickups. Still I do run a Suhr hum cancelling back plate in my strat which really works nicely with single coils.

[Reeltarded]

Other guitars don't hum through your amp?

[HobbswheresCalvin]

Im guessing its the wiring plus the dimmers plus the flourescence in this house. Its just all bad haha. But i can deal with. This is going to be my live rig and just wanted to see if i can make it ultra silent. All my guitars do it. And the pickups in them are good matches. Your right it is a high gain.. so its to be expected i guess. Especially since i have the gain all the way up to around 2-3 oclock.

Ill most likely just add the noise suppressor so i have less to worry about. The band i play in has quite a bit of theatrics to it. And i wear a full costume with armor. The more simple i make my rig...the better

Thanks guys.

[RevD]

Armor? Wow... Well at least your shielded... Sounds like quite the show, thats cool!

Regards,

Don