BoogieMKIIA

Update from a gig at the Jockey on Saturday, where the buzz was so bad before. I had some buzz but way lower than before the pedalboard rewiring, not a problem. Another source of noise is the Xotic SL compressor. I use the mid position on the toggle switch and dial in the compressed blend knob to taste, around 10-11 o’clock. A small turn can make a big difference. The high toggle position is too noisey for me. May try the low position and see how things work for tone and noise. Is there such a thing as a quiet compressor? Here is a list of checks from my experience and looking at other recent threads on noise/buzz. Feel free to add or comment. 1. AC power. Need special tools to check directly. Power cords, power conditioners, the EHX device. 2. Pedalboard power supply quality. Pedalboard power routing. 3. Cables. Check that your AC cable has proper ground (safety and noise); pedalboard cables, guitar cables, all signal cables. 4. Guitar wiring. Grounding, signal path connections, jacks, pots, switches. 5. With single coils in particular, your orientation to a room and other equipment.

Mineral oil is a dielectric, an insulator. Shouldn’t be an issue for amps. Paper in oil capacitors use mineral oil or similar. Not sure why the normal cleaners didn’t work as scratchy pots are assumed to be caused by dirt/particles. Maybe trumpet oil floats the stuff and lets it move.

Thanks for the video. I hope someone didn’t just dump all of that in the trash, has that been confirmed?

There is some device, forget the name, that slows down the song but keeps the correct pitch. Can help with fast passages. Looking songs up on YouTube is good, just compare that version with the real song. A lot of online versions are not quite exact, but get you close enough to use or figure out the rest on your own. I like to use Ultimate Guitar for chords and lyrics. I import to the OnSong app on my iPad where I can organize the songs into sets. The format is simple, no information on rhythm, but gives you the song structure and chords. Kind of like a reminder, especially for lyrics if you are singing. Downside is becoming iPad dependent but shouldn’t be a problem if you practice/repeat. It also lets you change the key. You can edit songs if the downloaded version is not to your liking and you can enter songs manually (originals or obscure songs).There are other apps, just the one I found.

I believe that is correct. I get more grind with it driving my Boogie MKIIA, maybe the input volume is up a bit. Same for my Marshall. The character of the Quilter with the Tchula seems different and I like it. The Quilter is very Fendery but is it's own thing. Getting the UK version sounds like an inexpensive way to experience the Vox and Marshall things - I don't need more gear!

Had a side gig with some friends on Saturday. The instruments were an acoustic guitar, dobro and me on the Tele. Singer/songwriter and country stuff. To save weight I used the Superblock US and a 1x12 cab. What surprised me was how it took my pedal board, specifically the black Tchula. I was concerned it would be too bright but it was not. Treble at 9 o’clock which is about where it sounds good to me plugged straight in. Also, the boost from the Tchula did not introduce much clipping at all. Between the Tchula, gain and limiter I got a very juicy tone with just a hint of breakup.

Sounds pretty good to me. The reviewer is a little different, but can play when he stops talking. Anyone here have one or have used one?

The loud buzz was not there Saturday night. Some noise but nothing like last week and no one said a word. I’ll hold off buying any devices for now. We play at The Jockey, where the buzz was so bad, on December 13. I’ll take a humbucker guitar in case it returns with the Tele, to see if that would improve things. We have just a few gigs the rest of the year so I will have some time to work things over if needed. Can anyone comment if modelers induce high gain noise when using distortion from amp or pedal models? If the processing simply adds gain, will not be different from an analog signal path. If the DSP can shape the signal waveform without adding gain, could be an improvement. Not for analog purists but a digital distortion pedal would be interesting.

Late update - digging into the Pedalpower 3 manual, the XLINK outputs are not isolated or filtered. They are there to drive an expander. I was able to use the two splitters as intended without rerouting cables. The compressor is on a single 12V jack; the Zen and Paisley are on one 9V output with a splitter and they are adjacent physically and by signal path; reverb and chorus are on one jack with a splitter and are adjacent physically and by signal path. A final living room check shows all is quiet, even my daughter and her boyfriend agree. Trial by fire tonight. Will be in the noisy venue next month.

I have been busy this week, finally got to dig into my pedalboard today. My house is not very noisy but I was hearing some buzz and hum. Here is what I found so far, have a gig tonight so will see if there was an improvement. In theory, these should help. Perhaps prior inconsitency has been due to this and the gig environment. Discovered that the Voodoo Labs splitter cables I have been using don't have a ground on one of the two splits. This is to prevent ground loops. However, you need to have the two pedals conneted directly together to guarantee ground and no loops. By the time I figured it out, I can't recall if I had them run as recommended, but think not. I was looking for power and continuity on pedals individually, the pedal on the Y leg without the ground wouldn't turn on! Thought I had two bad Y cables until I looked it up. Anyway, every pedal has power from an individual Pedal Power 3 output jack. The mini wah was powered from the Polytune 3 daisy chain power out. The SP Compressor is right after the Polytune 3, then the wah. Now each pedal has a separate power line. This could possibly have been a ground loop. To be able to use individual power jacks, I plugged my Paisley drive to a 12V output (for XLINK). The SP Compressor was already plugged to a selectable 12 volt output but changed to the second XLINK jack). Hoping there is nothing funny with using XLINK outputs on these two pedals. Now that I understand how the splitter cables work, I will rewire using physically adjacent pedals if this setup doesn't work. Two of the isolated outputs can be individually selected for 9V or 12V. I chose to run my compressor on 12V, the Paisley drive is running at 12 since that is the only other pedal that is capable. Once reconnected as described, I test drove it in my living room. Everything is working, no loud buzzing, seems a little quieter. There is some noise with the Tchula and overdrives, as expected. The compressor adds noise, I may need to change to light compression from medium when I get to the gig. The SP Compressor is funny, where there is some odd lower frequency noise when the compressor level know is very low. I don't run it that way, so the noise I get is likely normal. Also taking a guitar with humbuckers in case I get a loud buzz with the Tele again. If I have problems tonight with both single coils and humbuckers, I will ditch the XLINK 12V outputs and correctly use the splitters to power adjacent pedals. Once I know the power and signal routing is correct, I can consider using the line conditioner, EHX NDB or noise gates. Or noiseless Tele PUz.

Willcutt used to have a special Brown Sugar finish on Hamers but I think this is much earlier. Is the fingerboard ebony?

With the Boogie MarkIIA, there really isn’t an FX loop. Would need to see if a noise would work in the higher signal preamp out/power amp in path. Or, put it after dirt, before time Fx in the pedal board. For the EHX device, was it placed between the pedal board and amp input? This seems applicable to what I experienced, perhaps there is a transformer or neon lighting out of sight from the inside. Downside is the 7VAC power to the device. Don’t think 9VDC can be used. Seems better than a noise gate. I will still dig into the pedal board wiring and pedal jacks. I got some noise wiggling and replugging before the show. I also had the guitar fading out a couple of months ago during practice. Replaced a patch cable or two and checked the Tele output jack wiring, that specific problem hasn’t returned. I also removed a TC Choka pedal. The barrel of the patch plug was scratched and there was white residue. No battery left inside, perhaps I left one in a few years ago that started something.

I have a Radial power conditioner in a rack preamp/amp setup I'm not using. Can try that though I don't really want to lug it around. If it works it will be worth it. Another possibility is something in the guitar wiring since it was quiet without a guitar plugged in. Or something in the pedal board wiring that will take a deeper dive than I could try pre-show. I will see this week if I can hear the loud buzz at home to help troubleshooting.

I have no idea how the building is wired, it's an old, historic building in Lexington. Now called The Jockey, it was Cheapside for years. I'm here now, we tried a separate outlet, no lights or other equipment on, still have the buzz. Tried three guitar cables and wireless, all the same. Walked as far from the stage as possible, still the same. Turned off the Tchula, still get buzz with the Paisley and Zen. No guitar plugged in, all modes are quiet. Should have brought a humbucker guitar to try. Must be in the middle of a huge electromagnetic field. Still will check all the cables once I get it home, including in the guitar. I heard Kinman were good noiseless Tele PUs, any others OK?

You mean separately from the Pedal Power 3? Maybe do something like isolate power to one pedal at a time and see if there is a difference? I have a OneSpot but I think you are saying a battery, something not on the AC line. After writing all this out, one option could be go into the Tchula first, before the other dirt pedals. That way, the Tchula isn’t boosting the noise from those pedals. I tried this when putting the signal chain together and chose the current setup because the Zendrive into the Tchula sounded great. What a rabbit hole, one reason I avoided pedals for a long time.

There are several aspects to this question on reducing noise. Looking for anyone’s successful experience in reducing noise in my live rig. There seems to be variability gig to gig but was annoying last night.Of course, most audible with distortion/overdrive engaged. I believe it is 60/120 Hz but need to check at home. Here is my setup as a starting point. Player Tele with stock single coils. Mesa MKIIA 60W combo, only using the clean channel Pedal board is a Dingbat Medium with Pedal Power 3 supply. I made all cables. Square Plugs with Mogami cable, custom length. I made the output and input cables using various Switchcraft and Neutrik plugs, have used store bought cables. The output cable is quite long, maybe 20 feet. Signal chain - Polytune 3 with buffer enabled ->Xotic compressor (medium setting) -> wah -> Zendrive ->Paisley drive -> black Tchula (always on) -> three time Fx -> TC Spark Boost -> amp. Last night, the pedalboard and amp were plugged into the same AC circuit, a long cord with multiple receptacles along its length use for stage power. When I can’t do this, I run a separate 3 wire extension from the back of the amp to the pedalboard. We have modern LED stage lighting, which is supposed to be quiet. At least one set was on the same AC circuit as my rig last night. I’ll look tonight to see what bar lights, neon signs are around. I have a love/hate relationship with the Tchula due to the large treble boost and adjust the amount of presence and treble control lower to compensate. The Zendrive into the Tchula gives a great distortion sound with easy pinch harmonics, and just the Tchula adds pleasant grit for clean. However, I have to adjust the outputs of both the Zendrive and Paisley drive low to maintain equal volume without them engaged - about 9 o’clock versus around noon if no Tchula engaged. I can eliminate the Tchula and rework amp tone controls, gain along with pedal settings, to get a good sound. Because this setup has performed with relatively low noise before, I’m looking at things like cable integrity and pedal jack condition. If the environment is the culprit I may need to rethink my signal chain. Almost anything is up for consideration - add, delete, change pedals; where to turn on and off buffers; noise gate. Less keen on changing pickups as there are lots of single coil guitars out there. I will check with a humbucker guitar, which my provide insight if it is not much different.

Thanks, all look OK by that method. I hope to take the Studio Custom to RS Guitarworks before the end of the year to check everything out and do any work that might be needed.

Beautiful and a great price

I saw the “Traditional” model on Sweetwater’s web site ($2,298) with U neck profile and constant 9.5” radius. The body finish is satin with rosewood top and there is no black trim layer between the top and ash body. A little less fancy on aesthetics and the sunburst quilt maple is really nice. . Looks like some are on order. I really wasn’t looking when I saw the guitar at Willcutt’s and the price was in my range. Else, I might be interested in a new Traditional. I need to use my available cash to get the neck reset on my HD-28, a smarter use for it at the moment.

Radius is 9.5” to 14”, nut to 20th fret.

This guitar is nearby (Willcutt) so I went today to give it a try. The G string was sitaring at the nut, they filled and filed it on the spot. Net for me, the fingerboard radius is too flat. The “fast” C profile was fine. Otherwise, I probably would have brought it home. Larrivee now offers two thicker neck types, also with the compound radius. The guitar is gorgeous, great materials like the one piece lightweight ash body with quilted top, flamed maple neck. Pickups sounded great. Looked unplayed except some tarnish on the brass compensated saddles and a few very small dings on the back at the bottom. The bridge is a matte finish Callaham stainless steel. This was one of the prototypes of the 2020 series. Asking price is $1499.99 with new ones listing for $2799.99, seems like a good deal if you like the neck. https://willcuttguitars.com/products/larrivee-baker-t-lar-baker-t-used-134337

Anyone played a Baker-T Classic or Pro? Any thoughts? The specs look great, depending on what neck profile you like. There is a used one local (2020 model) at a good price. Light weight one piece ash with quilted maple overlay.

Weight around 11 pounds per specs. I have a newer hard shell Gibson case for my LP that is about 10.5 pounds, the guitar is about 9.5 pounds. The original (1973) case is lighter, but haven’t weighed it. I would like a lighter case but may not get the protection this Gator provides at the SDOD price.

My Taylor is very easy to fret, especially after the neck reset. Not like a standard six string but not so far removed. Bigger hands and playing a lot to maintain strength helps. If you only play electric with Super Slinky’s, will be a challenge. Couldn’t play it all night long! Another great 12 string acoustic is Larrivee. Willcutt used to have several and were on par with Taylor. I recall the smaller body models sounded surprisingly good, comfortable to hold. No information how stable the set neck joint would be over the years. I got a Larrivee parlor in 2003 that is still solid.

And BB King used a Lab Series Amp. It really won’t matter for those guys.