Is a power conditioner the answer?

[stobro]

I think I might have dirty power in my house. Or maybe something else is going on.

Whenever I play one of my basses (It doesn't seem to matter which one.) through one of my amps (Again, it doesn't matter which.) into one of my speakers (ditto), I get a buzzing overtone on top of the note. It's more noticeable in cabs with tweeters, but it's still there on all of them. Low notes that make the amp work a little harder also have a hiss/chuffing sound. When I dig in or turn the amp up a little bit (I'm practicing alone and I don't play too loud or I'll wake up the dog!) the buzz gets louder and more obnoxious sounding. If I let a note ring out for a while, I can hear the buzz ride the note until it decays.

Any time I'm out where the band practices or at a gig, I swear I don't hear any of these noises.

My house is about 50 years old and has the usual assortment of electrical appliances, compact fluorescent lights, computer, TV, radios, etc. Nothing unusual about the operation of any of them. I know enough about electricity to be dangerous, so any diagnosing of my house wiring will have to be done by an electrician.

Do I need to invest in a power conditioner? Will it help?

What's the Hamer of power conditioners?

[tbonesullivan]

have you gotten a ground tester at the hardware store to make sure you have a good safety ground? Also, do all of these basses have humbucking pickups, or are they single coil? Do you have fluorescent lights? hum can come from a lot of places.

Furmann makes good power conditioners in a wide variety of price points.

[HAMERMAN]

Defintely try the ground tester. also try to rule out the flourescent lights by playing with the lights off. Set everything up. Turn off the lights and make your way to the bass with a flashlight and see if anything improves.

In a household situation I would guess that's something's wired wrong if you you really need the power conditioner and the money would be better spent getting an electrician in to check things out. It could also likely make your house safer.

[stobro]

There is no continuous hum or buzz. The noises are only present when a note is being played. I have both single coil and humbucker pickup basses and the noises are present with both. I have a plug in electrical tester with lights that tell you when everything is wired correctly and according to that, everything is. It doesn't test for the quality of the ground, I know.

I've taken my Thunderfunk head in for service a couple of times- once to Dave Funk himself. It's been given 2 clean bills of health, yet I can hear this crackly, buzzy parasitic noise on top of the note. My Euphonic Audio iAmp 800 head does the same thing, as well as my ancient Peavey Century head that I keep as a back up. I've swapped cables, amps, speakers, basses, everything except the house.

[gorch]

Try to switch off any radio frequency in the house. So, turn WLAN, mobile, and any other item off. Check again.

Also, what's up in the neighbourhood?

Did you change rooms for checks?

[HAMERMAN]

That changes everything. Are you playing in a room with other gear in it? In particular speakers or drums. In this situation your amp get's the other speakers (or drum heads) moving. This is most noticable when you play in a small room by yourself. If practical try moving the other gear into another room and see if anything improves.

[BadgerDave]

HAMERMAN has a good point. It very well could be a sympathetic vibration form other equipment or even the lighting fixtures or HVAC ducting in the room. Possibly a loose screw on a switchplate or air vent!

I once had a guitar the nearly drove me crazy with a constant buzzing sound. I finally determined that the high e string was just barely touching a pickup pole piece when vibrating. Lowered the pickup a quarter turn and it dissapeared.

The funny thing is, it sounded exactly like electrical interference.

[dragan]

try playing your gear in a quiet environment other than your house & see what noises are present

[stobro]

They don't call this forum "Ask the HFC Experts" for nothing!

It's quite possible the only thing "dirty" about my house is the room I practice in. I think a lot of the noise I was hearing was not coming directly from the speaker, but from stuff around the room. The light fixtures in the ceiling, the heating vents and a few other things around the room are sympathetically vibrating at various times. The worst offender was the dehumidifier sitting in the corner. I shook it and slapped it around a little and the noises all but vanished.

I did uncover another problem with one bass that has passive bartolini humbucker pickups. It's output is so hot that I was overdriving the input of the old Peavey head (the only one without an input overload light) which to my ear sounded like a fried speaker.

I also discovered that the Krivo magnetic pickup I bought for my upright bass has weak/imtermittent/no output, depending on its mood.

[tbonesullivan]

ahh yes. the good old sympathetic vibrations. I even get those when playing trombone. And it sounds like something is rattling on the horn, but it's not.

Glad to hear that you have rectified the problem. The other solution would be to just turn up the volume until you can't hear the other things vibrating