Rack and Noise and Fu

[Trem]

If you haven't already clicked the "back" button after seeing the blinding wall of text - read on

Get a shit ton of noise or feedback thru your amp?
Got a Rack full of eq's effects, ect running thru the loop?

Pull your hair out trying to tame it?
Spend 300 dollars on the finest noise suppressor money can buy, and still it has a hard time trying to fight the squeals and hiss?

Do you have a furman power conditioner in that rack?

Unplug everything but the furman and your head and stand near or facing it, does it sound like a tornado of wasps?

This was torturing me till i figured it out.

I was pulling my hair trying to figure out why i couldn't get the noise gone, even at lowest volume like 0.5 - can't go any lower than that and was feedbacking and noisy.

So i'm standing in front of my rack trying to adjust volumes on the eq, make sure all my line buttons are selected properly - checking cables expensive ass low noise cables.

Everythings filtered for emi/rfi/uhf/vhf/ufo&evh !*$%$#&%$#!

I'm thinking i've done everything right, i've hooked everything right, i've even plunked down the coin on a Decimator ProRackG, now WTFF.
I was really thinking it was my parametric eq, Or that the effects loop of my amp was fucked.

Well - It's the Furman - tried it on my other guitarist rig - the Furman, tried it at home on my home rack, it's the Furman.

I thought these things were supposed to help reduce interference??
Isn't that what they market???

Well, i can tell you that they can introduce interference that was never there.

It can be remedied somewhat or mostly by facing the rack completely away from your amp and guitar, but even standing within 6 feet, there is the possibility of it bleeding in, it is mostly when the guitar is facing or close to it. Of course if you put the guitar right up to it it's really bad.
Which is where one would be standing while trying to figure it out,
basically pissing in the wind turning knobs.

My only other thought was that there was dirty current comming from the wall??
And was seriously looking into a voltage regulator at the tune of 400+ bucks - shit.

I could not find one shred of anyone complaining about this on the web,
so i'm just posting it for reference, and anyone else, please try it out and post if your does indeed do the same thing.

It's a total pain in the ass to figure it out, because your adjusting everything while standing right in front of it, so the noise or interference is going to be there no matter what, until you turn your noise supressor up so high, you have no sound basically.




On a side note besides having to stand in the exact right spot and facing the exact right direction, my sound was so fucking incredible yesterday at practice.

Comming back to playing after 10+ years, i've never played or came up with so much killer stuff off the top of my head as i did yesterday - the sound was just intoxicating. I wrote almost three songs worth of material, playing non stop whatever came into my head.
luckily my other guitarist was recording, or i would have forgotten it all in about 2 minutes

I've degraded all my stuff - buy the cheapest amp head and cab i could (600 total for both with new tubes), and sold off the more expensive stuff, and my sound is now killing.

Parametric Eq is teh WIN. If you have anything in your rig, it is the #1 most usefull tool you can own imo, can make a 400 dollar amp sound like a 2k amp easily.

I have a patch dialed in at home for my mp-1 thru my lexicon that sounds killer with my 7 string, i copied the perameters that i dialed for the parametric eq on that patch to my aphex roughly, and it basically sounds just like it at practice thru a cranked amp with some minor adjustments.

Alot of it is shelving the lows and adjusting the mids and presence a touch. Turns Mud into extreme Tightness and seems to add massive controlled but liquid gain, that is not exactly there without it...across rigs the same effect low volume thru headphones or high volume thru a cranked amp.
Tuned down to A sounds as tight as standard tuning on a six string.
I think what i have stumbled across is the frequency curve of the pickups in the ibanez, because it sounds very similar between two totally different amps now.
Playing alone it sounds almost like two guitars in unison it's so thick and 3d-

Running
Ibanez 7321 stock pups, into a peavey ultra plus - with an aphex 109 tube parametric 4 band, and Isp Deicator prorack G into a b52 cab.

It all came together yesterday (besides the furman), and i just wanted to say it out loud, sorry for my excitement

That whole feeling of wanting to try out more amps dropped off in an instant like a good coke high, i just felt, well there it is, i found it, and the Gas has left...sweet! My Bank account will be steadily increasing again, heh.

Sorry this came out as more of a blog than a post after proofing it.

end transmission....

[Cleveland Metal]

That's why my rack is a love hate relationship...

[toxikdeth]

That's why my rack is a love hate relationship...

You know I dont see the point in having a preamp and such why do you do it.

[Cleveland Metal]

Cuz you have little to no flexibility with heads... You either like it and it does what you want, or ditch it. Preamps/power amps can always be swapped out and played around with.

[toxikdeth]

Cuz you have little to no flexibility with heads... You either like it and it does what you want, or ditch it. Preamps/power amps can always be swapped out and played around with.

This is true. Just many people say they don't sound as warm as heads but to be honest with you I've never tried a pre amp and poweramp rig only heads.

[Cleveland Metal]

I find amp heads DO sound more "live" than racks... Especially higher end ones like splawn etc...

But, no flexibility...

I have gravitated to high end rack stuff and it's pretty good sounding, pretty "live". BUT, expensive. My CAE 3+se is like an $1800 preamp. That's just stupid expensive... My VHT2150 power amp is pricey too... AND heavy, haha.. But, I love the sounds....

[Trem]

That's why my rack is a love hate relationship...

Do you have a furman in it, does it create a bunch of noise if your near it?

I'm assuming it does, cause it does on three different ones here.

I use my rack preamps for at home, for practice and gigs 'future' i will use heads, i will probably have an mp-1 in there for a backup or for cleans.

i don't like pedals, but basically all that i use in my rack is a intellifex which i rarely to never use, eq and the decimator - and the stupid furman. i have plans and the units for midi switching and paralell looping the rocktron.

But i don't need that much flexibility out of an amp, i just need it to get the sound i like - once that's dialed in, i don't touch it really.

For all the 100's of patches on preamps and effects units and stuff, i would only use one or two off each usually.

[Cleveland Metal]

I don't use a furman, I use an ETA lighting unit. But many do Furmans with no issues. I'll figure you possibly had a bad with a bad part in it maybe? I've seen Furmans in many a rack that functioned well.

[Outlander]

No noise problem here either with my little mini rack.

[Trem]

No noise problem here either with my little mini rack.

if your close to it with your guitar you don't get any static then? or facing it? I have the same one, well a plus II and it does it on two other old rp-8 tho not as much or strong maybe. different guitars different units different places.:think:

[Trem]

I don't use a furman, I use an ETA lighting unit. But many do Furmans with no issues. I'll figure you possibly had a bad with a bad part in it maybe? I've seen Furmans in many a rack that functioned well.

but i never realized it would be the furman, just curious if others had noise and assumed it was their pre or power amp or head ect,..and use noise reduction and figured it cured whatever, not knowing it could be the furman all along.
man it could be a number of things causing interference with it, just that it does it in two different places (houses), it is more pronounced at practice than at home, and the pl-plus is worse (much i would say and more at loud volumes) than the rp-8 in close proximity.
Also turning it away from my amps and myself quiets it mostly, but i figure it could still be quieter possibly - anyway, if it's any where close to it or my amp, it's uncontrolable, even with a decimator it has to try too hard.

nice tc para, would like to try one.

[jgcable]

If you haven't already clicked the "back" button after seeing the blinding wall of text - read on

Get a shit ton of noise or feedback thru your amp?
Got a Rack full of eq's effects, ect running thru the loop?

Pull your hair out trying to tame it?
Spend 300 dollars on the finest noise suppressor money can buy, and still it has a hard time trying to fight the squeals and hiss?

Do you have a furman power conditioner in that rack?

Unplug everything but the furman and your head and stand near or facing it, does it sound like a tornado of wasps?

This was torturing me till i figured it out.

I was pulling my hair trying to figure out why i couldn't get the noise gone, even at lowest volume like 0.5 - can't go any lower than that and was feedbacking and noisy.

So i'm standing in front of my rack trying to adjust volumes on the eq, make sure all my line buttons are selected properly - checking cables expensive ass low noise cables.

Everythings filtered for emi/rfi/uhf/vhf/ufo&evh !*$%$#&%$#!

I'm thinking i've done everything right, i've hooked everything right, i've even plunked down the coin on a Decimator ProRackG, now WTFF.
I was really thinking it was my parametric eq, Or that the effects loop of my amp was fucked.

Well - It's the Furman - tried it on my other guitarist rig - the Furman, tried it at home on my home rack, it's the Furman.

I thought these things were supposed to help reduce interference??
Isn't that what they market???

Well, i can tell you that they can introduce interference that was never there.

It can be remedied somewhat or mostly by facing the rack completely away from your amp and guitar, but even standing within 6 feet, there is the possibility of it bleeding in, it is mostly when the guitar is facing or close to it. Of course if you put the guitar right up to it it's really bad.
Which is where one would be standing while trying to figure it out,
basically pissing in the wind turning knobs.

My only other thought was that there was dirty current comming from the wall??
And was seriously looking into a voltage regulator at the tune of 400+ bucks - shit.

I could not find one shred of anyone complaining about this on the web,
so i'm just posting it for reference, and anyone else, please try it out and post if your does indeed do the same thing.

It's a total pain in the ass to figure it out, because your adjusting everything while standing right in front of it, so the noise or interference is going to be there no matter what, until you turn your noise supressor up so high, you have no sound basically.




On a side note besides having to stand in the exact right spot and facing the exact right direction, my sound was so fucking incredible yesterday at practice.

Comming back to playing after 10+ years, i've never played or came up with so much killer stuff off the top of my head as i did yesterday - the sound was just intoxicating. I wrote almost three songs worth of material, playing non stop whatever came into my head.
luckily my other guitarist was recording, or i would have forgotten it all in about 2 minutes

I've degraded all my stuff - buy the cheapest amp head and cab i could (600 total for both with new tubes), and sold off the more expensive stuff, and my sound is now killing.

Parametric Eq is teh WIN. If you have anything in your rig, it is the #1 most usefull tool you can own imo, can make a 400 dollar amp sound like a 2k amp easily.

I have a patch dialed in at home for my mp-1 thru my lexicon that sounds killer with my 7 string, i copied the perameters that i dialed for the parametric eq on that patch to my aphex roughly, and it basically sounds just like it at practice thru a cranked amp with some minor adjustments.

Alot of it is shelving the lows and adjusting the mids and presence a touch. Turns Mud into extreme Tightness and seems to add massive controlled but liquid gain, that is not exactly there without it...across rigs the same effect low volume thru headphones or high volume thru a cranked amp.
Tuned down to A sounds as tight as standard tuning on a six string.
I think what i have stumbled across is the frequency curve of the pickups in the ibanez, because it sounds very similar between two totally different amps now.
Playing alone it sounds almost like two guitars in unison it's so thick and 3d-

Running
Ibanez 7321 stock pups, into a peavey ultra plus - with an aphex 109 tube parametric 4 band, and Isp Deicator prorack G into a b52 cab.

It all came together yesterday (besides the furman), and i just wanted to say it out loud, sorry for my excitement

That whole feeling of wanting to try out more amps dropped off in an instant like a good coke high, i just felt, well there it is, i found it, and the Gas has left...sweet! My Bank account will be steadily increasing again, heh.

Sorry this came out as more of a blog than a post after proofing it.

end transmission....

You have to start off with basic good sound. If not.. a Parametric won't do it for you.
Regarding crazy amounts of unbearable hiss... thats a gear problem... unless of course you are playing out of a dimed out 5150!!!
Most players use entirely too much gain live. The trick is to start off with an amp that has multiple or cascading preamp stages. This way you don't have to turn the gain up to the hiss point in order to have the correct amount. For instance.. the Mesa Rectifiers will all hiss if the gain is near max. They are pretty quiet with the gain on around 6-7 which is usually plenty of gain for most metal players.
On the other hand.. a Marshall JCM9000 needs to be dimed out because it doesn't have nearly the gain of a Rectifier. Even a JCM900 with the gain dimed out is still damn quiet. It thats the perfect amount of gain for you.. . thats the amp you should be using.

[roodyrocker]

On the Furman issue, keep in mind that Furman makes what is basically a rack mounted power strip and they also make higher end power conditioners. Depends what you need. I played one club once where the power was so bad that my Bogner Uber volume dropped to almost nothing. Same club diffferent night, a friend's Dual Recto lost its punch and gain. A Furman power strip would not solve this but their conditioners would.

[Trem]

You have to start off with basic good sound. If not.. a Parametric won't do it for you.
Regarding crazy amounts of unbearable hiss... thats a gear problem...

yeah you gotta have a good basic tone, at least a good smooth overdrive ect, as far as bass deficiencies or mids or any of that, the para will help greatly.

right, it is the furman (gear) other wise the amp is fine, just whale call feedback (low pitch whails) when cranked high and it's a peavey.
Were cramped so i'm standing like right next to it tho, otherwise no hiss at all or any other white noise alone, but when the furman is introduced.

The peavey ultra has a good amount of gain, but not exactly 5150 high, but it's better than a 5150 imo, the gain does have to be at around 7 with the boost knob on to go fully chunk, but it's perfect there, no more no less basically.

On the Furman issue, keep in mind that Furman makes what is basically a rack mounted power strip and they also make higher end power conditioners. Depends what you need. I played one club once where the power was so bad that my Bogner Uber volume dropped to almost nothing. Same club diffferent night, a friend's Dual Recto lost its punch and gain. A Furman power strip would not solve this but their conditioners would.

I was thinking on just getting a voltage regulator for that reason, but the cost - i do have the Pl-Plus II series fancy schmanzy furman, so i expected nice quiet opperation.
I do notice a power drain in the house when we are practicing, mostly in the tone and feel of the amp, the meters haven't went down past i'd say 115 -116 on the furman when it happens, but it's noticable in feel.
This is a temporary situation where we are, but anyway, i figure most people are not using a voltage regulator, i never see one in anyones racks, i'll wait on that unless absolute necesary.
But this issue with the furman, made me have second thought about buying any of their products anymore.
I used furmans in the 90's i didn't remember any problems with it, it's just a convenient power strip - never thought much more of it.

[Outlander]

if your close to it with your guitar you don't get any static then? or facing it? I have the same one, well a plus II and it does it on two other old rp-8 tho not as much or strong maybe. different guitars different units different places.:think:

I gat a little hum (not static or white noise) when I face my guitar towards any of my amps within 3 foot or closer, as in when adjusting amp settings. But this is due to the pups being close to and facing the speakers.
Are there flourescant lights or any motors running where you're playing ?These are great at adding noise. Is your rack isolated ? Kinda sounds like a ground issue to me. Do you have any ground lift switches on any of your gear if so try that. Also...just because youre pluged into a 3 prong outlet doesn't mean it was wired and grounded correctly in the fist place!!! I have had to run 20 or 30 foot power cords many times at some of the bars I've played just to find a good or usually the "best" circuit to use.