whiteop Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 I recently bought a Les Paul Traditional Pro with the push / pull volume controls that gives you the option of having humbuckers or single coils on both the bridge and neck pickups. I keep noticing hum when I'm playing the guitar and it doesn't go away when I touch the strings or any metal part of the body like other guitars I've had in the past except when I touch the input jack or the nut on the toggle switch. Now this sort of sounds like a ground loop type of problem that I've seen in the past when there's more than one way to ground. This happens in both modes too. I've shielded the cavities in Strats and Teles that had single coils in the past and fixed the problem but never in a Gibson but of course that was never needed with regular humbuckers though. I opened up the back access plate and looked at the electronics in there and saw no shielding so I used some copper shielding material that has adhesive on it and cut out a piece on put it on the back of the access panel but that didn't help much (not that I expected it to without there being shielding inside the cavity but it's worked on Strats before). I'm pretty electronics saavy and have rewired ciruits from the ground up on quite a few guitars. Just wondered if anyone else has had to deal with this on the Traditional Pro and what steps you took to fix the problem before I start spending time on diagnosing the problem. BTW - I took all effects out of the chain and attached it straight to an amplifier and still have a little hum but nothing like when you have an overdrive or distortion pedal in the chain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiteop Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 anyone else have this problem? I using it with an HD500 but have some other mfx units so I may try another out to determine if it's the guitar or the HD500. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryUK Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 I had this problem 30 years ago.It was an earth problem if I remember right. Try taking the earth out from your amp plug. Just to try of course. I vaguely remember being told it was too many earths. I'm not sure what it means. I know a studio engineer use a wire and crocodile clips to connect my jack input to the saddle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Las... Just for U.S. readers. <grin> Over here we call it "ground" where you call it "earth." But as to the specifics rather than variations in nouns, you know a lot more than I do on this one. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiteop Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 I figured it out completely by accident. I was putting in a new pedal and took out one of the patch cables I had in my chain and had to put in a new one. It fixed the problem. I guess the wire in the patch cable had deteriorated and I was picking up eddy currents (or something similar) and it was causing what sounded like a little buzzing when I would take my hand off the metal parts or strings in the guitar. As I've had other Gibson guitars before and never had any hum, especially since most of them use hum cancelling pickups, I was wondering if I'd have to put shielding material the cavities of my guitar or not or rewire it which I've had to do with several of my Fenders (especially Teles).I didnt' think Gibson would put out a guitar with humbuckers that hummed so I feel a little relieved...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiteop Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 I had this problem 30 years ago.It was an earth problem if I remember right. Try taking the earth out from your amp plug. Just to try of course. I vaguely remember being told it was too many earths. I'm not sure what it means. I know a studio engineer use a wire and crocodile clips to connect my jack input to the saddle. you mean a ground loop where there is more than one path to ground. I never remove the 3rd prong from my amp cords. That would cause even more hum. I trained to be an electronic tech at one time so I have a pretty decent knowlege of electronics. I knew this was most likely a shielding / ground problem. I figured it out tho. It was a bad patch cable (a Planet Waves build it yourself patch cable; the type you cut the wire and put the non-solder heads on with a screw; usually I never have any problems with them). Thanks for replying though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhstaab Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Interesting that you are also having the problem with a LP Traditional Pro. I'm taking mine in to my tech tomorrow. Other threads seem to indicate that the primary cause is a failure by Gibson to install the ground wire to the bridge post. Unfortunatly I know my problem is not a patch cord. I have over 20 guitars and 5 amps and this is the only guitar that has this problem. I'll update this post if my tech confirms it was an internal ground wiring problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy R Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 you mean a ground loop where there is more than one path to ground. I never remove the 3rd prong from my amp cords. That would cause even more hum. I trained to be an electronic tech at one time so I have a pretty decent knowlege of electronics. I knew this was most likely a shielding / ground problem. I figured it out tho. It was a bad patch cable (a Planet Waves build it yourself patch cable; the type you cut the wire and put the non-solder heads on with a screw; usually I never have any problems with them). Thanks for replying though. Yeah not a good idea. Sometimes it is necessary if there is a phase/polarity difference between the lighting/PA etc and your amp but I usually ask the sound guys to fix there stuff... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy R Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 I will bet that Gibson is putting the ground wire in before they glue the tops on now so they don't have to try to drill the hole after the tops on and fish the wire to it... It would be an easy thing to forget but should be noticed by QC.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WahKeen Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Whiteop, how is the HD 500 working out for you? Pros, cons? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiteop Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 Whiteop, how is the HD 500 working out for you? Pros, cons? sorry just saw this now. About the HD500 Pros: very good amp modeling; sounds great live movable fx loop Up to 8 effects at once but don't count on it; more like 4 - 5 at a time 100 effects; wide variety though I like the effect quality on the RP1000 and GT-10 a little better Decent overdrives and distortion stompbox models; not quite as good as analog pedals but just about there 16 full amp sims (with amp, cab, and mic models) and 16 pre-amp sims If you have the DT-50 amp the HD500 and it combine together to become a monster. The DT-50 is a great sounding amp in itself but add the ability to change patches with different topologies, classes (A and A/B), and pentode / triode modes and it gets even more interesting. Cons: high gain amp models need a little fine tuning IMO; particularly the JCM800; If you're a high gain player this rig may not be the best for your needs though it can do some pretty high gain tones very well depending on how you tweak it. can't set different levels for XLR outputs and 1/4 output jacks (handy if you want to feed more or less signal to the PA or your stage monitor) No global on / off for modeling, cabs, mic simes; have to set each patch separately DSP limitations (has to do with number of effects active, amp models used, dual or single amps, etc ...) Overall I'm very pleased with this setup. The complaints I see are mainly from the high gain players which is where the highest percentage of complaints seem to come from on almost every type of mfx unit ever put out there; not just on the HD500. You simply can't get the type of tones they need from an amp modeler (unless it's an AxeFX). It takes a tube driven amp with a tubescreamer or similiar type variant to get the type of sound that they're usually looking for. I've heard some comments from my other worship team members and they all have said I sound better than I ever have before. Just my .02... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WahKeen Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 [quote name='whiteop' timestamp='1299311581' post='876945' Cons: [*]can't set different levels for XLR outputs and 1/4 output jacks (handy if you want to feed more or less signal to the PA or your stage monitor) Thanks for your response! This one is strange... My x3 live has this function, and the difference in sound/purpose is important. Hmmm. A con for sure. Overall I'm very pleased with this setup. The complaints I see are mainly from the high gain players which is where the highest percentage of complaints seem to come from on almost every type of mfx unit ever put out there; not just on the HD500. You simply can't get the type of tones they need from an amp modeler (unless it's an AxeFX). It takes a tube driven amp with a tubescreamer or similiar type variant to get the type of sound that they're usually looking for. The x3 live does decently with hi gain, and I'm a hi gain kind of guy, at times. I guess it's no biggie. I've heard some comments from my other worship team members and they all have said I sound better than I ever have before. Just my .02... That's great! Good gear does make a difference. I think, like you said, overall it is a great processor. Thanks, man. This helped a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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