Advice from any sound people
I'm stuck. I'm putting this here because it isn't really related to bass playing, if it belongs in a different forum, please move it :)
A friend of mine has an early model Fender Strat (I think it is around 40 years old) and he has been asked to play as a fill in for the praise band (he is normally our bass player). The problem is, we are having a heck of a time with noise from his guitar with our M7CL Yamaha digital board.
We are thinking that it might be because of the age of his Strat (and the fact it still has original pickups) and the hi Z nature of the older strats and the board being a new digital board that is designed to deal with low Z inputs. We've tried several different DI boxes, a pickup booster (which while it improved the sound signal brought a huge amount of buzz too).
I'm actually the sound guy for them, but I'm lost and I know some of you all are into this kind of thing too and might have some ideas we can try. Any thoughts?
I'm no expert, especially
I'm no expert, especially with those strange 6 string thingies, but if I recall correctly those old strats had single coil pups. Single coil pups will pick up any 60 cycle hum from the nearby electrical system.
The fact you hear a hum when the signal is boosted shows you do, indeed, need a DI (or pre-amp if you prefer). When the signal is amplified enough to hear properly you are hearing the 60Hz hum as well.
Traditionally, the guitarist would work WITH the hum. That is part of the charm of vintage instruments. Assuming, however, that you don't want the hum you'd probably want to install a hum filter somewhere in the FX chain.
Hope this helps a bit. Maybe some of the others will chime in with their opinions as well.
Thanks PW. I will look into
Thanks PW. I will look into that.
Right now, we have his chain as Guitar->Pickup Booster->Effects Box (RP255)->DI->Soundboard.
We have the pickup booster in the chain because previously we would have a very strong signal at the sound board but no volume.
My biggest problem is, I've not been a sound guy long enough to run into something like this (and I'm certainly not a trained professional either).
Is it humming out of the
Is it humming out of the amp? If not toss an SM57 on the grill and be done with it. Sometimes buzz from those old guitars can be a real nightmare to get rid of. Did you try an active D.I. box? Try getting rid of the FX box once and see if that changes it. Also are there any flouresent lights on the same circiut? Any Fridge or Freezers? Any neon lights? All noise makers. Stage lights or anything like that? Did you try a ground lift? It might make it even worse OR if your lucky better. If you used a ground lift have him hold the strings of his guitar and touch a mike if he sings. Nothing like a shock on the lips your are not expecting. Were you using a D.I. with a ground lift? If so did you try and switch it?
I have often thought of running the AC into an isolation transformer... but I have to talk to my electronic engineer buddy before making a suggestion like that.
Dave
we were using a passive DI
we were using a passive DI box with a ground/lift switch, which we tend to leave on ground. I do have an active one available though, I could try that. I've never used those though, the last sound guy was against them, so I never bothered.
As for the wiring, it is a church, so I'm sure it isn't the best in the world...
I'm running a nice digital board there though, so wondering if I can isolate that range and drop it out of the mix, not sure the impact it would have though on the sound.
Thanks for the suggestions, I'll definately look into them as I'd hate for him to deface such a vintage old guitar for something like this...