RANGEMASTER HUM

[bobson]

  Hi all,
I know, I am not the first one who bring this issue to the surface but that's all I am thinking of for the last few weeks. Please help. I built a great NPN classic RM booster. It sounds just like I wanted except ugly hum. I was surfing the web checking all I could possible find.  At this moment I want to transfer all components to the terminal strip just like it was originally done.  Please let me know if there is any other ideas are coming to your mind. At this moment it is a strip board with some wiring.  I see some guys using styrene capacitors. What do you think about all of that? Please help!  All ideas will be appreciated.
Thanks. Bobson                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

[GibsonGM]

1)  Well, a bad hum is usually a sign that something that needs to be grounded is not.  That's the most common cause.  Or, maybe a bad guitar cord, too. 

#2 would be that it's picking up some interference in the room?  Like being near your computer monitor or something.  Putting the circuit in an enclosure shields it, eliminating that problem.

#3 - what are you running it on?  If a battery, then ok.  If a wall wart power supply, you could have some hum from that and would need to add filtering.

Try #1 first, and let us know if that helped (looking for a missing/bad ground).   Congrats on your first post! Welcome!

[davent]

#2 above.  Last one i made was fine once installed in the enclosure but had issues when bare or on the breadboard.

[kaycee]

Are  you using plastic jacks? If so maybe you need to check that you have the casing grounded. A leaky Ge transistor will hiss, not hum. You can try replacing it with a silicon to test, it will work and should be quiet.

[bobson]

To all,
Thank you guys for all your comments.
1. Yes I am using plastic  sockets. Will change them all ASAP, at least to move down the list to the next issue. I work on the temporary plate, creating the right environment with covering that with (do not laugh at me) thanksgiving turkey foil cooking bowl or whatever you calling that.  I can clearly hear that there are two types of hum together and one of them  disappeared when circuit covered with foil screen.  The other one is still there.
2. I am using strip board and I just realized that it was a bad idea for RM, because strips are picking up hum  just like long unshielded wires.

Based on my research and help of good  fellas like you I got a plan now.   No wires, shielded if absolutely necessary, metal sockets, no strip board, terminal strip just like an original RM had, and everything must be inside of the real metal box. 
If it's not gonna work, I'll kill myself with the knife.

[bobson]

In addition to previous post,
I am using Voodoo Lab 2 plus power supply and it works just fine. My custom PNP fuzz with negative ground which was made for me by my friend (he is from other country) works just fine, no hum at all.   I tried battery for my RM, less hum but it's still there.

[davent]

A 100r resistor in series followed by a 100uF cap to ground,  where power enters your board, might very well kill the power supply hum that you don't hear when using a battery.

Not sure about the other you're hearing.

[italianguy63]

Sorry-- covered above.

[kaycee]

Plastic jacks are fine, you just need to link ground to the casing somewhere, most people solder to the back of a pot. Ive built many a Rangemaster on vero, as have many others, it isn't an issue with using it if you have built it right.