"Gated Static" problem

[ercol]

Hi,

Have recently put together my first 2 projects - the Smash Drive & Tube Reamer. Many thanks to all that gave me a hand on elements of that, and of course Aron & ROG for making it so damn easy to do - ready made pcb layouts, and of course serious amounts of backup info & reading on this here board. Both have really impressed me and really looking forward to trying them out with my band.

Do have a slight issue however - the Smash Drive has a lot of high pitched 'squeal' although extensive reading this board has meant i think ive got a few possible remedys down, which i'll try out tonight.

Whats bothering me is that both pedals have what i can only describe as a 'Gated Static' problem - silence when not playing, then as soon as i hit the strings, of course theres the guitar tone but also an underlying fuzzy static. cleans up a little with volume on the pedals, or indeed on guitar, but is definitely there whatever i do.

Has anyone got any idea what this might be, or a remedy for it? had a look over the board but wasnt sure of what terminology to use, which made searching a bit fruitless!

Worth noting if its got anything to do with grounding, these are still on the table and havent been put in a decent metal enclosure yet (which i understand can help grounding issues) but of course i dont want to go to the trouble of getting it all in before having made sure the innards are all working properly.

Any comments gratefully received!

Sam

[oskar]

Hi and welcome.

It's a bit tempting, as you see the problem with two separate builds, to look for a common source of noise.

...cleans up a little with volume on the pedals, or indeed on guitar, but is definitely there whatever i do.

Noise seems to be introduced allready in the guitar or the cable.

Have you used other high gain pedals before?
If you have noise early on in the chain then a high gain unit will amplify this.
Do you have a preamp in the guitar? Maybe it's time to change the battery.

[ercol]

most interesting...

use the same leads with both. no preamp with guitar, and yes have used high gain stuff previously, but not with the same amp - long story short, ended up staying with my father, took my pedals in progress for something to do, but had to dig out my first guitar, old amp, and some V.cheap patch cables i had lying around - may have something to do with it. i'll check it out with my better quality stuff and see if i get better results.

thanks for the comments.

Sam