Major pedal board issues!

[username]

I know this may not be the best subforum for this issue, but you guys are extremely knowledgeable and I have a major problem. My pedal board has a loud squealing noise and radio stations coming through that sounds to me like an improper ground. At first, I thought it was just my bass whammy, since it was the only pedal that had a problem. I took it apart and resoldered all of the input jacks, output jacks, and DC jack. Now, the noise has moved throughout my entire board. I'm using a shitty one spot power supply for them, and have been for years. Maybe it's finally caught up with me? I took some videos of the problem for you to check out. I have a show coming up this Saturday and really don't want this problem to crop up mid-set. Thanks in advance!

Bass Whammy issue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jUXmbsyr3Y&feature=context-chv

Total pedal board issue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RS9Z2B6gAI&feature=plcp

[aron]

I would suspect the Bass Whammy since you said it seems to be causing the problem. Try this, run the bass whammy on its own power supply and see what happens.

[R.G.]

I'm using a sh*tty one spot power supply for them,

What brand of one spot power supply is that?

[rockhorst]

Doesn't a Whammy require different power supply anyway? Mine did (AC power). That's the first thing I'd try. I had DC brick once that gave troubles whenever a wah and something else was connected. My 1Spot never gave that problem.

[Cliff Schecht]

I'm using a sh*tty one spot power supply for them,

What brand of one spot power supply is that?

I think he just means an old beat up one, not that all One Spot's are sh**te .

[R.G.]

I think he just means an old beat up one, not that all One Spot's are sh**te .

It really was a request for info. If it's not an actual 1Spot, then my stomach hurts less.  If it is, I really want to find out why it squeals. That's how we figure out what to improve.

The Whammy has some lower voltage logic inside, and one possibility is that the internal power supply has gotten to where it heterodynes with the residual ripple in the incoming DC. That's true for any high frequency power adapter.

[username]

The 1spot is a visual sound power supply. Now, mind you, I am running everything with the exception of the wammy off of that. The whammy is using an H-pro power supply just like this one.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HPRO-H-PRO-9-volt-POWER-SUPPLY-ADAPTER-9V-DIGITECH-WHAMMY-XP-100-200-300-LINE-6-/190677305270?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item2c6540c7b6#ht_533wt_954

The whammy didn't make the sound when I had it plugged solo after I resoldered the jacks. Also, my rat will occasionally drop volume when plugged into the chain, but doesn't do it solo, which may be a separate issue or may not be.

[R.G.]

The 1spot is a visual sound power supply. Now, mind you, I am running everything with the exception of the wammy off of that. The whammy is using an H-pro power supply just like this one.

OK. That helps get the picture.

It's good that you're using a 9V *AC* power supply on the Whammy alone. We've had people cause themselves hum and other problems running a 9Vac pedal from a 9Vdc 1Spot. It works sometimes, but can cause signal problems. As an aside, the ebay ad is confused. They say 9V with center negative, but the printing on the adapter shows 9V with the AC squiggle beside it. But it should work with the Whammy.

The whammy didn't make the sound when I had it plugged solo after I resoldered the jacks. Also, my rat will occasionally drop volume when plugged into the chain, but doesn't do it solo, which may be a separate issue or may not be.

My next guess would be a grounding issue; I think you were on the right track.

Did this start suddenly, or creep in gradually? Was there some event that coincided with it starting?

Every time I say stuff like that, I get this picture of a bearded guy in a suit sitting in a leather chair saying "... und zo how does ziss make you feeel?" 

[tiges_ tendres]

It sounds to me like you might have some bad cables too.

[Mark Hammer]

Two older digital pedals sharing the same daisy-chained power supply can be bad news.  The problem lies not with the quality of the pedals themselves, or with the quality of the power supply, but the fact that they are sharing a common supply line without any isolation to prevent the various clocks in each pedal from heterodyning.

This is less of a problem than it used to be, but I suppose there are always the odd cases where problems arise.  If I run any of my Line 6 pedals individually, quiet as a music store on Sunday.  If I have two sharing the same supply, noisy as all get-out.

This may or may not be your circumstance.  Radio reception may likely stem from other sources, though.

[R.G.]

Radio reception may likely stem from other sources, though.

That's the one that screamed "ground" in support of the whine issue to me, too.

[pinkjimiphoton]

fwiw, that's why i don't use my whammy pedal. it don't play nice with some of my other boxes, seems to cause radio frequencies and hash particularly in my fuzzface.

THAT is a FATAL mistake on the part of the whammy...i can live without that, but not without the ff.

unlike a lot of guys, i didn't do the TB on mine...i DID hack a remote control in to change the presets, but it was causing the RFI from day one.

interested to see what comes of this...

[azrael]

I have no noise issues with my Whammy V.

Have you tried just powering and using one pedal at a time?

[username]

I have powered it and used it solo without problems. I can't just not use it because it is the most integral pedal in my board.

[azrael]

No, have you tried powering each pedal alone?

[username]

  Ok, going through each pedal and cable individually with varying power supplies, it is specifically the Bass Whammy that is the problem. I've taken it apart and resoldered the input and output jacks and still have a problem. I will honestly paypal $10 to anyone that can resolve the issue. I'm a broke musician and don't have the money to take this to a third electronics "pro", only to have it return with the same problem. I've got more video here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tOT0hEHZHo&feature=plcp and some photos here.

[Paul Marossy]

On that pedal with all those different kinds of IC chips, it could be any number of things causing the problem. IMO, trying to find the problem is like taking shots in the dark hoping to hit a moving target. My guess is that it's something to do with one of the IC chips, but which one?

[R.G.]

There is only one shotgun approach that I can think of that might work. Since this is an older pedal, maybe the main input filter caps are reaching end of their working life and are going to higher ESR. The middle photo shows five stand-up-cylinder electrolytic caps. It would be cheap and mostly straightforward to replace those in hopes that it would cut the fed-back interference. This is easy if you have some soldering skills and the board is double sided only. It is hard if you don't have soldering experience or if there are inner ground places on that PCB. I managed to replace electro caps on a four-layer motherboard successfully once, but I had to pull out every soldering trick I know to get it done and not trash the motherboard.

There is another approach.

You might try running the whammy pedal on a separate power supply from the other stuff. If it had its own private power supply, that might get enough isolation to cut out the noise. New 1Spots are under $30 in the USA. If I were in your position, I might try to borrow one or take my pedalboard to a dealer's tryout room to try with a second 1Spot. It might work.

[username]

It does have its own power supply. I have a show on Saturday and this thing is a major part of my setup. I'm getting very worried.

[R.G.]

Oops. Sorry, I didn't re-read the previous stuff in the thread.

OK, next option. Un-link dependencies, as the project management guys used to say. The show is a real-time constraint, and the noise from the whammy is a persistent problem. Is it possible to borrow or rent another whammy for just the show? The problem with trying to fix this particular one is that (a) it may not get fixed and (b) the "fix" might kill the patient, and in either of those cases, you're performing without a whammy. If it were me, I'd get a backup whammy lined up for the show while I was messing about with trying to fix the patient.