Electro Harmonix Hum Debugger - first look

John Sadler · From: Belmont, CA

I own an old MSA semi-classic with a great single coil pickup that hums like a beehive under almost any circumstances. I have gone to a good deal of trouble to eliminate this hum, including shielding the pickup and its wires, and making my own hum canceller. So I thought I'd give the EH Hum Debugger a try. I got it last night and immediately opened the case for a look. It is clearly a digital device - there is a programming socket on the back side of the circuit board, and very little in the way of passive components visible. I plugged it into my MSA and was impressed by the amount of hum it removes, in either the normal or strong setting. I spent a good deal of time flipping among the two settings and comparing to the bypassed sound,including controlling for pickup loading effects. I do notice a difference in the sound of the guitar with the hum debugger active, but I cannot pinpoint any coloration - it just sounds cleaner to me so far. I am starting to think that this may be psychoacoustic - the hum itself may color the perceived tone of the guitar, just as noise is known to do. The true test is what it sounds like playing with a band. I will post again next week after I get the thing into the studio for a rehearsal.

Anyone else have any experience with the EH box?
Other favorites for dealing with hum?

Jon Light (deceased) · From: Saugerties, NY

I'm not looking to bomb you with this but yes, we've talked about it before:

HERE

HERE

and HERE

When I can not use it, I don't, but it works far better than anything I've ever seen and its negatives are acceptable when weighed against REALLY bad hum.

John Sadler · From: Belmont, CA

Thanks Jon - I did the search before posting but didn't see the amount of discussion this thing has generated. Interesting.
I've been using hum canceller I made myself using a guitar pickup as a hum sensor, and then mixing some of that back with the original pickup sound. It worked great until I started experimenting with adding load to my pickup - now it's a tweak nightmare. Solvable, but not on stage…

I wish the E-H box would run on a regular 9VDC supply, but I guess the AC supply is used as a 60Hz signal reference.

Clyde Mattocks · From: Kinston, North Carolina, USA

I won't leave home without mine. I use the normal setting. In rooms where the hum is bad, the result is dramatic. It does introduce a sort of random phasing, noticible at times on the higher notes. But like you, I have noticed a slight cleaning up of the signal.
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Alan Berdoulay · Posted 14 Sep 2014 5:31 am

I've found it a godsend at gigs.
But I've gone through two factory power adapters......and I'm wondering why......?

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