The Steel Guitar Forum

Being a die hard single coil pickup guy, there are rare occasions when I get the dreaded hum. Last night was one of those times. Venue was an old converted feed and seed store. There were lights all over and around the stage on dimmers. The building was even wired for three phase equiptment and the wiring was very old. Fortunately, the hum was not noticeable when the band was playing. I did everything I could think of to reduce the hum, all to no avail. I flipped the amp ground switch and tried a three prong to two prong adapter. It was a tiny stage and we were jammed together so tight, moving the guitar was not an option. Is there anyway of making a pickup shield out of aluminum foil, screen wire, or something else that might help. I have another gig next weekend that is a new building, but has fluorescent lights everywhere. I have the same problem there. I only get the problem a coup!e times a year and I can live with it If I have to. I carry an AC ana!yzer to check proper wiring and ground, and everything checks out OK.

If the only solution is a humbucker pickup, then I am not interested.

I had the same problem many years ago and I could reposition the guitar on stage and it would knock it down to a livable level to almost gone.

Jack, aren't these type devices designed for hum caused by ground loops? If they are a notch filter designed for 60 cycle hum, wouldn't they mess
with the sound of your amp?

Dick I am aware of moving your guitar. Last night,I was 6" from the drummer on one side, 6" from the wall on the other side, 6" from a f!oor monitor in front and 6" from my amp behind me. No wiggle room and could barely get out from behind my guitar. One place I have played once a month for the !ast 10 years has a PA head on
one side of the stage. I cannot set up on that side of the stage. Setting up on the other side of the stage solves the problem.

Jack, after reading up on the DeBugger, looks like I might have been wrong about it.I have a gig Friday night where all the fluorescent lights are. Always had a hum there. I am going to get one in from MF and try it Friday. Doesn't work back it goes.

Thanks for the help.

George

A) the Hum DeBugger absolutely works.
B) it is NOT totally transparent. You will hear its affect on your tone. When hum in a particular situation is really bad, it is up to you to determine whether the trade off is acceptable. For me, there is no question. Definitely acceptable.

I totally agree with Jon.

Fully cognizant that a humbucking pickup will eliminate this issue, I still prefer single coils.

The HumDebugger does what it's supposed to do, but not without occasional undesirable side effects. Every once in a while, it will emit momentary weird-sounding artifacts that can be somewhat distracting. You'll have to decide for yourself whether or not the momentary blips are better or worse than a constant 60-cycle hum.

Usually, the hum is not an issue with a full band playing, but it is always there. Between songs, you can eliminate it with your volume pedal. Myself, I prefer running through the HumDebugger to a constant 60-cycle hum. I run it last in the signal chain, sitting atop the amp, with its output connected to the amps input.

Jack, interesting that you run it last in the chain. I read that it is supposed to be first thing out of the guitar. Mine should be in Wednesday or Thursday. Looking forward to trying it out on Friday.

Although I could make up a good argument for why it ought to go first in the chain, I, too, use it last, sitting on top of the amp. The good news is that it is true bypass so it requires no nuisance re-wiring if you find you don't like it on the bandstand. Being able to return it is an excellent way to audition the thing. The moment I found that it could tame my neon-sign barroom from hell gig, I knew it was a keeper.

Humbucker pups... Been here done this !

I have only used the "Normal" position on my HumDebugger. It doesn't cut out every bit of hum like the "Strong" position does but it doesn't sound as processed. I rarely use it at all unless a place has really bad wiring/lighting or neon next to the bandstand that they won't let you unplug.

I'll add that I only use humbucker pickups. Doesn't mean I haven't needed this box. It has been a while, though, since I've been in such a bad room. I was glad I had it once, though, to tame a guitarist's problem.

I don't expect to use this very often. Right now I only know of two places, but I just feel it is something that needs to be a permanent fixture in my gig bag. I have everything else, including a spare amp, so one more thing is no big deal.

Hum DeBugger works great. I've been using one for years because I tend to play p90 guitars. Normal setting usually does it. Strong setting when it's really bad. That's the only time the artifacts are very noticeable. Normal setting, you might hear it, someone with good ears for music might hear it. The audience listening to a live mix will not hear it.

It's important to identify the type of hum you have.

60- cycle (50 in Europe) can sometimes be prevented by physical positioning of equipment, use of better quality cables and in some cases tightening amplifier transformers. Inductors can even be mounted on some cords to reduce it. Changing positions, humbucking pickups and the aforementioned items sometimes work.

120 hum (100 in Europe) can be caused by bad wall power(no ground and/or hot/neutral reversed), fluorescent lights (those twisty "power saver" bulbs are horrendous). dimmers, TV's, computers, refrigerators, fans (anything with a motor on the same circuit breaker) and so on.

I AWAYS start with wall power. It's surprising how many outlets in homes and at venues have no ground wire connected to the third "hole" and /or have hot and neutral reversed (AC power DOES have polarity). A $6 outlet tester can tell you if there's a problem and if there is don't bother with any other solution - get an electrician. Ground loops can also be an issue, and some recommend using a ground lift - a solution implemented by stage hands that almost killed me on two occasions.

My advice is that any hum issue involving supplied power and/or grounds be dealt with by technicians and/or licensed electricians. There are serious safety issues involved and a box with a magic ground lift switch may quiet the problem while creating a very dangerous situation for the player.

If you turn the dimmer all the way up the noise goes away. Good luck.

The DeBugger is not a ground lift, it's a filter. Removes troublesome harmonics that contribute to the hum.

I have a True Tone single coil pickup in my steel and as of yet, I've never experienced any kind of hum at all. I've played some places with old electrics and plenty of lights on dimmers and such and it never has affected the sound. Solid steel tone and no electric hum....... just a thought.

John, I had a sing!e coil Tru-Tone in an an Emmons Ext. E-9 and never had a hum, BUT I was not playing in these two venues where I am having a hum issue. Can't conclude if it was the pickup having no hum, or I just had not been in a problem venue.

I am playing a 1982 Zum now with the original single coil pickups. I don't know if Bruce wound his own pickups or got them from another source. It doesn't really matter. Using single coil pick ups,I just feel better, knowing I have the DeBugger in my kit. I hope I only have to use it once in a blue moon.

Used the De-Bugger for the first time !ast night at one of the two places I play that has always had a hum problem. It worked perfect. Hum was as quiet as a mouse peeing on a cotton ball. It did take a litt!e expermination. I connected it first thing after the guitar, per the manufacturer's recommendation. It made my guitar so brigbt, I couldn't tame it even with the treble turned completely off. I moved it to the last thing before the amp and that helped a lot. Then I noticed the toggle switch had gotten accidently moved from normal to strong. When I flipped it to normal, treble was no longer a problem. I don't care what the mfg. says, this thing will change your tone when used in the strong position.

This is a great product that I highly recommend for anybody using single coil pickups. Although it seldom happens, I just feel a lot better now knowing I can handle the hum if I ever need to.[/b]

Good going, George.
Great for you!

The Hum Debugger really does work great in my experience (also using it in "normal" mode). I use it at the end of the signal chain too. The only issue I've had with it is that certain notes, which are those that fall into one of the harmonics that the debugger attenuates, will sound dead. There's really no way around that one, but once you know to expect it, it's easy enough to compensate for/avoid. It's a lot like a regular guitar that has a dead spot in the neck.

Dave

George Kimery wrote:I don't care what the mfg. says, this thing will change your tone when used in the strong position.

You can usually compensate for loss of treble with EQ on the amp or other pedals you may have.

If the hum issue is annoying when not playing notes, then a noise gate like a Boss NS2 can help as well.

Glad that worked out for you, George.

David Ball--yes! I discovered this early on. It was the moment that I realized that this box is indeed an intense notch filter and not just some mystery voodoo. I found that a slow glissando through the node caused the entire sound to die enough to lose all sustain of the initial note. I thought it might be a deal breaker but the more I worked with it, I decided that in the real world (not my practice studio) it was still acceptable when battling hum that is bad enough to warrant the use of this box to begin with.

Simple question, does the hum debugger require a battery or power supply? The reason I ask is because it seems that most of the time it won't be in use.