60 Hz. Blues..... :-(

[NosmoKing]

:(

I recently purchased a used GT-6 and have been playing with it for a few weeks.
I am getting UNACCEPTABLE amounts of 60Hz. hum, and after reading some of the other noise-related posts here, I sincerely believe that the units in general suffer from poor grounding.

Why in the world would Boss make these things with an AC adaptor rather than a dedicated 3-prong ground??!! By comparison, I can plug my guitars into the inputs on my Mac computer, and access the various VST effects in CUbase. One plug-in; Amplitube has amp/mic/speaker modeling, as well as many "effects", but I don't get NEARLY the noise levels as I do from even headphone out on the GT-6......VERY disappointed!! :(

I can move the guitar AND the GT-6 down the hall, far away from ANY electronic equipment, but this makes no difference, and I'm doubtful that any sort of line filtering would work, because the GT-6 is not properly grounded to begin with :?

I have to say, the noise reduction feature on the GT-6 DOES work well, but it can't help noise WHILE you're playing!

If anybody has any helpful feedback, I'd appreciate it. However, this is NOT an issue of pickups, shielding, proximity to electronics.

Thanks!!

[Bob]

Hi,

OK lets start by saying that one thing the GT6 isn't is noisy, so either your unit is dodgey or maybe your settings are way too high.
As I'm plugged in as I write this lets do some subjective tests.
I have the headphones in, the o/p is set for line/phones and the o/p is set half way. I'm using a country crunch patch and if not playing anything you'd swear the box was faulty as there is absolutely no noise at all.
OK, now I've switched to a 3 stack drive and there is a very slight hum but this disappears if I unplug the guitar. (single coils sittting right by my monitor!)
Next thing, I assume it's quiet when you have it on tuner/bypass? If not then it's definitely on the blink I would think.
Next test is plugged in the amp (Fender Stage). This hums a bit anyway but there is no added noise from the GT6.

Hope that's useful.
Good luck
Bob 8)

[Karma]

Bob, that was a cool reply. I have not experienced any real noise from my GT-6. It doesn't have true bypass, and I guess it does somewhat affect the sound on some spectral level, but my ears are not that fine tuned. I recently had a jam where I had to turn my amp head to the 8 volume position. I was using my GT-6. My old Marshall head is noisy on its own through the 4x12. Between tunes and breaks I left my rig on full charge and I didnt hear anything from it. As for your situation, perhaps you have a faulty power adapter, or worse some kinda board issue. I read your post but to me the hum really sounds like interference from something in the environment. You could try resetting your GT-6 to factory settings, and see if the issue goes away. You just never know with used gear bro, could have been dropped or beer spilled etc. Take care and good luck.

[Jammer77]

I would wager that your unit is faulty. I have virtually no noise from my GT-6 and I push it pretty hard. Only other thing I can think of is some kind of interference from an outside source.

[Atheist]

What is shielding. I couldn't translate it so - can somebody explain it?

[Slacker]

shielding when used with wiring is a material that cable is lined with to prevent interference from outside sources such as radio interference from a computer monitor, or other nearby electronic device

[Atheist]

Thanx

[NosmoKing]

Well..........from what I've been reading lately(guitarnuts.com) if we are getting noise, a likely culprit is the guitar itself, regardless of price!!

Apparently, the copper shields offered for the backs of Strat/Tele pickboards can make a BIG difference, but the noise and hum isn't limited to JUST single-coil pick-ups, and the articles on the Guitar Nuts website show a number of different solutions.

Supposedly....MOST guitars, even expensive ones, have poorly shielded pick-ups, and have little if any shielding for the circuitry. According to the various articles on the website, you can use heavy-duty aluminum foil(easy to work with) or copper foil(heavier, better, and not-so-easy to work with). IF you REALLY want to quiet your noisy axe, the radar absorbing paint off an F-117 Nighthawk would work wonders...do they carry this at Lowe's or Home Depot? :wink:

[JerryPro]

What is shielding. I couldn't translate it so - can somebody explain it?

Shielding is something you are going to need a lot of from the looks of your screen name.

[Zonie]

Copper tape wrapped around the bobbins of single-coil pickups really does help keep the noise down, though traditionally wound single-coils will never be as quiet as humbuckers. Though I tend to be an obsessive do-it-yourselfer, on my current axe, I went ahead and paid a guitar tech the grand sum of $45 US (lol) to shield my pickups. This was money well-spent; I didn't relish the thought of inadvertently snipping a coil winding and rendering a pickup useless.

Other things I have done to reduce noise:
1) Keep your pickup leads as short as possible -- a bunch of coiled up wire inside your guitar's control cavity is a noise magnet.
2) Twist your pickup leads together (in a spiral) from where they exit the pickup all the way to where the leads are soldered to switches, pots, etc. I got this tip from a custom amp guru, and it really does help.
3) Shield the pickup leads with a piece of braided shielding. I pirated my shielding from an old piece of microphone cable. Make sure the shielding is grounded.
4) Glue some aluminum foil to the underside of your pickguard -- make sure it is grounded.
5) Turn off your amp, and go take a walk in the park... :lol:

Concerning the GT-6, however, it seems to reduce noise even further. If I play my strat straight into my Classic 30, I get more noise than if I play through the GT-6 into the amp. So the noise reduction seems to work. If I use a high-gain patch I still need to be careful where I stand in relation to the amp (standing right in front of the amp is noisy), but all in all it is relatively quiet.

But if I really want it quiet, I play my Ibanez AS-80.

Good luck!

[8-Ball]

If your sitting in front of your PC and Monitor while they are on ... THAT IS YOU PROBLEM.

That Buzz is from that or any other major electrical device.

I know that was my issue in the start. i thought the GT6 was a racket noisy machine, then all I did was turn off my monitor and PC and bam. Or just turn away from them.

Hopefully that is you issue, because my GT6 has ZERO NOISE issues.

[Anonymous]

T.V's and pc monitors will cause some noise, especially the tv, my gt6 is quiet even in front of the computer, you may have bad grounding in your house or your gt6 is faulty...