Sudden onset buzzing.

[eljay]

Hi. I'm hoping that someone has experienced (and been able to resolve) something similar and can help. Here goes:

- I have two guitars: One is an HH superstrat-style and the SSS Strat copy. The SSS is (as expected) somewhat noisier than the HH but until last Tuesday both guitars were very quiet on three different amps: Marshall MG15R, Monoprice 5W 1x8 combo and a JOYO BlueJay (the latter two plugged into a sealed cab with an 8-ohm G12M Greenback).

- On Tuesday I got a Valeton TAR-20G. Set it up, plugged it into the 1x12 and the HH was suddenly very noisy/buzzy. If I touch the strings, the noise/buzz goes away. Ditto with the SSS. And the same issue happens now on all the amps. (With no guitars plugged in, the amps are still dead quiet.)

- Over the past few days I've tried various combinations of guitars, amps, cables, outlets throughout the house and lighting (on/off). No difference.

- So I bought a multimeter, opened up the guitars and tested for continuity. All good.

I'm at a complete loss as to what to try out next. How do two guitars suddenly get noisy when nothing at all in the house has changed? Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

 

[RCM 800]

I would guess maybe something with the supplied power if its happening with all amps and guitars and it was fine before. That or maybe environmental. Had a HAM radio operator that used to live accross the street and he would broadcast thru everything powerded up that had a speaker if he went online during normal waking hours. Solar flares lol?

 

[eljay]

Solar flares. Ha! 😆 Yeah, maybe the supplied power, but nothing else in the house seems to be suffering from increased noise (and the amps themselves are still dead quiet when there's no guitar connected).

I read an article just now (https://www.emfanalysis.com/fiber-optics-increasing-electrical-sensitivity/) about possible issues from fibre-optic installations for home Internet, which have started coming into our neighbourhood. Dunno.

It's damned depressing though. Anyway, thanks for your thoughts.

 

[Maxbrothman]

If I touch the strings, the noise/buzz goes away. Ditto with the SSS. And the same issue happens now on all the amps. (With no guitars plugged in, the amps are still dead quiet.)

That comes with using some amps. You kill the buzz by palm-muting the strings when not playing a note.

You remove the intermittent buzzing while playing with a Noise Gate.

This is found through lots of metal and thrash rigs. It is more than possible your blues lunchbox heads have enough gain in them to do the same thing.

What happens if you turn up the volume but keep the gain down? Does it humm less?

 

[eljay]

Volume up / gain down reduces the buzz. But the issue is that prior to last Tuesday there was no buzz to have to kill. It started all of a sudden with all the amps (and both guitars). That's what's really messing me up. Whatever changed in the world, I'd like it to change back.

 

[Maxbrothman]

You should try them out somewhere in the building or another to see what happens.

 

[eljay]

Yeah, I'm gonna give a buddy a call and see if I can bring a couple of pieces over to his place to test things out. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[eljay]

Bought some copper shielding tape and taped up the electronics cavity and cover on the Ibanez. Made sure the bridge is properly grounded (it is). Checked all the solder connections (all secure). Re-tested for continuity (all good). No change.

Took the Ibanez, the MG15R and a cable over to my buddy's house a few blocks away. Buzzing's still there. 🤬

Next step is to rent a guitar from a local music store, bring it home and see if it buzzes too.

This is really frustrating. 🙁

 

[eljay]

Well, I picked up a dual-humbucker guitar (I think it was an Epiphone Les Paul Special VE) from a local shop. It was dead quiet in-store, but when I got it home it buzzed like my Ibanez. So I think I've ruled out everything except for a new or increased (as of last Tuesday) source of RF/EMI in the neighbourhood. 🤬

I suppose the next thing to do is contact the utilities and home internet providers to see if they'll look into it on their end.

So, for now, I guess that's - THE END -