DR Noise - Not the amp! Help w/front end noise

[boogieslide]

So my other post about my noisey DR had me thinking there was something wrong with the amp since most of the replies said their high gain Mesas are quiet.
I screwed around with my setup for a few minutes last night and found that it is not the amp! Plugging straight in it was pretty quiet on the high gain settings with some volume pumping through.
So now the issue becomes what the hell is introducing the noise.

I have a Furman Pedal board (I'll have to look up the model). Guitar goes into an input jack on the top of the board. Then a jack goes out to pedals. Chain is this.... Ernie Ball Volume Pedal (Boss tuner off tuner out) -> CryBaby Wah -> back to Pedals in on Furman -> then 20ft chord from Furman out to amp input. I had some chorus and flange type pedals in there to, but pulled them out and still had the noise so I'll leave them out for now.
I checked the chord going from Furman out to amp in and it was fine. Same with chord I am using from guitar to Furman in.
I bypassed the use of the Furman ins and outs and just went guitar to Volume in then Volume out to amp and the noise is there. Same with just the wah. Basically from what I could tell, my cables are good on their own but as soon as I put anything in front of the amp the noise increases quite a bit.

What do others do? I wouldn't think a volume and wah in front of the amp is a whole lot in the signal chain and should introduce much noise at all. I would love to just go right into the amp, but I do use the volume pedal a lot...the wah sparingly.

Thanks!

 

[screamingdaisy]

Try setting up in a different room. It could be something your cables are picking up that's exacerbated by doubling the length. Also, don't coil your cables....either lay them out or toss them in a big messy pile (preferably away from any power cables).

An EB volume does add a slight bit of noise, but not so much that it should be the problem you're having.

I don't know what quality of cable you're using, but I've always found better cables generally have better shielding.

 

[boogieslide]

I am using Monster cables. I normally do not have them coiled, but from moving around they eventually coil up.

I wondered about the power thing, but the EB volume pedal is not powered.

I just had my wah modified. One of the mods was to make it true bypass, which I actually haven't even tested. Tonight I will only run through the wah and leave it disconnected from the power supply and see what happens there.

 

[screamingdaisy]

I am using Monster cables. I normally do not have them coiled, but from moving around they eventually coil up.

I wondered about the power thing, but the EB volume pedal is not powered.

I just had my wah modified. One of the mods was to make it true bypass, which I actually haven't even tested. Tonight I will only run through the wah and leave it disconnected from the power supply and see what happens there.

If you are powering your wah, make sure the adaptor is far away from the pedal....though if you had problems with just the EB and two lengths of cable I doubt that's the problem.

Anyway, let us know how your gig goes.

 

[tele_jas]

I know you probably don't want to hear this, but try "process of elimination" and remove one pedal from your chain at a time..... or start with one and keep adding until the noise starts (even try the power supply).

My "noiseless" power supply is my main culprit (sp), when I run on battery I get no noise but as soon as I plug in the noise starts.

 

[boogieslide]

I ripped everything off my board and started from scratch. Systematically I brought everything in one at a time. I won't bore you with all the details of everything I encountered, but I found the main culprit.

Both my Boss GE-7 and Digitech DigiDely introduce major hum when they are connected to the little power outlet of the Furman board. It has an area with power outlets and came with cables that are 1/8" type jacks to the power inputs that go into stompboxes.
I don't use the Boss with the Mesa so I took that off and used a walwart power supply for the delay instead and the noise is 98% better.
Now I have volume - wah - flanger - chorus and can use the boards in and out to pedal patch bay. It is not as quiet as just going straight in, but it is a drastic improvement. I would say now it is actually pretty **** quiet for a high gain amp! Tone seemed to improve a bit too :wink:

 

[MesaENGR412]

Awesome, glad to hear it! haha no pun intended lol :wink:

-AJH