Mexican Radio on my Mark IV

[GD_NC]

Help! My amp/guitar keeps intermittently picking up a local latino radio station when I'm not playing. Any ideas how to make it quit?

 

[konstantine RK]

check out the output tubes.... they can become great RF antennaes when they go bad

 

[DaveP]

Help! My amp/guitar keeps intermittently picking up a local latino radio station when I'm not playing. Any ideas how to make it quit?

Stop tipping them.

 

[GD_NC]

Help! My amp/guitar keeps intermittently picking up a local latino radio station when I'm not playing. Any ideas how to make it quit?

Stop tipping them.

:lol:

 

[GD_NC]

check out the output tubes.... they can become great RF antennaes when they go bad

Thanks,

It's about time to do that anyway. Hopefully that will clear it up.

 

[IBA]

Does the amp pickup any radio stations when you disconnect the cables from teh amp input?

If the noise goes away it may be the cables themselves acting as an antenna or the guitar pickups (or both).

If the noise is still there with no cables on... take your amp to a tech I would say.

Cheers

 

[fatbagg]

That is so strange...Mine also picks up hispanic radio...Seriouslym no joke. Its very quite, but its there.

 

[swbo101]

Help! My amp/guitar keeps intermittently picking up a local latino radio station when I'm not playing. Any ideas how to make it quit?

I have had the same exact problem. But it only happens sporatically with just one of my strats, and no it's not a Mexican made strat! lol

 

[Sp3ktral]

it's a feature guys :mrgreen:

 

[MrMarkIII]

The amp was formerly owned by Wall of Voodoo?

 

[stephen sawall]

If you do not pick it up when nothing is plugged into the amp ... the amp is not picking it up. It is before the amp or in the loop.

You built a radio and are amplifying it. If you have any chords in a coil in your rig these often make great radios. Some chords/effects/pickups are more prone to this.

The trick is to match the volume and jam along ....

I remember watching KISS at Cobo Hall in Detroit in '76 and the radio was coming thru the PA louder than the band.....

 

[CudBucket]

They will try anything to get over that boarder.

 

[trickyrick]

Help! My amp/guitar keeps intermittently picking up a local latino radio station when I'm not playing. Any ideas how to make it quit?

I noticed your profile says "Down South" would it be in the Richmond area? I have the same issue on my MKIV. It's only certain times of day, none of my other amps do it. I previously owned a different MKIV and it did it on that one as well. Just Mexican Radio.

 

[SonicProvocateur]

On another forum, i've heard of complaints that certain pedals do it. It's a shielding issue with cables/effects/pickups as Steven said. It -may- be your Mesa, but I really doubt it. Unplug everything but amp->cab and start plugging stuff in until your amp becomes a radio, then you have your answer.

Otherwise, you'll have to ask your Mesa for it's green card. We all know it's supposed to be from California :wink:

 

[Xqzdust]

Billy Gibbons said he heard it on the X! :lol:

 

[gts]

All I could think of when seeing the title of this thread was you were playing the Wall of Voodoo song "Mexican Radio" on your MkIV

Fwiw:

http://youtu.be/V04IBsz-9Wo

 

[Rhoads]

:lol: no joke man ! I live in Canada (Quebec) and i have a Mark IV and i ear sometime a JAPAN or (chinese) Radio! that make my friend crazy ha ha ha .and thats happen only with my Fender Strat ??? Funny thing Radio Boogie .

 

[dgr888]

On some, maybe most Boogies they didn't use a resistor on the input jack going to the grid of the first preamp stage. A resistor on the input helps to block interference from radio and other noises. You pick up a little more attack and gain not using the resistor at the expense of some interference. If a good cable doesn't rid the problem then consider putting a 10K or up to 68K on the input to get rid of it.

 

[Rhoads]

Thanks dgr888 !

 

[Reinhard]

Well, consider yourself lucky! I got Russian voices coming out of my MarkIII, and it did not give the impression of being a regular radio station. I got the feeling of been plugged in to a spying unit! My amp’s of the first III’s and made when KGB was still at large, so as long as the amp is still working, they might as well be playing to.??.
So if you ever hear news about a dead man, a dead MarkIII, and shells of 7,62 × 39 mm on the floor.. I am done..

:wink:

By the way.. new tubes solved the problem.