Picking up radio stations......

[ibanez4life SZ!]

Hey guys!

Recently, I have been picking up radio stations on my DR....as of now, it has only been happening at one of my friend's houses....

What could be the culprit? Is there something wrong with my mesa, or it is poor power at his house?

Yesterday, I also got my Ibanez rewired with PRS tremonti pups (the guys messed up the bridge pickup, so I have to take it in to have it fixed).....could it be the mistake in wiring that is causing it?

My entire rig runs with planet waves cables, so I don't think that is the problem.....

Thanks for all the help!

 

[tele_jas]

Tube amps have been doing this for years... I have an old '70 fender Deluxe and I can remember thinking how cool it was when I was 10 years old (back in the early 80s) hearing the St. Louis Cardinals game through my dads amp when he was practicing (and I don't even live in St. Louis).

So back to your original question, I don't know why?? My amp does it every now and then still and when I use my wireless at one club, I can pick up truckers CB radios every now and then.

 

[Russ]

Take that thing in for service and tell your tech what it is doing. I had that happening in some old Marshalls. It is common. I forget what causes it but it is a simple fix. I believe they replace some really minor components. It is nothing that will affect your tone. It is just something that happens as parts get old.

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

The mesa is only about 2.5 months old though.....

I have heard it to be common with tube amps though.....

 

[jbird]

What could be the culprit? Yesterday, I also got my Ibanez rewired with PRS tremonti pups (the guys messed up the bridge pickup, so I have to take it in to have it fixed).....could it be the mistake in wiring that is causing it?

I would say thats a pretty good culprit! Usually though, poor shielding!

 

[RR]

This was question was posted before

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=4164&start=0

Anyway, here's my suggestion again.

Insulate your friends's room like this and you should not have any radio frequency problem:

image courtsey of MarkSound

(again) those of you afraid of alien reading your mind: http://zapatopi.net/afdb/

Now if you are pickup Mexican station(s). I can't help you. That's because that's for illegal aliens

 

[LSCMan]

Try with just the cord plugged in, no guitar. If it still does it , most likely it's the input jack.
I had the same problem with a used plexi reissue I just got. I had to solder a capacitor to the input jack ground and the chassis. Problem solved. 8)

Got this from Aiken Amps star grounding article:

Important note: While the star ground is excellent for eliminating ground loop hum, it is not always the best scheme for preventing radio-frequency interference (RFI). Fortunately, there is a simple addition to the star ground scheme that will make for a very quiet amplifier with no RFI. Simply add a 0.01uF capacitor from the chassis to the ground lug of the isolated input jack using very short leads. This will shunt all of the RF "riding" on the shield of the cord straight to the chassis ground before it can get into the amplifier and cause problems. Any kind of ground lug can be used for the chassis connection of the capacitor. You may be able to find a solder lug that slips over the shaft of the isolated input jack for a convenient ground lug. Use of an internal-toothed lockwasher is

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

I figured it out! My planet waves cable has a shielded and unshielding end....the shielded end has to go into the amp, which kills the radio stations! YES!

Thanks guys! You guys should try it!

 

[DAMAGED]

hehe so your fancy lead was the culprit. a little off topic but i was having problems with humming and feedback from my single rec, i even had the tubes replaced to make sure, couldnt figure it out... so one day i try not using my boss ns-2 in front of the amp and that was the problem!? the noisegate was giving me hum!!! now its gone my amp is quiet, no hum minimal feedback.

 

[Russ]

Nice cable....

BTW with that much aluminum foil I am sure you could pick up stations from at least Europe. I am surprised that the monitor is not freaking out because I am sure that there is a magnetic field happening there.

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

It's probably because the NS-2 is a poor noise gate. Try the ISP noise decimator, and you'll see what a gate should should/work like.