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Old 05-26-2015, 08:47 AM   #41
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Originally Posted by jalan View Post
I don't know exactly what pickups are in the LPJ, ...
I guess it's this one?

http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Elec...n-USA/LPJ.aspx

Let's call them "standard Les Paul pickups" then

But as I said ... pickup shielding on Gibson Les Pauls is suboptimal. If you interested to improve that, ask in the official Gibson forum for Les Pauls ... nice and knowledgable guys there.

Btw ... check out, if the distance to the PC makes a difference.
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Old 05-26-2015, 12:51 PM   #42
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Btw ... check out, if the distance to the PC makes a difference.
It really does. However, in my quick observations it had an effect on a distance less than 5" between the pickups and the notebook. Yesterday's recording was at ~20" away.

@jalan, I would have a FFT live of your input and start making experiments, like the folks here are saying.

Hope this helps. Cheers,
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Old 05-26-2015, 02:04 PM   #43
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It really does. However, in my quick observations it had an effect on a distance less than 5" between the pickups and the notebook.
In case of my Gibson LP, when using high end cables, I need around 1 meter distance between pickups and notebook to get a noise free clean tone recording. I'm not quite sure, if the HDD or the fan is picked up, maybe both.

I now use the Binder template for Lemur to remote control Reaper with an iPad. But Lemur is also available for Android. It can also control synth VSTs over MIDI and OSC. I love it, pretty handy tool
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Old 05-26-2015, 02:55 PM   #44
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...I need around 1 meter distance between pickups and notebook to get a noise free clean tone recording.
Cool. I'll certainly experiment that.

Ok folks, now this is interesting yet unexplainable (at least to me). I found an even higher gain preset in GR5 (called 94 Rock Solo). If I reamp my recorded file yesterday through this preset, there is no noticeable noise.

However, if I record a non-playing signal through GR5 in REAPER -- today -- I hear similar noise than @jalan has reported. Have a look below:


The differences? Well, in gear absolutely nothing. Yesterday I was in my living room at 11pm and a few moments ago I recorded in my bedroom at 6pm.

I wonder if it has something to do with the city momentum (i.e, rush hour, lots of people talking in mobile phones, airplanes through my window, etc).

I'll start to have a closer look in this phenomena, hoping to get a conclusion.

Cheers,
Fabio
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Old 05-26-2015, 04:20 PM   #45
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I don't pick up a lot of computer noise, but I am always playing a few feet away from the computer. What I've found more impactful is environmental noise - I can't seem to avoid it. What I've found is that the direction that I'm facing makes the most difference. Turned the right way I get no noise (or it cancels out or whatever), but turned even a few inches the other I pick up noise again.

There are a lot of variables that can go into noise... while for me noise from cables has been rare, I've gotten it from bad power (from the wall), leaky power supplies, grounding, batteries low on charge, interference from lights/appliances, and being too close to amps/computer.

Active pickups/onboard preamp helps a ton, making my guitars active has been one of the best moves I've made in terms of cutting down on noise.
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Old 05-26-2015, 10:32 PM   #46
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I wonder if it has something to do with the city momentum ...
Don't look so far

It's not the city, it's the room you're recording in. Maybe your bedroom is closer to a "bad" neighbour.

Let me explain "bad" with an example: In student times I lived in an old house with bad unsufficient shielded TV cables in the walls. My direct living room neighbour had a little TV problem ... heavy distortion in several channels, when he switched on his PC. I didn't have such problems, because I knew of this problem and exchanged the TV cable against a better shielded one.

As I reported before, I have similar experiences with guitar cables ... good shielding, less noise.

But I can also confirm, what was reported by SauIT about the direction the pickups are facing. It seems as if the whole guitar sometimes acts like an antenna picking up electric noise from bad power supplies, micro waves, cell phones, etc..

If you're interested to reduce such issues, you will need better cables AND better guitar shielding. That means better shielded cables inside of the guitar and shielding paint inside of the pickup cavities.

Google for "guitar humming noise" and you'll find out, that this is an often discussed topic in guitar forums.
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Old 05-27-2015, 11:25 AM   #47
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If the noise disappears with another interface, than IMHO the logical conclusion is that your main problem comes from the interface. You might want to compare Tascam's input impedance to your current interface, and to make sure the Tascam's input was in "Inst" mode, to eliminate the possibility that you were connected to a low-z input. BTW I guess you do not necessarily need another interface, a standalone good-quality DI might prove as a better investment. Perhaps you might want to test your interface's input in "line" mode and see whether you have a similar noise there (even with higher gain).

That said, all the other advice here holds. Short well-shielded cables, and turning off all and every electrical device around would be a good start.
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Old 05-27-2015, 12:22 PM   #48
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BTW I guess you do not necessarily need another interface, a standalone good-quality DI might prove as a better investment.
Good point. BTW, I have a Tascam US-122 MkII and the High-Z mode is pretty much crap. The guitar sounds much better in line mode at low recording level. Other than that, this interface sounds absolutely great.

I myself found the best guitar recording tone with my Blackstar HT5R, which has a red box out with cab simulation, which goes into the line in of the interface. You can't beat this tube amp sound with any VST ... at least for my taste. The smaller 1W HT1 has the same feature as far as I remember and is much cheaper. Ok, still much more expensive than a DI box, but much better sounding.

In my opinion a good guitar tone is as difficult as a good drum sound ... quite challenging sometimes, right?
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Old 05-27-2015, 01:31 PM   #49
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So the noise disappeared with the Tascam. If you are sure that the experiment between units was controlled so no other factors were different, then it would seem simple... the other two are picking up interference and that isn't.

Curious... these things bug!
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Old 05-27-2015, 02:30 PM   #50
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BTW I guess you do not necessarily need another interface, a standalone good-quality DI might prove as a better investment.
I've heard this suggestion elsewhere, but avoided it so far since (I assumed) the Inst input was supposed to function as a DI. Clearly, that's not working out for me

Right now, I'm leaning towards the cleanest interface (Tascam) and maybe adding a DI as well. Any suggestions on a good DI? This one has the best overall ratings, but the low price seems like a red flag…

http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-DI40...eywords=di+box
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Old 05-27-2015, 03:52 PM   #51
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Don't do it! The passive DI will reduce your guitar level even lower, so that you need even more gain at the interface, and end up amplifying the noise between the guitar and the interface (as well as the interface's self-noise) even more. It's the wrong answer.
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Old 05-27-2015, 04:36 PM   #52
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Second that. You need an active DI for an electric guitar.
I can't comment on Behringer for recording besides that generally the Behringers as a concept are chinese clones of the "real stuff". Radial are right on the opposite side, producing high-end expensive DI's. My impression is that good DI's can survive a long time in very harsh confitions, so if you're on a budget, it might be a good idea to buy a high-quality DI second-hand, rather than a questionable-quality new. Can't add much to that since I'm not a guitar player and have a limited experience with the subject.
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Old 05-27-2015, 04:41 PM   #53
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A good DI will sound much better than low-end interface, however if you only need it to tackle this specific problem, you should probably make a test with a DI prior to spending the money.
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Old 05-27-2015, 10:38 PM   #54
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Second that. You need an active DI for an electric guitar.
Here's a good example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2cMtRbvuvU

The Palmer stuff seems to have a good reputation too. Behringer usually is the El Cheapo stuff and sounds like that.

If the budget allows it, maybe also have a look at the Hughes & Kettner Tubemeister 5, which also has a Red Box (DI) out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7X0RH5OCJY

In my opinion the above mentioned Blackstar HT5 and the Tubemeister 5 are the best recording amps for guitar, if you're after a good tube amp sound for recording. And the best is, they allow silent recording at night. And both amps are the most noise free tube amps I ever tested.

A good active DI cost a bit over 100 bucks, the Tubemeister around 230. I myself decided for the Blackstar HT5R combo amp though it costs over 400, because it's the best allround solution. It's great for recording and allows to use the Red Box out also as a heaphone out for late night jamming at home. But this little beast is also loud enough for rehearsals and for the stage the Red Box can go directly to the PA. One amp for all

How good and versatile it really is, can be seen in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEJkksyqzN4

I decided to spare longer and get the Blackstar and didn't regret it ... I absolutely love this amp ... small, very versatile, powerful and especially very low noise level for a high gain tube amp.

If your budget allows it, I highly recommend to test the Blackstar and the Tubemeister yourself.
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Old 05-28-2015, 01:48 AM   #55
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I've heard this suggestion elsewhere, but avoided it so far since (I assumed) the Inst input was supposed to function as a DI. Clearly, that's not working out for me

Right now, I'm leaning towards the cleanest interface (Tascam) and maybe adding a DI as well. Any suggestions on a good DI? This one has the best overall ratings, but the low price seems like a red flag…

http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-DI40...eywords=di+box
Radial are the best known for professional quality passive and active DI solutions:

http://www.radialeng.com/activedi-products.php#
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Old 05-28-2015, 07:03 AM   #56
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Radial are the best known for professional quality passive and active DI solutions:

http://www.radialeng.com/activedi-products.php#
Radial stuff is indeed superb...
However it is designed to take a Hi Z, unbalanced input and turn it into a Low Z balanced signal.
This is great when you need long cable runs (like maybe more than 15 feet) that would add noise or cable capacitance that kills off the highs.

It will not help with noise inherent in the guitar, the interface or the amp sim
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Old 05-29-2015, 08:10 AM   #57
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AFAIK there is no such thing as noise inherent in the guitar. Unless the guitar has active components. Passive circuits do not produce noise. AFAIK again. The noise might be picked up from the background, or produced in the interface. Since the OP is observing this noise with more than one interface, it is probably the former. We still do not know why with one specific interface the noise does not show up. That might be because that interface has a better shielding, or better isolation from the mains and USB, or simply because it had been configured to use line instead of inst, which should lower noise level but also reduce sound quality. If the problem is noise, whether from the mains, or background, or USB, a dedicated DI should help. The OP needs to try one before buying though and see if noise is gone.
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Old 05-29-2015, 08:57 AM   #58
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AFAIK there is no such thing as noise inherent in the guitar. Unless the guitar has active components. Passive circuits do not produce noise.
And any passive device that is above 0 deg kelvin has thermal noise if I recall but passive components don't amplify that thermal noise. However...

Pickups make incredibly great noise antennas. I think someone already mentioned, if you touch the strings and it doesn't get any quieter, that is about as quiet as that guitar can be without being in a faraday cage. Meaning we'll possibly have more luck relocating the guitar than anything.
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Old 05-29-2015, 09:44 AM   #59
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Pickups make incredibly great noise antennas.
Even that, yes. Fact is even passive circuit guitars can produce unwanted noise.

Some players just live with it, e.g. Single Coil fans, and others try to minimize or even eliminate it. Most issues with Humbuckers are grounding and shielding issues.

Electric guitar forums like Gibson, Fender or Gretsch are full of such discussions.
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Old 05-29-2015, 11:00 AM   #60
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And any passive device that is above 0 deg kelvin has thermal noise if I recall but passive components don't amplify that thermal noise.
In that sense yes, they produce noise, but my intuition says this thermal noise is insignificant in comparison to the picked up noise.


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However...

Pickups make incredibly great noise antennas. I think someone already mentioned, if you touch the strings and it doesn't get any quieter, that is about as quiet as that guitar can be without being in a faraday cage. Meaning we'll possibly have more luck relocating the guitar than anything.
That is for sure true. If relocation is an option, it should be attempted of course.
Nevertheless, if a standalone DI is also an option budget-wise, it is recommended regardless of noise issue since it will sound much better than a low-end interface's integrated circuit. And with some luck it might take care of the noise which might be picked up by other components rather than by the pickups.
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Old 05-29-2015, 12:42 PM   #61
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Some players just live with it, e.g. Single Coil fans, and others try to minimize or even eliminate it. Most issues with Humbuckers are grounding and shielding issues.

Yep, single coil fan here (have some humbuckers too).

All my single coil guitars are well shielded and star grounded. I meticulously used a high grade copper shielding tape with conductive adhesive. Guess what...

They still buzz like crazy because it is the pickups themselves picking up EMI from all over the room including AC lines in the walls. Point being the shielding is doing it's job for the cavity and internal wiring but that doesn't take care of the pickups themselves.

Being a DIY guy, I think I just came up with a new project... Place a pickup in a box with a instrumentation opamp and make myself an EMI finder.

Quote:
Electric guitar forums like Gibson, Fender or Gretsch are full of such discussions.
True, I happened across a fairly long thread last night. The only thing I hate about those, is they often forget to mention the distinct difference I just described... Noise picked up from the cavity/wiring vs. the pickups vs ground loops. If that isn't properly explained up front we end up with lots of replies of "but I shielded my guitar and it made no difference".
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Old 05-29-2015, 12:46 PM   #62
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I wonder if one could shield the pickups by placing a metal strip over the strings? Or would that interfere too much with the playing?
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Old 05-29-2015, 12:51 PM   #63
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That is for sure true. If relocation is an option, it should be attempted of course.
Anecdotally, my guitars are noisier than they were 20 years ago because my environment is noisier. Even cell phones too close end up in my sound because of their syncing email etc. Then we have computers, HDDs, monitors, bluetooth, AC and who knows what.


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Nevertheless, if a standalone DI is also an option budget-wise, it is recommended regardless of noise issue since it will sound much better than a low-end interface's integrated circuit.
If the interface has a hi-z instrument input and a sufficiently short cable distance, I can't see how that could possibly be the case or rather the norm. The integrated circuits used would need to be the definition of terrible or improperly implemented. And if I remember as ashcat said, you'll lose some level.

Meaning an 83 cent TL072 opamp would be more than enough quality for that to not even being close to an issue and it just happens to be a very popular and widely used opamp for that very purpose. I can't say its in the interfaces, just that it's pretty much one of the go to input buffer ICs for guitars and doing that exact job. If you are a company making interfaces, the price drops to maybe 30 cents each due to quantity discounts.
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Old 05-29-2015, 01:10 PM   #64
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If the interface has a hi-z instrument input and a sufficiently short cable distance, I can't see how that could possibly be the case or rather the norm. The integrated circuits used would need to be the definition of terrible or improperly implemented. And if I remember as ashcat said, you'll lose some level.

Meaning an 83 cents TL072 opamp would be more than enough quality for that to not even being close to an issue and it just happens to be a very popular and widely used opamp for that very purpose. I can't say its in the interfaces, just that it's pretty much one of the go to input buffer ICs for guitars and doing that exact job. If you are a company making interfaces, the price drops to maybe 30 cents each due to quantity discounts.
On my limited experience, low-end ICs sound worse than high-end circuits, be it high-z or low-z. I can't tell why with any level of expertise. Perhaps because an electronic circuit is a bit more than just the opamp. Otherwise all those products that have the exact same opamp would sound the same. In a DI, there is another major component affecting the sound, which is the transformer. Now transformers vary widely by sound quality and prices. Probably active DI also has some circuit dedicated to filter noise from the power source, which may be better or worse designed, and involve better or worse components. This is mainly speculation on my part though.
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Old 05-29-2015, 02:17 PM   #65
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On my limited experience, low-end ICs sound worse than high-end circuits, be it high-z or low-z. I can't tell why with any level of expertise. Perhaps because an electronic circuit is a bit more than just the opamp. Otherwise all those products that have the exact same opamp would sound the same. In a DI, there is another major component affecting the sound, which is the transformer. Now transformers vary widely by sound quality and prices. Probably active DI also has some circuit dedicated to filter noise from the power source, which may be better or worse designed, and involve better or worse components. This is mainly speculation on my part though.
Just for academic purposes...

I wouldn't say all interfaces are created equal. I obviously value my Fireface UFX dearly. Conversely an input buffer/opamp for a guitar should be one of the easier things to make cheaply and properly recreate the guitar signal. At least in the realm of using a DI instead which is still going to arrive at that same circuitry for the most part. Meaning I don't know what vast difference a cheap passive DI is going to make if not covering long distances, don't mind if I'm corrected on that.

Transformers tend to be very expensive to get right enough to pass the entire frequency range and not pickup hum (needs to be encased in MU metal etc.). So much so that boxes like the nice Radial products, some preamps, microphones etc. are so expensive simply because of the transformer... because transformers aren't typically cheaply able to do the job accurately and quietly. For example, I'm about to build my own active buffer/splitter. It's my third design for this type of circuit and I'm extending my previous design to use a transformer. The transformer I think I want/need is about 154.00 USD just for the transformer and the only reason I need it is for decoupling the splitter to prevent hum if going to multiple sources (think two amps + interface):

http://www.jensen-transformers.com/t...ers/mic-split/
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Old 05-29-2015, 02:56 PM   #66
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I wonder if one could shield the pickups by placing a metal strip over the strings?
Rickenbacker did that



And Fender places a metal cover over the neck pickup of the Telecaster.

So the idea is not new and helps a bit. But if you want a single coil sound without humming, humbuckers with coil splitting are the way to go. Ot build a large Faraday cage to sit in, when recording single coil guitars
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Old 05-29-2015, 03:01 PM   #67
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I wonder if one could shield the pickups by placing a metal strip over the strings? Or would that interfere too much with the playing?
Over the strings? How bout around the pickup itself? Pickups with (properly grounded) metal covers are generally quieter than uncovered, and you can sometimes get away with wrapping (also properly grounded) foil or copper tape around the pickup, but it can sometimes steal a bit of the top end treble because of capacitance. I've heard that if you leave a gap in the shielding - don't let it go all the way around the coil and overlap itself - this might be avoided, but I've never tried it.

Frankly, the problem is the sheer amount of gain and clipping that's being applied to a signal. Even if you have 100db S/N (better than any guitar ever), if you go and apply 100db of gain, the noise is now as loud as the signal was before. If you then clip it off so that nothing is much louder than the signal was originally, then the noise is about as loud as the signal. Not a darn thing you can do about that.
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Old 05-29-2015, 03:27 PM   #68
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...humbuckers with coil splitting are the way to go.
You kinda ninja'd me there. I don't understand this statement, though. A humbucker split to one coil is a single coil pickup with all the same noise issues as a regular SC. You'd have to actually tap each coil and then wire those half-coils together to keep the humcancelling going. That'll basically make a lighter-wound HB. It will probably sound more like an SC, but there will be subtle differences.

Another alternative is to switch from the standard series connection between the two coils and instead wire them in parallel. Especially with hot HBs, that can often be close enough to an SC sound for most.
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Old 05-29-2015, 04:33 PM   #69
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@Karbomusic, nice designs in that DIY thread! Made me envy frankly. Why do you want to add transformer to that splitter? And btw is the splitter going between the guitar and the amp? I've just heard a lecture about the intimate connection between the two, so I'm wondering if that active splitter doesn't break that connection? I mean, normally the pickup and the amp/speaker assembly are designed to act as a single circuit.
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Old 05-29-2015, 04:39 PM   #70
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So the idea is not new and helps a bit. But if you want a single coil sound without humming, humbuckers with coil splitting are the way to go. Ot build a large Faraday cage to sit in, when recording single coil guitars
That's where those bomb shelters become useful :-P
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Old 05-29-2015, 04:57 PM   #71
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@Karbomusic, nice designs in that DIY thread! Made me envy frankly. Why do you want to add transformer to that splitter? And btw is the splitter going between the guitar and the amp? I've just heard a lecture about the intimate connection between the two, so I'm wondering if that active splitter doesn't break that connection? I mean, normally the pickup and the amp/speaker assembly are designed to act as a single circuit.
Thanks... That one in the thread works super wonderfully. One of the happiest results I have had since I started the DIY thing. However, it isn't isolated so at least 50% of the time when outputting to two amps there is going to be a ground loop hum.

Keep in mind that that circuit is basically the thing one might buy to enable long cable runs to avoid tone suck. It's exactly what you want in such scenarios. Most all decent stomp boxes have this basic circuit inside and so do interfaces etc. It merely retains the signal your guitar has without loading it down. Maybe better said it makes the guitar happy and whatever is on the other side happy too. Now there are times you many not want such a "pristine" copy of the signal, thusly, there is a selectable impedance switch in the circuit which can be used to dial it in to taste as needed.

Currently I just run the offending output through an ART DTI but I'd be about as happy as I could be if I could get that result into the one box which gives me an excellent hi-end signal splitter that also works as a buffer. I can use it to go to two mic'd amps + a clean active output to my interface and so on. If I can make it work and cram it into one box it'll be a real treasure for me.
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Old 05-29-2015, 10:51 PM   #72
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A humbucker split to one coil is a single coil pickup with all the same noise issues as a regular SC.
So far for the theory, but reality is sometimes different.

I have an Epiphone Les Paul Tribute 1960 with Gibson 57 Classics pickups, that is my preferred recording guitar, because it sounds like a Gibson, but is in comparison dead silent, because it's well shielded and has pickup covers.

This guitar had this coil splitting built in and I can asure you, that even in single coil mode this guitar is still dead silent.
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Old 05-29-2015, 11:00 PM   #73
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That's where those bomb shelters become useful :-P
Ah, I see, you are a real humbucker fan ... LOL

Maybe I can convince you with Gretsch Filtertrons, which are soundwise much different from other humbuckers, e.g. Gibson's.

Here's a video of my most loved Gretsch Panther as an example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5SR8egVgc8

For Non-Metal players this is the most versatile guitar I ever played ... and it's also dead silent for recording ... downside is the price.

PS: Combine it with a good chorus and a Marshall and you are in Billy Duffy's "She sells Sanctuary" territory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg4Fibbj67g
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Old 05-30-2015, 01:52 AM   #74
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Keep in mind that that circuit is basically the thing one might buy to enable long cable runs to avoid tone suck. It's exactly what you want in such scenarios. Most all decent stomp boxes have this basic circuit inside and so do interfaces etc. It merely retains the signal your guitar has without loading it down. Maybe better said it makes the guitar happy and whatever is on the other side happy too. Now there are times you many not want such a "pristine" copy of the signal, thusly, there is a selectable impedance switch in the circuit which can be used to dial it in to taste as needed.
So basically you present the guitar with a high impedance, while the amps get a low impedance?
The guy who read that lecture (who is a credible audio engineer) said that what makes an important part of the guitar sound is the fact that impedance varies with intensity and frequency, so for example the volume knob on the guitar changes not just the volume but also the tone, and that concept affects also how one plays the instrument since intensity, pitch and signal complexity would all affect the tone. Which wouldn't happen with an active device in-between. My own unverified speculation is that perhaps the amp also acts in a non-linear manner, presenting a different impedance for a different load. So I'm curious whether you can feel the effect of it and what do you think of it.
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Old 05-30-2015, 02:14 AM   #75
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@Aymara, sorry I can't be converted since I'm not a guitar player :-)
My interest comes from an audio engineer's standpoint. Weirdly, I happen to mostly record classical music, but I'm curious about the rock sound and appreciate the insider's know-how.
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Old 05-30-2015, 04:31 AM   #76
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So I'm curious whether you can feel the effect of it and what do you think of it.
1. The pedals I build and many others usually are true bypass. Meaning that when I engage the pedal, the tone or how it reacts doesn't change. That's the reason for the buffer.

2. We typically want the target impedance (amp/pedal) to be 10-100 times the source (guitar). That's true whether going straight into the amp or a pedal if designed properly.

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Which wouldn't happen with an active device in-between
Sure it would, if the amp input impedance is 1.2 Meg and the pedal is 1.2 Meg the guitar is going to react the same with volume changes, it's the same math using the same numbers. It's what the guitar "sees" that we care about here or rather we usually want a ratio that is greater than 10:1. If this weren't true no one could use any pedal without screwing up their guitar sound and we know that isn't the case.

Think of it is a ceiling, if we need a minimum 10 foot ceiling for the guitar to sound unaltered, a 100 foot ceiling is the same as the 10 for our purposes but a 7 foot ceiling would cause frequency loss. All we are doing is keeping the ceiling at 10 feet or above.

The exception is something like a fuzz face where we typically *want* it to interfere, that's part of the charm of a fuzz face tone. It actually has the opposite effect, turn down the volume and it gets brighter. Sometimes we may want the guitar to have just a little tone suck, hence the switch to change the impedance (ceiling) to either achieve that or exactly match the amp; best of both worlds.
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Old 05-30-2015, 11:51 AM   #77
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So far for the theory, but reality is sometimes different.

I have an Epiphone Les Paul Tribute 1960 with Gibson 57 Classics pickups, that is my preferred recording guitar, because it sounds like a Gibson, but is in comparison dead silent, because it's well shielded and has pickup covers.

This guitar had this coil splitting built in and I can asure you, that even in single coil mode this guitar is still dead silent.
I'll buy that. This is because it's well shielded with covered pickups, though, not really because it's a split HB. Then again, I wonder when's the last time you ran it through a TubeScreamer into a 5150 with the gain at 10?

The input to most amplifiers is pretty much all resistive, with not much in the way of frequency-dependent impedance. All of the tone change comes from the inductance of the pickup and it's high resistance against the capacitance of the cable. Some people talk about miller capacitance and whatever, but those effects are extremely subtle, and mostly outside the range of electric guitar frequencies. If you happened to have a buffer whose in-Z perfectly matched that of your amp, and you used the same cable that you normally run from guitar to amp to get to the buffer, then the tone will be indistinguishable from going straight in until the cable from pedal to amp gets absurdly long.

@karbo - usually if there's a T pot on your guitar you don't need a variable impedance at the buffer. It might not react quite the same as you turn down the V pot, I suppose. Most of my guitars don't have pots, and the ones that do are always either at 10 or 0.
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Old 05-30-2015, 12:20 PM   #78
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@karbo & @ashcat
Thanks for comprehensive explanation, I'm persuaded :-)
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Old 05-30-2015, 12:29 PM   #79
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Then again, I wonder when's the last time you ran it through a TubeScreamer into a 5150 with the gain at 10?
I use a Blackstar HT5R ... so no need for a tubescreamer
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