Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Mostly I've been recording using only various mics with no extraneous electrical noise. I thought I'd run my Rick directly into the DP-02. And I heard right off this 60 cycle hum. I thought it might be the cable. So I switched cables. No changes. Just for argument sake, I unplugged the guitar, and plugged in the bass. Hums again. Deciding that the better part of valour is discretion, I unplugged everything, and turned off the machine. Even as the machine was shutting down, I thought I heard faintly through my earphones that hum. The recorder shut down, and I grasped the earphone plug, and the hum disappeared. I released my grasp and ever so faintly I heard it again. Apparently something isn't grounded. What? Oh....and as Peter Falk in Columbo would have said "There's one more thing...." There is a screw out knob on the back of the DP-02 labeled "Signal GRND." Apparently something can be attached here. What is it? If I attach something here, will that annoying hum go away when I plug in my guitar or bass?
JimK

Does the hum occur whether you are using batteries or an AC adapter?

The hum occurs whether or not stomp boxes are present. The TASCAM DP-02 itself doesn't run on batteries but 110 household current alone.
JimK

So much for that theory! What about trying it an electric guitar with humbucking pickups plugged into it? Maybe you are just hearing the standard single coil buzz more prominently.

Shall I assume then from your comment Jeff, that bass pickups of the P-bass variety are single coil?

The thought has occurred to me that it may be the usual single coil hum I'm hearing. There is something in the machine called a noise gait. Maybe once I figure that out and how to use it that will go a long ways to cleaning up the sound.
JimK

jimk wrote:The hum occurs whether or not stomp boxes are present. The TASCAM DP-02 itself doesn't run on batteries but 110 household current alone.
JimK

Any dimmers on the lights? Sometimes those introduce hum. Would reversing the power supply plug help? Are you running long cables? I don't know for sure, but I think that a faulty ballast on a flourescent light might also cause that hum. Just a couple of ideas.....

jimk wrote:Shall I assume then from your comment Jeff, that bass pickups of the P-bass variety are single coil?

The thought has occurred to me that it may be the usual single coil hum I'm hearing. There is something in the machine called a noise gait. Maybe once I figure that out and how to use it that will go a long ways to cleaning up the sound.
JimK

How fast is it's gait?

A noise gatewill help, but it would be better to find the source of the noise and see if you can eliminate it, first. I take it you have no issues with using external microphones? Balanced/unbalanced inputs?

Get one of these and your problems will go away:

http://www.radialeng.com/re-pro48.htm

I have a stack of them in the studio and they are absolutely invaluable. The improvement in your sound quality is worth every penny. You do need phantom power, however, but so do many good microphones.

You might even have a DI already in a tuner . . . although it might not be powered.

Thanks, John. I'll be on the phone and order one of these tomorrow.
JimK

jimk wrote: I thought I'd run my Rick directly into the DP-02. And I heard right off this 60 cycle hum. I thought it might be the cable. So I switched cables. No changes. Just for argument sake, I unplugged the guitar, and plugged in the bass. Hums again. JimK

Well, Gee at Studio Z here.....kind of a late reply.....Lined in guitars do hum....the humming is not apparent in a full band track, which is all I do, so I just turn around in my seat until the humming stops, and record.....I trim the hum off at beginning and end of track, when I'm actually physically hitting the record button.....during recording, I stay in my 'non-hum" position. The ground lead you mentioned could be the answer---I'd hook up a wire to it and run it over to an electrical outlet that has the usual plastic cover held on by a single screw---loosen that screw, and put the other end of the wire from the recorder on it and tighten it down---those are usually grounded to the outlet frame, ergo THE HOUSE. My hearing has been wrecked by 40 years of club work, so I don't really hear the humming, but if you play any of the tunes I've sent in to RRF, and you are probably the only one who has, you may hear line hum.....I LIKE it...gives the recording a reality touch.....lets a listener know a live body was playing that axe when it was recording. There's not a lotta live bodies recording anymore.....just ones and zeros from stored tracks in a sampling program......

So I guess it's time for an update. I've abandoned the idea of running a guitar, any guitar direct into the TASCAM. Instead, I do it the old fashioned way; mic the amp. Depending on the guitar, an SM-57 works fine, especially with my Gretsch. With the Rick, I run it through this direct box (requires phantom power) the box into the TASCAM, and then mic the amp with an MXL-990 (also conveniently requires phantom power). Then I do like you do, face toward the optimum direction, and the hum disappears.
JimK