I Got Noise

[steverok]

Hey all, I am excited to embark upon my first home recording with my 360-12VP FG, I have got her sounding real good, everything is dialed in the way I want, it's amazing what a difference the choice of pick makes in the sound of the Rickenbacker 12 !! This first effort is a three-section trilogy, quite ambitious, I know.

Anyway, the weak toasters are leaving me alot of noise in my setup, it is causing me to pick the strings harder than I would like to, just to get some volume. Here is the set-up :


360-12 -> Boss TU3 tuner -> Boss stereo delay => Recorder (2 channels)


The Boss pedals are being powered from a single 9V AC adaptor, made by Boss also.

When I unplug the outputs of the delay from my recorder, most of the noise disappears, so I know these pedals produce some noise.

I was thinking I need a very low-noise pre-amp or compressor at the beginning of this chain. I prefer a pedal, since this rig is set up in my dining room, and space is a factor. I have read that the Maxon CP-101 is a nice, low-noise compressor pedal. Any opinion on this pedal, or any other advice ?

[joepee]

The one I keep hearing raves about is The Janglebox.

[revolver]

You'd be surprised how much noise those Boss adapters make. You might want to try using batteries while you're tracking.

If it is the adapter the "One Spot" brand make one that is virtually silent when compared to the Boss PSA.

[jingle_jangle]

Steve, I'd cast another vote for the Tonelab SE. It's available for about $500 street price, has a good compressor to even out your picking, a nice bit of tube preamp, and lots of effects including a number of different echoes.

Also, two assignable foot pedals. I use it with my 660-12 and it is low-noise and flexible as heck. Programming is quite intuitive.

Check out its specs and see what you think

[steverok]

I will check it out with batteries and see what I find. Dave, do you mean replace the Boss AC adaptor only? I chain multiple pedals together off of the TU3. In any case, a stronger signal will help my situation. I see Maxon makes a tube compressor/booster RCP660, I don't want a rack unit.

[squid]

My experience with pedal-based compressors is that they're quite noisy, and pushing more signal through your chain is likely to simply increase the background hum. I agree with Revolver -- you should look for a different power supply. You should also make sure that there is no interference from nearby wiring, lamps, fans, etc. I often find recording with a mic is better for managing background noise. Careful mic placement works wonders to negate hum. Failing that, you can buy a noisegate. They're not prohibitively expensive and only the most astute tone freaks seem to notice that they're there.

[steverok]

Did a debug, the power supply does not increase the noise, it's the same with batteries. When I plug the 12-string straight into the recorder, I get the same kind of noise, maybe it's the interface between the guitar/pedals and the recorder input, or the pick-ups of the 12, but strangely, I recorded the second/left channel mic'd through an amp, and it's alot less noisy, quite perplexing ... I will try it mic'd though two amps on both channels, see what I get ?

[ozover50]

I admire your analytical approach to the problem, Steve. Hope you sort it out soon!