Bad Hum Using Homemade Rick-O-Sound Box

[tim4003]

I just made my own R-O-S box and I'm getting a bad hum through it. The hum goes away when I unplug either mono side. It's all wired correctly, I used 18awg to wire it up and mounted everything in a 4x2x1.25 plastic enclosure.
Anyone have any idea what I can do to correct this problem? Thanks, Tim

[markthemd]

Yes , you have one of a couple of things going on .

One- the box is NOT a shielded box , I use "BUDD" brand boxes for this unit .They are made of aluminum and seen throughout the guitar industry (MXR Mesa/Boogie etc)

2- as you are using unshielded cable , and it is 2" long or close to it , that may be your hum source.

3- You may have a ground loop .... this "Grounding" of everything ,every which way , is a common source of HUM .

[tim4003]

Thanks, Mark. You Da Man!
I'll take care of this ASAP.

BTW, I own a copy of your REH video "GUITAR SHOP: SETUP & MAINTENANCE". Great video!

[rkbsound]

I thought a radio shack splitter was all that was needed.

[doctorwho]

Rkbsound, I was under the same impression myself. Since I have both a y-splitter and a ROS box, I will try to compare the two in the next few days with one of my ROS-capable Rickenbackers (or maybe two, a bass and a 6-string) and post my findings here.

[syncop8r]

I'm also making my own "ROS" box. It is made up of pieces of aluminium. My intention is to have two foot-operated switches on it; one for each channel. I'll be playing away through the bridge pickup and then WALLOP the neck pickup joins in with a big helping of bass! Or something like that. I decided against a Y-cable when I found an old stereo cable. I cut a bit off this to use for wiring inside the box.

Anyway, as I know nothing about electronics, should these switches go on the... er.. ground wires or the other ones (I don't know what they're called)?

[mortivan]

The, er..., other ones! "Signal" wires?