HELP!!! Piezo buzzing thu amp (piezo to DI, mag to amp) HELP!!!

[mesaspeedlab]

I was at practice last night, piezo into a DI box direct into the house, magnetic pups into my pedalboard and then into the amp. So when its hooked up like this last night I got a huge buzz through my amp (hot cat 30 1x12). It almost sounded like a ground loop type of buzzing. Am I missing something? When I unplug either the piezo or the magnetic inputs the buzz goes away. This is the 1st time Ive set it up this way. HELP!!!

 

[Mick]

Ground lift on the DI activated???

 

[mesaspeedlab]

yes, the DI ground lift was on, either way the switch was (up or down) it still buzzed

 

[kbaim]

This happened to me once at a jam session.
have you tried it w/o the direct box?

 

[SteveB]

Probably the wiring of the electrical outlet.

My band rehearses at my drummer's house. I normally use a particular outlet and I have no hum issues using piezo thru the PA via a dreict box. (Once the ground is lifted.)

However, one night I used a different outlet and the hum was horrible no matter what. I switched back to the other outlet and everything was fine again.

 

[mesaspeedlab]

OK, thanks, I will try a different outlet and also see about a non DI box input although Im not sure we have that option on stage. I also bypassed my pedalboard thinking that my ABY switch along with the piezo was the problem, but it wasnt. So it must be electrical outlet related. Thanks for the help.

 

[caucajun]

piezo buzz

here's a prob i had. mine has a piezo trem. and i discovered that if the trem plate is not leveled "just right", the strings won't make proper contact w/ the piezo elements and cause a strange buzzing/cutting out prob. i also found that i had a bad cord at the same time. 's ok now!

 

[mesaspeedlab]

OK, so last weekend I tried everything I could plus what was listed on the forum here, still got the hum....really bad.

So last night at a friends house I split the piezo into one amp and the mags into another amp...worked like a charm (these amp were different that the one I was using last weekend).

So I guess the only 2 things it could be is that all the stage outlets and the board that I go DI into just hum like crazy, or theres something wrong with my amp. So this weekend I will use a different amp to rule that one out. I almost hope its the amp and not the house system.

but I had one question, would using a stereo TRS cable out the mag output be a better solution then using 2 cords? Right now I have the 2 mono cord setup, just wondering if the TRS cable would work better maybe???

thanks for all the help,
jason

 

[mesaspeedlab]

Oh yeah...BTW I have a Petrucci 6 string pearl redburst loaded. I guess I should mention that

 

[Spudmurphy]

I have an Albert Lee with piezo and I dont use two chords.
I use a stereo chord into a splitter box then into an AER Acoustic amp for the Piezo, and the mags go through a Marshall combo via a Pod xt.

I assume you could do the same with your guitar.

Cheers
Spud

 

[SteveB]

I use a TRS (stereo) cable into an Ernie Ball 6190 Splitter box. From the box, the magnetic signal goes to my amp, and the piezo signal goes to a direct box (with ground lift), then to the PA.

I still think it may be the power outlets. Last night I tried 3 different outlets in my drummer's house. Two of the three caused major hum, and the third was absolutely silent. Of the two that hummed, one was so loud as to be unusable.

Thank goodness he's in the process of remodeling and those outlets will be re-wired soon!

Plus, all my gear is plugged into a Furman.. so I've got lots of filtering, etc. but it still doesn't help with those 'nasty' outlets.

 

[NorM]

Oh yeah...BTW I have a Petrucci 6 string pearl redburst loaded. I guess I should mention that

Oh yeah... Welcome to the ...............................Forum. Were you lurking long before you posted? I love my piezo equipped EBMM guitars too.

 

[mesaspeedlab]

Oh yeah... Welcome to the ...............................Forum. Were you lurking long before you posted? I love my piezo equipped EBMM guitars too.

Nope, had the problem and came right over. Im a gear page junkie but figured I needed to come to the source for this one. Love the petrucci.

 

[mesaspeedlab]

I figured out my problem, its my amp I have a Hot Cat 30 1x12 combo. I ran the piezo out to another amp, and the mag to the Hot Cat...buzz city. If I use any other amp there are no issues at all...well I guess its a good thing that its not the guitar, but I love this amp and cant figure a way around....stupid stupid stupid...

Anyway, thanks for the help. I guess its time to call bad cat