Extreme buzzing at wedding venue (not Kemper)

1st Official Post

    •Kemper Profiler

    •Mackie DSM12 monitor

    •Furman SS-6B power strip

    (standard level surge protection, EMI/RFI filtration)


    I play weddings in many different venues, and on a rare occasion I get extreme buzzing due to the venues outlets(dimmer switches/etc)

    I researched how to deal with the buzz which led me to skipping a "Hum-X" and going for an isolator box. I opted for the best/smallest "Lehle P-ISO"($140 geez), but still no luck. I used it for the first time and wasnt really sure how to connect it, so I connected it between...

    Kemper monitor out(1/4") and

    Mackie DSM12 input(1/4")

    Is this correct?

    I even flipped the cables on the P-ISO to be sure, but no luck.

    To get through the gig I increased the Kemper global noise gate and turned down the guitars tone knob which helped.

    At the end of the night I noticed that moving the guitar left to right made the buzz increase/decrease.

    Touching guitar strings also did nothing.


    As I finished writing this I just remembered the bride and groom had a neon sign of thier last name on the wall behind their table roughly 10ft away. Maybe this was the cause?

    If it was, is there any device that could've helped?


    Thanx for any help!


    I also just ordered one of those Black Lion Audio power conditioner strips in hopes that it outperforms the Furman power strip I currently use.

    • Official Post
    Quote from xxtwighlight

    As I finished writing this I just remembered the bride and groom had a neon sign of thier last on the wall behind their table roughly 10ft away. Maybe this was the cause?

    yes, these things are horrible.
    I still think a humbucker could have been the solution.
    I love singlecoils in all the shapes and sizes, but since playing live again, I converted my live guitars to humbuckers only - there are some surprisingly good singlecoil sized humbuckers available that have the sound I'm looking for without the hum.

    Those gas neon signs use a transformer to convert 120volts to 15,000volts. Electricity flows on the "surface" of the wires, and 15,000v has a super strong magnetic field on the outside of the wires. Add to that your pickups are designed to pick up magnetic fields. I agree with Don that neon may have done you in.


    Watch out for bar venues since most have those beer neon signs hanging all over the place.

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

    Even some humbuckers can get noisy with neon and fluorescent lights. You're more likely to run into fluorescent fixtures and not even know it.


    One location at my church had fluorescent lights in the room. My single coil telecaster *hated* that room. I would ride the volume knob or pedal and still get so much noise I wanted to scream.


    I switched pickups not specifically because of the noise (though that was part of it). I went to a set of Fishman Fluence pups, which are active and as quiet as a tomb regardless of what's floating around.


    Also....make sure your phone or other device isn't in close proximity. Not even active pickups can ignore that crap.

    “Without music, life would be a mistake.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

    Like 1

    Thanx

    I had humbuckers in the guitar.


    Is there any device that could have helped w/neon light buzz?


    Where do I implement the "Lehle P-ISO" isolator box?

    Kemper out - isolator - monitor

    or

    Guitar - isolator - Kemper input


    Thanx

    Lehle’s website is really good for questions like that. Better than most:


    LEHLE P-ISO
    • Isolator and DI box • Absolutely no signal loss or hum • High-impedance Lehle Transformer HZ • Suitable for balanced or unbalanced signals •…
    www.lehle.com

    “Without music, life would be a mistake.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

    Like 1