Soundchecked at last night's gig and all was well. During the first track I thought I heard the amp getting quieter and then the signal came back at full strength. Then all of a sudden there was a massive buzz sound coming from the Suhr Badger amp.
I can only describe it as like when you hold the end of the jack plug while the amp is on, like a Short Circuit I imagine. I can't remember exactly what I did next in sequence as it was so frantic and I'd never had to trouble shoot in "Live" gig time.
I know I checked all the connections on the board, Guitar and amp before the gig started and they looked OK. I'm sure I briefly tried all pedals while setting up to see if they were working and to get unity gain etc, so couldn't fathom that out.
I ended up swapping amps to use the Maz and that seemed better, but I still had one instance of the buzz noise, which led to yet another frantic troubleshoot. Finally I got it to point of no noise, but I made sure I used only the pedals I knew weren't making a noise.
Today, I tried both amps and the pedalboard set up exactly as they were last night(except a different 4 gang socket and a different amp cab), same cables, different cables, even using both my speaker cables and they were both fine. All the set up was good.
I don't think the cab is the problem as after these 2 instances last night, I got through the gig with no noise. I can't describe what happened any better than this as it was panic stations and I was frantically swapping stuff around.
Anyone have any ideas? The last month has chucked up some problems gear wise and it's making me nervous. That experience aged me last night. I don't know how I held my nerve and got through the gig without dropping clangers all over the place.
I have a Fluke 10 Multimeter that my Boss gave me, but have no idea of it's application and how I could check things on my rig with it. So it would be a help if someone could explain some troubleshooting I could do with that in future.
This is the one in the foreground.
I'm pretty sure I have gaffer tape wrapped around the battery terminals inside the pedals too, so can't see how a short circuit could occur there.
Any help greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Only a Fool Would Say That.
Comments
It won't be the extension cable either for the same reason.
If it did it with two amps it's not the amps.
So it's either the guitar, the cables or the pedalboard. It's process of elimination to find which unless you can duplicate the fault. It's going to be a broken ground connection somewhere.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Is it possible to eliminate the Guitar as I carried on with the same Guitar through the rest of the gig? I will unscrew the jack pate and check though.
Another thing I ought to mention is last week at rehearsal two of my pedals didn't work, but I found that the port on the PSU they are both powered by (with plenty of juice to spare) had worked loose and wasn't plugged in properly. It didn't create any buzz though, it just cut off the signal when I engaged either of those 2 pedals.
I worried how I will eliminate what it is if I've recreated the set up today and nothing was amiss, I mean with the patch cables, it's quite a busy board.
Do you think the Power Supply and it's cables is unlikely to be the problem? I've had it 5 years and everything like current draw and voltage is correct for the pedals I have.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
https://i.imgur.com/lSOqw8Q.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/5dQ15DR.jpg
Some of the solder on one of those connection looks a bit charred, but like I say, the multimeter sounded OK.
https://i.imgur.com/7HhD75A.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/oPPXYHG.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/RIUoREA.jpg
Sorry if they aren't crystal clear but it wasn't easy getting focus on some of them.
Plug in a guitar cable and check at the other end that a) there's no sound between the tip and sleeve, and b) there's a sound between the sleeve and the metal components in the guitar.
Your jack looks OK from the pics, but the meter can dig out things that you can't see.
Keep your hands away from the probe tips as the body can conduct which will make your readings wonky.
I'll try that in a bit. This video was helpful
Rather than take out my patch cables one by one on my board and test them separate, could I just test for sound between each pedal on the jacks inputs while the cables are still plugged in. I know that means I cant touch the tip and sleeve on the same end of a given cable, but if I get sound between connections, should that mean it's OK.
Or could I plug a loose cable into the beginning of my chain and one at the end and test for sound that way?
Testing it that way is fine and makes sense but what you might have is a patch cable that's on the way out, and removing each one would help diagnose this as you'll be bending and moving them in the process. It could be the case that one has failing insulation and intermittently causes your problem when you hit a pedal with your foot and things shift around on the board slightly.
I know it's an ache, but I'd test them one by one. If you can just get the meter to each end of the cable to test then hopefully you wont have to snip any cable ties (which, if you're anything like me, you'll have all over the place).
Unfortunately you might struggle to find the fault if it's only intermittent. You need a plan to deal with it next time, hopefully at rehearsal or setup rather than during the gig.
First, to get you through to the end of the song, plug straight into the amp. If that doesn't cure it swap guitar AND cable. Alert the band that if you are due to play a solo you might have to skip it.
If all was well going direct in, split your board in half and during the break between songs plug in half way along the pedal chain. Keep doing that until.you find the bad cable/lead.
My knees are shagged now and I've run out of swear words
Also did the Cable into Guitar method you mentioned above. I can't report a single fault on that either. I tested every cable I use and some I rarely use. This is probably worse than finding something wrong as now I've no idea what happened.
That photo of my Volume and Tone Pots, you reckon that slight blackening/charring is an issue?
What about Smoke Machines? There was one at my side of the stage, blowing directly toward the board, could this be an issue. I'm clutching here but I have a gig on 29th and I'm gonna go into it wondering if I'll get issues when I've done everything possible to find the cause. I'll use a different Guitar for that Gig, but I like to use my Wolfgang, it is my Workhorse Guitar.
I might be being a bit naive here, but when you say "To get through the song, plug straight into the amp" Do I need to turn the amp off first, I imagine it would be detrimental to unplug the lead from the amp while it's on?
The charring should be OK - I suspect it's the flux which is added to solder to ensure a clean joint. It can burn a little with the heat of applying the iron, and that's what you can see in the picture. It looks like caramalised sugar. It shouldn't affect the joint, as long as the wire is physically secure and there's an electrical connection (which you've tested OK).
I'm going to defer to a higher authority now (probably @ICBM hahaha) as without looking I'm out of ideas.
It looks like you've ruled out a lot though. I don't know about the smoke machine - I'd have thought not but someone else might well have a view on that one.
It's the sort of thing a band should practise at rehearsal anyway since once you've started you really shouldn't stop until you finish the song unless it's impossible.
Just like broken strings, you grab the spare guitar and carry on, or you play with a broken one. Unprofessional to stop the song.
I wouldn't have dared to yank a cable out of a switched on amp unless someone with experience said it was OK. We managed to keep going at the gig, even if it means just with the 2nd guitarist, the song goes on.
Thanks @randella for your efforts.