Radio signal when I ......

[Tuberoast]

When I turn on both my Small Fry and Crunchbox

Les Paul>CB> SmallFry> Echo Unit>Fender DR
Is this common? How do I get rid of it?
I swapped cables and it was still there....it's a local FM station

[donnyjaguar]

Its very unusual that an FM station will demodulate through a guitar amplifier.

Regardless, the only way for this to happen is if you have a non-linear junction somewhere in your setup. This can be a dirty plug/socket or simply the dissimilar metals coming in contact with each other. By experimenting you should be able to determine which device is the culprit (probably the small fry if I had to guess). If the interferring signal is so overwhelming it may be travelling down your instrument cable into the unit and being demodulated internally. Generally speaking, a good designer will consider this when creating a product and apply the necessary filtering. But like I said, sometimes the interference is so overwhelming that a reasonably designed product can't expect to filter it out. One thing you can try is to run your instrument cable a few turns around a ferrite ring (http://www.maplin.co.uk/Free_UK_Delivery/Ferrite_Rings_29788/Ferrite_Rings_29788.htm), close to where it plugs into the offending device. You may need to use one going into the small fry and then another into the reverb unit. I bought a big bag of these ferrites years ago in anticipation of these kind of problems but of course ironically I never needed them. :)

[Tuberoast]

Funny enough, I used to work for the station coming thru...and one of the on-air guys was named Dave Barber! NS!

[HeyMrTeleMan]

Hey, you think you got it bad? My TEETH pick up radio stations, and not the ones I like (Sirius).

No, all Siriusness aside:D, my amp tech and several others told me when it happened to me "Welcome to the world of tube amplification and single coil guitars!" But you have humbuckers. Hmmmm...

My son is still grappling with a "buzz" (not hum or radio stations) in his rig (G&L ASAT Classic with a V15 tube amp). We've driven ourselves (and others) crazy trying to isolate the problem, but it turns out it's all that RF coming in a huge window in his 3rd story apartment. So, he's switching to a guitar with humbuckers. (It was an experiment with a humbucking guitar that told us it was the single coils picking up all that noise.)

PS-I don't work for Sirius. In fact, I'd rather have XM:) I don't work for them either!

Let us know how you solve the problem.

Good luck!

BLP

When I turn on both my Small Fry and Crunchbox

Les Paul>CB> SmallFry> Echo Unit>Fender DR
Is this common? How do I get rid of it?
I swapped cables and it was still there....it's a local FM station

[donnyjaguar]

No, all Siriusness aside:D, my amp tech and several others told me when it happened to me "Welcome to the world of tube amplification and single coil guitars!" But you have humbuckers. Hmmmm...

Well, sorry but you were lied to by people who don't understand the mechanism that causes this to happen. This is not a humbucker or single-coil issue, its a rectification one. (not to be confused with rectum :) )

My son is still grappling with a "buzz" (not hum or radio stations) in his rig (G&L ASAT Classic with a V15 tube amp). We've driven ourselves (and others) crazy trying to isolate the problem, but it turns out it's all that RF coming in a huge window in his 3rd story apartment. So, he's switching to a guitar with humbuckers. (It was an experiment with a humbucking guitar that told us it was the single coils picking up all that noise.)


This sounds like a different problem than radio station interference to me. If the experiment with the humbuckers got rid of the noise, it proves that its being induced into the coil itself and this can only happen at much lower frequencies than radio. Also, the kind of radio interference that normally interferes with an electric guitar is AM broadcast which is generally not thwarted by walls, windows and such. What you are experiencing is something more localized such as low-voltage lighting, fluourescent or neon tubes or just bad wiring in general. In your boy's case its could be the apartment next door, above or below.

[HeyMrTeleMan]

Well, sorry but you were lied to by people who don't understand the mechanism that causes this to happen. This is not a humbucker or single-coil issue, its a rectification one. (not to be confused with rectum :) ) [Quote]

So, where were you when we needed you?:jo

What do you mean when you say it's a rectification issue? Is the rectifier bad? He could swap that out easily enough. Should he try that?

[Quote]This sounds like a different problem than radio station interference to me. If the experiment with the humbuckers got rid of the noise, it proves that its being induced into the coil itself and this can only happen at much lower frequencies than radio. Also, the kind of radio interference that normally interferes with an electric guitar is AM broadcast which is generally not thwarted by walls, windows and such. What you are experiencing is something more localized such as low-voltage lighting, fluourescent or neon tubes or just bad wiring in general. In your boy's case its could be the apartment next door, above or below.

I suggested to him that it might be bad wiring, low voltage lighting and/or fluorescent lights, based on what I've learned here. He obviously can't redo the wiring in that old building. That's why I've been asking all these questions about the Furman Power Factor Pro along with the Furman AR-115 Power Conditioner. Could these two pieces help him? We don't know WHAT to do now.

BTW-he took this rig to a recording studio on campus (in a basement) and the problem did not occur.

I really, really appreciate the help you offer us! And I really thank all you brainy guys here who can answer pretty much any question I might have. Except for the "What is the meaning and purpose of life?" one... Hey, for all I know, someone here has the answer to that, too!:D

Lowell Georgia