I'm in deep and need help....
Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 5:25 pm
Hi folks,
I've reached wits end with an electrical issue that is limiting my ability to get clean sound going in my studio. Over one year later, hundreds of hours of 'community service' by my local electrical contractors, over $100K spent by my local electrical company (Pacfic Gas & Electric) to clena transformer banks, wire them different ways, and finally removing all my neighbors from the transformer bank.... isolation transformers in my building.... and still I have a relentless 'ground' problem that foils my ability to get clean electric guitar sounds.
I would honestly document the entire process here, as I likely will be compiling something for my next wave of assistance I intend to seek, but as of right now I am waving my white 'surrender' flag, sending an SOS, asking if anyone knows an EXPERIENCED electrical troubleshooter, particular experienced with grounding issues (a bonus if they are experienced with solar power and inverters, as the building I am in has a tenant that used a solar backup system for their network and online business.)
The short end of the issue is that when I turn on a moderate to high level of gain on my electric guitar amps, I amplify what sounds like 60 cycle hum. Single coil and humbucking guitars are both prone to the sound. The kicker is, however, I can touch the metal portion of my guitar and make the problem go more or less away, even with humbucking guitars/Strats in hum cancelling mode. I have one guitar with substantially less hum (it's a strat with DiMarzio vintage 'noiseless' pickups with a lead-painted pickup cavity), which suggests the problem may be RF or EMF. However, there are certain mics that attract the problem as well, and the problem can go away completely with varying combinations of ground lifts, using direct boxes to reamp/absorb the buzz, snipping the connector on pin 1 in and XLR connector, etc etc etc. I have had an industrial isolation transformer custom built to clean up the power on the main panel of my studio, and the truth is the electrical was completely wired for the studio in mind -- there are no ground faults/receptacles that are visible, and the 'musical outlets' all feature 'home run' ground wires back to the panel (terminating in a bundled, or star ground), and no lighting/dimmers/ etc share the same phase of power as the musical outlets.
Ultimately, I'm fairly certain that the right candidate to help me solve this would need to come to my facility and attempt to mitigate this issue over the course of a week or so -- it has baffled some truly gifted EE's, but unfortunately none of the troubleshooters I've had can hear the nature of the problem conclusively (they're not studio rats/musicians themselves), so I am desperately seeking someone who operates in this capacity regularly and can offer some guidance/troubleshooting.
Please please PLEASE call/contact me if you have anybody in mind -- I am at wits end and my already stressed pocketbook can not harbor the problems much longer..............
THANK YOU EVERYONE.
I've reached wits end with an electrical issue that is limiting my ability to get clean sound going in my studio. Over one year later, hundreds of hours of 'community service' by my local electrical contractors, over $100K spent by my local electrical company (Pacfic Gas & Electric) to clena transformer banks, wire them different ways, and finally removing all my neighbors from the transformer bank.... isolation transformers in my building.... and still I have a relentless 'ground' problem that foils my ability to get clean electric guitar sounds.
I would honestly document the entire process here, as I likely will be compiling something for my next wave of assistance I intend to seek, but as of right now I am waving my white 'surrender' flag, sending an SOS, asking if anyone knows an EXPERIENCED electrical troubleshooter, particular experienced with grounding issues (a bonus if they are experienced with solar power and inverters, as the building I am in has a tenant that used a solar backup system for their network and online business.)
The short end of the issue is that when I turn on a moderate to high level of gain on my electric guitar amps, I amplify what sounds like 60 cycle hum. Single coil and humbucking guitars are both prone to the sound. The kicker is, however, I can touch the metal portion of my guitar and make the problem go more or less away, even with humbucking guitars/Strats in hum cancelling mode. I have one guitar with substantially less hum (it's a strat with DiMarzio vintage 'noiseless' pickups with a lead-painted pickup cavity), which suggests the problem may be RF or EMF. However, there are certain mics that attract the problem as well, and the problem can go away completely with varying combinations of ground lifts, using direct boxes to reamp/absorb the buzz, snipping the connector on pin 1 in and XLR connector, etc etc etc. I have had an industrial isolation transformer custom built to clean up the power on the main panel of my studio, and the truth is the electrical was completely wired for the studio in mind -- there are no ground faults/receptacles that are visible, and the 'musical outlets' all feature 'home run' ground wires back to the panel (terminating in a bundled, or star ground), and no lighting/dimmers/ etc share the same phase of power as the musical outlets.
Ultimately, I'm fairly certain that the right candidate to help me solve this would need to come to my facility and attempt to mitigate this issue over the course of a week or so -- it has baffled some truly gifted EE's, but unfortunately none of the troubleshooters I've had can hear the nature of the problem conclusively (they're not studio rats/musicians themselves), so I am desperately seeking someone who operates in this capacity regularly and can offer some guidance/troubleshooting.
Please please PLEASE call/contact me if you have anybody in mind -- I am at wits end and my already stressed pocketbook can not harbor the problems much longer..............
THANK YOU EVERYONE.