Sami Ghouri Posted September 15, 2008 Report Share Posted September 15, 2008 Hi there! I KNOW that small amplification ccts will pickup noise.... but my KFK set (81,85,PA-2) is SERIOUSLY picking up indian radio channels here!!!! it gets somehow rectified with the cut-off noisegate i use. but imagine playing at high volume and then hitting some string VEEERY slightly just so it would pass the gate threshold and then hearing a proper bollywood song coming out of ur amp!!! and what's pretty hilarious is that it ONLY picks up this channel! i'm guessing the frequency of that channel is what affects it the most.... any ideas? i read on the forums that shielding the pickup cavities weakens the magnetic field effect of the pickups... and i really need to have this issue fixed coz it gets rediculous while jamming and stuff.... thanks! Sami Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted September 15, 2008 Report Share Posted September 15, 2008 Interesting. Does this happen on any one particular pickup? If not, then I would suspect it's the circuit and not the pickups. Something in your guitar must being having a signal induced in it, basically as an aerial. Are any of the polarities mixed up anywhere along the line with the hot and earth wires? I'm immediately suspecting the PA-2, although your harness sounds like it was pre-built...perhaps pulling the quick connectors on each pickup in turn and isolating the receiving component might lock it down. I'm having a smile here, imagining KK in some silly-ass bollywood flick now. Har har har har. Better than that photoedit pic of him playing bagpipes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted September 15, 2008 Report Share Posted September 15, 2008 I thought the maxim here was if something doesn't work as expected...you make it a feature. I imagine if you travel about 200 miles in any direction, you should pick up a different station if bollywood is not your style Ok...so, perhaps you still have a ground lead attached to the bridge and strings...with EMG's this is not necessary I believe and so the strings themselves may be acting as an antenna. Al;so, change the battery and be sure the pickups are getting power to them...other than the radio station, are you getting full power from the pickups? Try a few other strategies too just in case...move the amp to another socket or move it about...check the guitar lead is ok. Generally EMG's are dead quiet, more than a passive HB and have more power and less magnetic strength. This should make them immune to this kind of thing. Shielding might help a bit but if your leads are relatively short within the guitar, with EMG's it should be ok without as from the pickup themselves (that house the preamp). I don't get the noise gate thing...nor why you would need one with EMG's...but try it without...does it work properly then? It could be that a noise gate is effected by the power of the EMG's and somehow the electronics combined are producing the signal somewhere. Try a bunch of options till you can locate the problem and report back...over! pete ps...what is a PA-2? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted September 15, 2008 Report Share Posted September 15, 2008 My first amp was a Crate 10-watt P.O.S. that picked up CB chatter from truckers on the highway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marossy Posted September 15, 2008 Report Share Posted September 15, 2008 (edited) My first thought was that the guitar strings are acting like an antenna. An easy test would be to take an alligator clip and connect your strings to the metal part of the the output jack to see if it goes away. Another thing you could do is connect a small value capacitor from the hot wire to ground at your output jack to shunt RF signals to ground. A 47pF cap should do the trick. It shouldn't make any audible difference in the tone of the guitar. Edited September 15, 2008 by Paul Marossy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sami Ghouri Posted September 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2008 thanks you guys! i also thought that EMG's were dead silent! thing is i made sure i don't ground anyhting and that the circuit IS connected properly. and no i didn't mix polarities! The pickups also give out full power with or without the noise gate on. psw: the PA-2 is just a small preamp that comes with the Kerry King set (which makes the only difference between that set and the zakk wylde one). The noise gate is a digital feature in my amp and not a seperate pedal/processor. without it i can hear sometimes the part where the man hides behind the tree and the woman chases him around it and then they catch eachother but never kiss........ it's really funny when it happens but at the same time quite frustrating while recording! The battery is also a fresh energizer. HOWEVER it just came to me that my leads inside the guitar are very long (i didn't cut anything off, just in case i wanted to install the pickups on a different guitar) and that might be the problem..... however i'll also try Paul's suggestion with the shunt capacitor...... Thanks a load you guys.... i'll probably record a part where the indian movie gets to the plot and upload it somewhere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted September 16, 2008 Report Share Posted September 16, 2008 Are you picking up these signals with only this guitar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted September 16, 2008 Report Share Posted September 16, 2008 Hi there! I KNOW that small amplification ccts will pickup noise.... but my KFK set (81,85,PA-2) is SERIOUSLY picking up indian radio channels here!!!! it gets somehow rectified with the cut-off noisegate i use. but imagine playing at high volume and then hitting some string VEEERY slightly just so it would pass the gate threshold and then hearing a proper bollywood song coming out of ur amp!!! and what's pretty hilarious is that it ONLY picks up this channel! i'm guessing the frequency of that channel is what affects it the most.... any ideas? i read on the forums that shielding the pickup cavities weakens the magnetic field effect of the pickups... and i really need to have this issue fixed coz it gets rediculous while jamming and stuff.... thanks! Sami How do you know its the guitar? Radio signals can get through where there is too much capacitance in the signal chain like a dirty connector, a broken cable that's still conducting but on the verge of breaking, dirty pots. It can also be caused by cheap guitar cords etc. If you plug in directly to the amp, do you still have the problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted September 16, 2008 Report Share Posted September 16, 2008 The capacitor is a good idea...that is how a radio changes stations...so you may pick up a movie more to your taste. A guitar lead can add a fair bit of capacitance too...helping to select channels. It may be that this guitar circuitry, gain and lead capacitance is making a problem in your amp more of a problem and the real problem is in the amp or the power supply where you are or something... The noise gate is a digital feature in my amp and not a seperate pedal/processor. without it i can hear sometimes the part where the man hides behind the tree and the woman chases him around it and then they catch eachother but never kiss... Australia makes a lot of movies (even the matrix) and some of the bollywood things in recent times...I was walking through a park one day and there was a huge bollywood production going on...that's exactly what they were doing...over and over again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshvegas Posted September 16, 2008 Report Share Posted September 16, 2008 (edited) I'm sure we had a thread on this a wee while ago. how long is your cable? unbalanced guitar cables are not exactly the business when it comes to eliminating radio interference try and keep it as short as you need. It also is much easier to not get in knots BONUS CB radio chatter is funny to see in a pub gig bollywood clips would be awesome I'd keep it, mid solo fire on the wah and go crazy Edited September 16, 2008 by joshvegas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marossy Posted September 17, 2008 Report Share Posted September 17, 2008 Whether it's the cord or the strings causing this problem, a 47pF cap to ground off of the hot wire should shunt RF signals to ground. The EMGs are internally shielded and grounded, so if it is the guitar that is the culprit here, it's either the strings or the cord, or both. If the problem is on the amplifier end, then we have a different set of problems... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sami Ghouri Posted September 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2008 i plug straight into the amp coz it's a modeling amp with everything i need. The chord is a very well shielded, not so long ibanez low noise cable. other guitars don't have this issue. but now that i remember it, i installed the same set for one of my friends on an RR3, and if my memory serves me well it ALSO picked up some radio noise. however, both guitars had very long wires running inside the cavities. and i'm dead sure i didnt make the mistake of connecting grounds on TWO guitars! anyway thanks a lot for the replies!!!! i shall work on this when i finish up the other guitars that should've been done a month ago =S ppl are getting quite pissy with me.... not good... thanks again! Sami Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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