kerplunk Posted March 3, 2004 Report Share Posted March 3, 2004 I have a older Digitech RP-1 effects processor for my electric guitar, and it makes such loud, annoying, and horrible background noise. It's especially loud when I turn the distortion on. If I turn the guitar in a certain direction away from the processor, the noise will stop on some non distortion patches, but will start as soon as I play a note. I'm very much hoping that someone could help me with this problem. I really like this processor too, so I don't want to let it go eventhough it isn't as spiffy as some of the newer ones. I've heard the term "bad ground" and "polaris switch" in relation to this sort of noise problem, but have no idea as of how to fix it. If you have any solutions, please let me know. This is a very used unit, though, and some of the foot buttons barely work, so I guess if none of your suggestions fix it, I'll just open it up and tinker aroud. oh, yeah, I also not using an amp with this. I'm just using the processor's pre-amp, so it's not an amp problem. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerplunk Posted March 3, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2004 I have my processor running into my sound card. I just figured out that some of the noise problems don't occur when i turn my PC's moniter off. But, it definitely doesn't fix the main problems. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted March 3, 2004 Report Share Posted March 3, 2004 Welcome to the forum kerplunk Although I'm treading into an area where my knowledge is way lower then most I have to ask, is it normal to plug a Digitech RP-1 effects processor straight into the sound card on a computer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted March 3, 2004 Report Share Posted March 3, 2004 i also don't know much about this sort of thing...but it crossed my mind that the effects processor probably has too much output to plug directly in like that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PxP Posted March 3, 2004 Report Share Posted March 3, 2004 If the noise stops when you turn the guitar it's more likely that the pickups or the cables are causing the problem. What guitar do you use? Are your cables ok? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerplunk Posted March 3, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2004 I have a cheapo Fender Squire Strat and the problem happens with a variety of cables. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PxP Posted March 3, 2004 Report Share Posted March 3, 2004 Distortion + cheap single coil pickups = noise. Most likely, the pickups are causing the problem. Have you tried it with another guitar (preferrably a one with humbuckers)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saber Posted March 4, 2004 Report Share Posted March 4, 2004 Though it's hard to tell without examining your gear, I would tend to go with PxP on this one. The fact that the noise starts when you play a note is probably because the RP1's noise gate opens up when you hit the note, allowing the noise to come through. Computer monitors and fluorescent lighting will even make humbuckers buzz if the guitar gets close enough, so cheap single coil pickups can only be much worse. Is this noise something new with this setup or has it been like this from the get go? There are a couple of things you can check, though. Make sure there are no bad connections in your guitar by checking all the solder joints especially on the ground wires. Also make sure there are no ground loops. That one is a bit harder to explain. There should be only one path to ground from any point in your setup. I'll try to post some kind of diagram tomorrow to explain this more easily if someone else here doesn't do it first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saber Posted March 4, 2004 Report Share Posted March 4, 2004 In case you're not familiar with ground loops, this link explains it pretty well: What is a ground loop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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