Home Forums Help/Technical Questions Help Needed – Hiss Debugger???

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  • #78186
    countrypaul
    Participant

    I only started playing electric guitar in the last 6 months or so, having played strictly acoustic for a few years (I’ve also never posted anything before)

    I’m a sucker for accessories (& all things vintage looking) so I quickly got into playing around with pedals, especially EHX

    I started trying to put together a pedal board on my shoestring budget & with very limited knowledge of what I’m doing (as I say I’m new to electrics & only been playing guitar a few years)

    My Guitars are a Fender Telecaster & Gretsch G5120 with a Vox VR30 Amp,

    My current pedals (in order) are EHX Double Muff – EHX Micro Q-Tron, – Behringer Blues Overdrive – Behringer Chromatic Tuner – NYC Big Muff Pi – Danelectro Fab Chorus – EHX Nano Chorus — EHX/Sovtek Small Stone — EHX Holy Stain — Behringer Digital Delay,

    (Also have an EHX LPB-1 on the way (Ebay bargain) which I’ll use either at the end of the chain or to boost the Big Muff)

    I have dedicated power supplies for the Double Muff, Big Muff & Holy Stain the rest are daisy chained,

    Even with no pedals switched on I seem to get a lot of hiss through the chain (& my amp isn’t the quietest) so I figured to try & beat this I’d get a noise gate or some such. I did some looking around & ended up getting the EHX Hum Debugger (as it doesn’t have any knobs to set & confuse me & it promised silence in my signal chain).

    When I plugged it in I found that the Hum Debugger doesn’t actually seem to make any difference to the amount of hum/hiss I’m getting!

    It Does kill any hum from my guitar especially the Telecaster but that wasn’t really a problem anyway as I wasn’t getting much hum from the guitar itself.

    So it’s quite possible that I’ve misunderstood what it’s used for & have bought the wrong thing! (which is a bit annoying as I’d rather have got an OD Germaium or Electric mistress but I figured I needed the Hum debugger!) I suppose it’s possible there is a distinction between hiss & hum? But my noise sounded like a bit of both!

    But before I convince myself I need to buy anything else I wondered if anyone had advice for getting rid of hiss

    The worst offenders seem to be the Holy Stain (which I only use on clean as reverb), Nano clone (which I’ve heard is noisy) & the danelectro Chorus. The hiss seems to increase over time as I play & gets louder as the amp does,

    I don’t know if it’s a problem with my pedal order or if I’ve got too many pedals on my board or if some are just bad pedals (I know behringer get a bad rap)

    It might also be simply that I’ve played acoustic guitar for a few years & a degree of hiss is just something you have to live with playing electric!

    I tried the hum debugger at the beginning of the chain (as directed) but it seemed to upset the sound of the Double Muff (everything does) so I’m not sure where is best for it, maybe the end?

    So basically any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

    sorry if this was a bit long winded!

    Thanks

    #96429
    a_d_s_r
    Participant

    As it understand it, EHX pedals – like those you mentioned, don’t like to be daisy-chained. If you do an experiment; take all the pedals off the board, and plug each individual unit into it’s own power supply on a power strip… Or surge protector… See if they still make that whiney hiss. Once you’ve determined that to be the issue, to continue to power each EHX pedal independantly, get a 1Spot power supply with the multi-connector cable. About $39.95 if I’m correct…

    #96434
    B.Daws
    Participant

    I had the Hum Debugger for a few days and got rid of it (it just didn’t do what I wanted and changed my sustain properties too much!) First off (this is not the best place to say this!), EHX pedals are noisy in general. I don’t own a single one that is quiet and I have several! Some are more noisy than others but to me I don’t mind the sound for the sounds produced by the pedals! Also I have heard from many people the ISP Decimator is by far one of the best noise reducing pedals. I have never used it but that’s what I hear.

    #96505
    countrypaul
    Participant

    Thanks for the tips,

    Well the Hum Debugger is on it’s way back to the shop for a refund, I’m sure it does what it’s supposed to do (i.e. kill guitar hum) very well it just wasn’t what I needed it for.

    Wish I’d known that before I bought it but to be honest there didn’t seem to be all that much helpful information around about them.

    When I get the money back I’ll try to get myself either the Rocktron Hush Pedal or the ISP Decimator, as far as I can tell these 2 seem to do more of what I need i.e. get rid of the hiss generated by my pedals,

    Only problem is neither of these pedals seem that easy to find over here in England there are a few about but I might have to end up ordering one from the US where they’re cheaper & endure the 2-3 week wait for it to arrive (I’m impatient).

    Anyway before I buy, if anyone thinks either of these won’t do the job please let me know it would be appreciated.

    Curiously since I’ve moved my amp & pedals across the room to another socket at home they seem to have quietened down some, but I still think I’ll get the pedal more so for when I’m playing with the band (as I’m not sure about the electrics where we practice)

    Also on an unrelated matter I know this is probably sacrilege but I ordered a Behringer Vintage Time Machine as it became apparent that much as I would like too I will never afford a Deluxe Memory Man (£50 versus £250! & to be honest I’m not a good enough guitarist to warrant one) Just wondered if anyone knew if they were any good? again not a lot of information around!

    And just to make it relevant are they noisy?

    #96506
    WatsonWood
    Member

    You could always try out an EHX #1 Echo first, that is before going for a “cheaper” pedal. The #1 Echo gives great delay and is not too expensive (compared with the DMMs).
    And regarding reducing hum and hiss, EHX choose to have a bit of noise in their pedals though I have always found it well within reason considering the great sounds the effects produce. Maybe you should try out a Noise Gate type pedal which simply cuts the signal when you are not playing.

    BTW, you can sometimes pick up a vintage EHX Noise Gate pedal called the Silencer in shops or on eBay. I have used them in the past and they worked fine for me.

    #96511
    B.Daws
    Participant
    Quote:
    Also on an unrelated matter I know this is probably sacrilege but I ordered a Behringer Vintage Time Machine as it became apparent that much as I would like too I will never afford a Deluxe Memory Man (£50 versus £250! & to be honest I’m not a good enough guitarist to warrant one) Just wondered if anyone knew if they were any good? again not a lot of information around!

    And just to make it relevant are they noisy?

    I have the Vintage Time Machine. I love it and I don’t find it noisy at all. I don’t use the Vibrato/Chorus on it but for the delay and self oscillating stuff it’s cool. If you want to hear it in use go to http://sites.google.com/site/tossingcamels and click on the check out the jams and listen to Crossfire (I use it a lot in the song). I have never used a DMM but I find it awesome for the $60 I paid.

    #96514
    electro-melx
    Moderator

    as you found out the Hum-debugger won’t remove hiss..and as it’s been suggested already you really need a gate type pedal. ( although these will throw up a whole other load of problems if you like to switch between clean and dirty or use boosts and things)

    The Hum-debugger works amazingly well for removing electrical hum from guitars pickups, hum from overhead electrical lights and stuff like that, it helps a lot of you have a badly shielded guitar or any kind of electrical noise … unfortunatly it can’t remove hiss from a chain of pedals. No pedal is totally silent and the more you add the worse it will get, if a fact of pedal life I’m afraid.

    #96593
    B.Daws
    Participant
    Quote:
    No pedal is totally silent and the more you add the worse it will get, if a fact of pedal life I’m afraid.

    In general I would agree with you, but somehow I have some 20ish pedals hooked up with no hum, hiss, or static. I really think power supplies are a main culprit usually, I use a God-Lyke and make sure all pedals are supplied their needed requirements. My pedals are mixed (EHX, Danelectro, Behringer, Dunlop, and Ibanez) and they are also a mix of true/buffered bypass and I have no issues. Just my opinion!

    #96881
    countrypaul
    Participant

    So, the Hum Debugger went back for a refund (nothing wrong with the pedal just wasn’t what I needed).

    I got a Rocktron Hush off Ebay because it was pretty cheap, I’d read good things & bad thing about them but thought for the price I’d take a chance.

    It seems to work pretty well, when turned on it kills any hiss from my pedals (even at the lowest setting) & doesn’t seem to affect the sound,

    I don’t tend to have it on when I’m playing with effects on as they’re noisy anyway but if I’m playing clean, or acoustic, or playing the mandolin I’ll put it on,

    Also have it on between songs when my band have been known to ask “what’s making that noise” “sounds like something taking off”. The electrics where we rehearse are pretty shocking & with all the amps, keyboard, mics, lights etc. all running off the same power it gets noisy.

    I don’t really need to use it at home (since having the house re-wired) as my pedals are pretty quiet (but I don’t have the amp as loud either).

    Worst offenders for noise seem to be the Holy Stain (Which I use as Reverb/Trem) & the LPB1 (which I use to boost my signal but whistles a bit as I turn it up) both of which are at the end of my chain.

    Never quite sure where to place the Holy Stain I don’t really use the distortion on it & was told Reverb should be at the end.

    My amp doesn’t have an FX loop so everything is in front of the amp, someone is making me a little FX loop pedal which should allow me to bypass most of my pedal board when I just want a clean sound (will probably have to put it after the Double muff as it just doesn’t like coming 2nd, the concessions I make for that pedal!!!!)

    Anyway that’s where I’m up to, Hiss problem seems solved for now but any other tips are always welcome

    #97188
    Gando
    Member

    I’m way late to this discussion but just to add my $.02—I find the Debugger to be extremely effective although it definitely does affect the signal enough that you’ve got to make your personal decision as to whether you can live with it or not. However you also need to define exactly what you are targeting. As the original poster discovered, line hiss resulting from cascading FX units, buffered bypasses, etc, has nothing to do with 60 cycle hum that the Debugger is all about.
    Sorry to repeat what has already been covered but I just wanted to pay my props to this remarkable box. I am not 100% sure how I feel about the compromise it represents but I’m so damned impressed by how it is the only thing I’ve ever found that truly does the job when that neon Bud Lite sign is destroying your single coil sound.

    #97194
    devnulljp
    Participant
    Quote:
    My current pedals (in order) are EHX Double Muff – EHX Micro Q-Tron, – Behringer Blues Overdrive – Behringer Chromatic Tuner – NYC Big Muff Pi – Danelectro Fab Chorus – EHX Nano Chorus — EHX/Sovtek Small Stone — EHX Holy Stain — Behringer Digital Delay,

    I find most of those daisy chain things to be noisy. The Voodoo Labs PP2 is a good power supply, as each pedal is isolated from the others. Behringer, as you say, are not known for their quality products, and a lot of EHX pedals can be a bit noisy. I hate having a tuner in-line too — seems superfluous. Shove an true bypass A/B box in there as a tuner mute.

    Have you tried running everything off batteries and see if that helps any?
    Take each of the pedals out of the chain one by one and see if you can find the worst culprit that way.
    Another common source of noise is the cables you’re using — from your guitar to the pedals, the patch cables between pedals (those cheapie moulded plastic ones are terrible -get some George L or Planet Waves or something, painful as it is to spend $50-100 on cables), and to your amp.
    You have a lot of dirt pedals — double muff, overdriver, and BMP — all three ofthose on at the same time will sound like FSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
    Most people normally stack dirt pedals in the order of least to most gain (so put th eblues pedal first, then double muff (that thing is noisy IMO — it’s a pair of muff fuzzes stacked, and they’re noisy on their own), then BMP.
    I’d bet that Sovtek Small Stone is pretty noisy on its own.

    Doesn’t your amp have a spring reverb? Maybe you can lose the Holy Stain and use the amp’s reverb?
    It doesn’t have a top boost or treble booster on it does it? I have a few Rangemaster-type things and they can be pretty finicky with other pedals, especially wahs (and your Q-tron kinda counts) and fuzzes.

    #100344
    woodman
    Member

    I got a holy stain pedal recently to add a little wetness to my flute sound. I thought the tremolo would be a nice bonus.I heard the reverb was good on these pedals and it is. I was getting pretty decent humming/hissing until I read the post about switching to a different power source. I switched to my Danelectro power source that had the same voltage and 200ma and the humming/hissing was gone.The post I read stated the same thing about switching to a Danelectro power supply. Is the power supply that came with my holy stain bad/ it works fine on my Danelectro chorus pedal in line with the holy stain.Strange!

    #100345
    julian
    Moderator

    I’ve got eleven pedals on my board right now, and all of them are silent when bypassed. If everything’s bypassed, the only thing I hear is the slight hum of my amp.

    Some observations- some pedals are noisy even when bypassed. I used to have some cheap pedals on my board- Danelectro and Arion type stuff. When I removed all of them, it made a HUGE difference.

    Another thing- power supplies are very important. For awhile I was just going with a visual sound onespot (which was very quiet), but my SMMH, Frequency Analyzer, Polyphase and HOG couldn’t be used with a 1spot, and then my DT-10 started getting noisy with the onespot because it wasn’t getting enough amperage because I had too many pedals on it.

    So I sold my Polyphase (because I wasn’t using it much) and bought a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2+. It tidied up by board (no ugly/messy power strip) and allowed me to make my tiered board into a flat angled board (no need for a ton of space for a power strip anymore.) I was able to power everything except the Frequency Analyzer, but it has a courtesy outlet to plug a wall wart into, which is how I’ve got it set up right now.

    #126596
    15Watttubepusher
    Participant

    The Holy Stain is the Worst for weird buzzes and General problems. The metal muff is the next one. my metal muff is actually so finicky that I have the screws removed on the bottom so I can clean it adjust things periodically and deal with staticy noises. They are gone now but it is still super sensitive to power supply, and cables..even with a perfect power supply and cables the holy stain and metal muff still create the most buzz of any of my pedals other than a DigiTech trio. I love the sounds I get out of the holy stain and the metal muff but I can’t have either of them on my live pedal board because they are completely unreliable it is a total shame electro-harmonix needs to up their game.

    #126597
    15Watttubepusher
    Participant

    I own about 40 pedals. The only ones I have problems with are three two out of three of those are electro-harmonix. I own five electoral harmonics pedals total only two of them stay on my live pedal board because those are the only two I can rely on did not buzz pop or quit working occasionally what a shame.

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