New Guitar loadsa noise

Jabel

Hi all
Have a question for you guys.
Just bought a Yamaha Pacifica 112 guitar and
a Line 6 Spider 3 15 watt amp. Thats the good.
Here's the bad:
On all but 1 of the 5 pick up positions I'm getting
a lot of noise which is quite bad. Tried recording
last night and noise is present on recordings also even at low volumes.
Tried going straight into my Aardvark 24/96 and using
Behringer V-Bass (which has a few guitar settings)
but the results are the same.
Am going to try it in a different room this evening
and then maybe a friends house after that.
Any ideas? Could the guitar be faulty?
J

trackmixstudio

The one position without the noise is probably the bridge humbucker. The other 4 are all single coil positions.
Try moving around the room with the guitar and see if that helps.

TelePaul

trackmixstudio wrote: »

The one position without the noise is probably the bridge humbucker. The other 4 are all single coil positions.
Try moving around the room with the guitar and see if that helps.

Although positions 2 and 4 are wired out-of-phase. So 2, 4 and 5 (humbucker) should be virtually noise free on a clean setting at least. Op are you piling on the gain? It could be to do with electro-magnetic fields in the room you're playing in - fluorescent lights, TFT monitors and a host of other electrical sources can cause interferrence.

dav nagle

Poor quality pickups I am afraid. Replace them altogether with proper custom pickups and the noise should disappear.

Dord

dav nagle wrote: »

Poor quality pickups I am afraid. Replace them altogether with proper custom pickups and the noise should disappear.

"Proper custom pickups"... :rolleyes:

Jabel, do you have a picture of your guitar or an identical one so that I can see what pickup config it has?

I have a few ideas but just wanted to see what you have so I know how to advise.

trackmixstudio

The pacifica 112 is hum/single/single. I used to sell them.
The pickups are designed to keep the guitar price low, not to be good.
It is possible the middle pickup is wired backwards which will negate the hum canceling effect that should happen on positions 2 and 4.

dav nagle

Dord wrote: »

"Proper custom pickups"... :rolleyes:

Jabel, do you have a picture of your guitar or an identical one so that I can see what pickup config it has?

I have a few ideas but just wanted to see what you have so I know how to advise.

'Custom' as in you put them in yourself....:rolleyes:
http://www.guitarpartsshop.co.uk/acatalog/seymour-duncan-pickups.html

The 'config' as you mention has nothing to do with the fact that the pickups in a pacifica would suck ass and emmit noise all over the place.

OP get a decimator noise reduction pedal or else buy decent pickups. I had this problem 13 years ago when I played in town, bad pickups will also give you tons of feedback so best hit 2 birds with one stone and replace them with quality.

TelePaul

I think suggesting new pickups is a bit premature. There's no reason a properly-functioning 112 should be hampered by undue hum. The fact of the matter is, all single coil pickups, even the most expensive, fitted by the best luthier, are prone to 50/60 cycle hum. It's also worth pointing out that single-coil hum to one man may seem unbearable whereas to another it's a minor inconvenience. An ISP Decimator or NS2 will do nothing if there's a fundamental problem with the pickups, and is pretty unnecessary unless you're piling on the gain - and that goes for any guitar. Moreover, enough Pacifica bashing - they get more hand-hours in the manufacturing process than a US Strat and they are great guitars.

Dord

dav nagle wrote: »

'Custom' as in you put them in yourself....:rolleyes:
http://www.guitarpartsshop.co.uk/acatalog/seymour-duncan-pickups.html

The 'config' as you mention has nothing to do with the fact that the pickups in a pacifica would suck ass and emmit noise all over the place.

OP get a decimator noise reduction pedal or else buy decent pickups. I had this problem 13 years ago when I played in town, bad pickups will also give you tons of feedback so best hit 2 birds with one stone and replace them with quality.

The reason why I asked the pickup configuration is because I thought it was a little odd that the noise was only in one position. It had me thinking that possibly he had a HSH config. This would explain it.

However, regardless of what pickups you have in your guitar you should really shield it. Materials for this can be purchased from http://www.stewmac.com fairly cheaply.

I would try this before shelling out on a Decimator or new pickups. I have a Decimator myself but found it to be necessary because I'm dealing with an old P90 in my guitar and one which I do not wish to replace. It works but it's expensive.

PMI

Heres something small but silly....if you hit / stomp on the lead is it noisy?

Also are you getting the same amount of noise when you walk away from the gear, try never stand in front of racks of gear etc... always noise even with my EMG's

is it an earth noise?? to check try putting a finger on bridge and touch strings / pickups to check earths...

there are loads of things to try and in a 112 they wont be the best pickups so you can expect a bit of noise.

Cheers

Ed

Dord

Dord wrote: »

However, regardless of what pickups you have in your guitar you should really shield it. Materials for this can be purchased from http://www.stewmac.com fairly cheaply.

What he said..

PaulBrewer

Despite some of the 'helpful' advice above, there are two logical things to do.

1. Return the guitar to your dealer to check if there's a fault.
What you're describing could be a shielding or earth fault, perhaps the string/bridge earth isn't connecting or similar.

2. Compare it to another similar guitar in the shop to see does it perform the same. Single coils are prone to noise.

If you establish that the guitar is ok then it could be RF at home, proximity to florescent lights , cathode ray TVs , older cathode ray computer monitors etc etc.

Shopping for new stuff is way down the list of things to do :rolleyes:

dav nagle

Many many many guitars come loaded with really bad pickups. It could be your amp, it could be your shielding, there are so many possibilities but temperoray fixing a problem like this isn't the answer. What happens when you do a gig and your guitar is making a ton of unwanted noise. I am pointing out the fact that you get what you pay for and if you are having problems the chances are it is the quality of your pickups, even if it is not I am trying to point out that buying good pickups is a very worthwhile investment. They are not bank breakers they are life savers.


Dav

(Still cant spelllllllllllll)

Jabel

Ok guys,
Thanks so far for the opinions though some are a little OTT.
Having done a couple of location tests it's clear now that
the guitar is not the problem. It's clean as a whistle downstairs in
my living room in all 5 settings (my humble set up is in my converted attic), also when plugged into a different socket in said attic I have 2 out of 5
clean positions. I read on t'internet that dimmer switches can cause
problems and I do have one in the attic so that will have to go.
As far as other possible problem items the room has a flat screen TV
but not normally plugged in and just my PC screen (non CRT).
How does one go about fixing such a problem?
Thanks
J

Dord

Jabel wrote: »

Ok guys,
Thanks so far for the opinions though some are a little OTT.
Having done a couple of location tests it's clear now that
the guitar is not the problem. It's clean as a whistle downstairs in
my living room in all 5 settings (my humble set up is in my converted attic), also when plugged into a different socket in said attic I have 2 out of 5
clean positions. I read on t'internet that dimmer switches can cause
problems and I do have one in the attic so that will have to go.
As far as other possible problem items the room has a flat screen TV
but not normally plugged in and just my PC screen (non CRT).
How does one go about fixing such a problem?
Thanks
J

As I said above, shield the guitar cavities. Most budget guitars and even a lot of more expensive guitars aren't shielded. It's not an expensive thing to do but it takes time. You can use copper shielding tape or shielding paint. I've used both, the paint isn't quite as effective but works. The foil works very well provided that you shield it properly. The downside is that it's sharp and can cut the fcuk out of your hands.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Supplies:_Shielding.html