Subtle Buzzing

[timtheark]

Hoping someone here can help me resolve this issue. I play the Chapman Stick (it's a nickel plasma-coated Railboard, which I suspect may be a factor in all of this ...) with my Helix Floor unit.

Often when playing a high gain, distorted preset, I encounter an occasional, subtle buzzing sound. Up until now I have assumed it was an issue with the input jack on the instrument itself, as I would lightly jostle the cable and the buzz would immediately cease. Barely any adjustment at all. I've tried multiple cables and multiple inputs on the unit - the problem happens with all of my guitar cables, and it's present whether I use the Guitar, Aux or a Return input ... though it's most prominent when using the Guitar input.

 

This morning I encountered the buzz again and this time remained extremely still and reached down to adjust the cable at the Helix guitar input instead of the instrument's input jack to see what would happen. To my surprise, the second I touched the cable, the buzzing ceased. I lifted my finger and the buzzing returned. I repeated a number of times. That made me think, alright, this instrument is essentially a 3.5 foot slab of metal - of course it's going to be more susceptible to EMFs and electric currents and whatnot. I guess this is some sort of subtle electrical issue my instrument is necessarily vulnerable to and my house must be pretty noisy (major bummer for recording ...)

 

However, I just encountered the buzzing again, and this time remained extremely still and merely rested my hand on my Helix Floor unit itself. To my surprise, it greatly diminished the sound of the buzzing. So long as I'm making contact with the right side of the unit, the buzzing seems to be significantly reduced. So now I'm starting to think this could be some sort of grounding issue. I recently had an electrician in the house who confirmed the outlets are all grounded, so I don't think my outlets are my problem. Could something be amiss with the Helix unit itself??

 

I'd take the Stick and the Helix into another house to jam for a bit and see if I encounter the same buzzing problem if not for the COVID situation. Any thoughts are very much appreciated - the buzzing is occasional and subtle, but a real pain in the lollipop when trying to record!

[waymda]

If the noise goes when you touch the lead I'm pretty sure thats an earth loop/grounding issue - which may be fixable within the Stick.

[rd2rk]

Helix Floor has a Ground Switch on the back. Try that.

Next, make sure that the Helix and your Amp and whatever else is in the circuit are all plugged into a quality EMI/RFI filtered surge strip, and that the ground on the wall socket it's plugged into is good - you can get a cheap tester at any HW store, Radio Shack or Wal-Mart.

Ground loops suck, and are a PITA to troubleshoot!

[timtheark]

I really appreciate the responses. Before reading, I decided to try jamming in my (very cold) basement. No problems at all! So yes, I now believe it to be a grounding issue in my practice room. Bummer. Now that I am aware of the ground switch on the back of the Helix unit, I will give it a shot back in the practice room with that switch enabled to see what happens. At least it doesn't seem to be a problem with the Stick itself! Phew. Thanks again for the insights.

[Schmalle]

If the buzz does decrease when you put your finger on the guitar's jack, but not when you touch the strings then there is no ground connection between strings/hardware and the Stick's electronics.