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How can I reduce hum in a Fender Champ?

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  • How can I reduce hum in a Fender Champ?

    I have two champs, one from '75, one from '69. They both hum obnoxiously when I play them with a strat, and I'm pretty sure it's not the normal hum of a single coil pickup. The source I think has to do with the wiring in the house, because I've used them elsewhere and noticed significantly less hum So for now, is there anything I can do to the amp to try and reduce it? I record too so it's going to be apparent during silence.

    Here's what I've done so far:
    to the '75, I replaced the electrolytic caps in it, the cathode bypass and the can cap. I got a little more gain out of the deal but there's still much hum. The '69, I bought it with the original two prong AC cor and I put a three prong cord on it to ground it, now it only hums when I am plugged in, rather than just having it being on all by itself. I've switched the power tubes between the two and nothing changed, and I switched the rectifier tubes between the two and nothing changed. I have many different 12AX7s and none of them improved the situation.

    Concerning the type of hum, being 60Hz or 120Hz, I don't know how to tell the difference really, but I recorded the hum and I tried using EQ to filter it out, but I found that there wasn't much energy at all at 60Hz or 120Hz, most of it was between 1kHz and 8kHz, and I tried filtering out certain overtones of the 60Hz and it didn't do much either. I dunno if that helps in determining the problem

    Any help is appreciated.

  • #2
    Originally posted by MonkHouse93 View Post
    I'm pretty sure it's not the normal hum of a single coil pickup.
    If you turn the volume down on your guitar and the hum goes away, it's not coming from your amp. Try this simple test and let us know the result...

    Comment


    • #3
      If your up to it there is much to be said about changing the filament wiring to a "twisted pair" and elevating the CT on a DC bias. I've done it to a VibroChamp with good results. Some searching should reveal everything you need t know. If you don't find what you need I'm sure it'll be covered here again.
      "Take two placebos, works twice as well." Enzo

      "Now get off my lawn with your silicooties and boom-chucka speakers and computers masquerading as amplifiers" Justin Thomas

      "If you're not interested in opinions and the experience of others, why even start a thread?
      You can't just expect consent." Helmholtz

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      • #4
        Do bkahuna's test first - turn the guitar's volume knob to zero. If the hum goes away, it isn;t the amp.
        Education is what you're left with after you have forgotten what you have learned.

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        • #5
          Guitar volume at 0, hum goes away. I found a schematic for the filament wiring thing, actually I think it was on this site, but since this gutiar volume tests says that it's not the amp's fault would redoing the filament wires help at all?

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          • #6
            Originally posted by MonkHouse93 View Post
            but since this gutiar volume tests says that it's not the amp's fault would redoing the filament wires help at all?
            Nope. It's single coil hum. If it sounds like too much it could be that the gain level is lower on whatever system your using for comparison.
            "Take two placebos, works twice as well." Enzo

            "Now get off my lawn with your silicooties and boom-chucka speakers and computers masquerading as amplifiers" Justin Thomas

            "If you're not interested in opinions and the experience of others, why even start a thread?
            You can't just expect consent." Helmholtz

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            • #7
              Or maybe the polarity of your cord is backwards. Oh, wait. Sorry. Had an Eric Johnson moment. (Don't be hatin'. He is one of my favourites, too.)
              Joe

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              • #8
                Guitar volume at 0, hum goes away.
                It ain't the amp.
                My rants, products, services and incoherent babblings on my blog.

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                • #9
                  Which means that nothing you do to the filament wiring, or anyting else in the amp, will help!

                  About the only thing you can do is try to position yourself so that you get the least hum, and/or use a noise gate/suppressor.

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                  • #10
                    Positioning helps. I would also check to see that the guitar is grounded properly. There are few threads on shielding pickup and control cavities that may help. If you like the in-between positions, you can wire the middle pickup out of phase for hum cancelling. The noiseless pickups work well too.

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                    • #11
                      Hmmm. . . Well alright, thank all of you!

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                      • #12
                        I joked a bit about the guitar cord, but make sure you are using a good one. I'm not a believer in the Monster Cables and their lying eyes, but a bad cable can cause issues, especially with a strat. I know with mine I chased down a problem for about an hour (really most of the day, but who wants to admit that?) until (I can't remember why) I swapped out for a George L and a lot of my noise went away. I was using some generic cord I just grabbed before. Was probably even a speaker cable that was in the wrong pile. I threw it out, either way.

                        Joe

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                        • #13
                          Different cords didn't seem to make much difference, or at least the out of what I have anyway. Hell I even tried a shielded cord

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                          • #14
                            I don't think that one was meant to be a guitar cable though. . .

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                            • #15
                              Is there a light dimmer in the room or in the house? Triac dimmers will relaly generate noise, as will appliance motors, air conditioners, fans, etc. Have you rewired the amps to a 3 wire cord with an earth ground? Make sure its right. Then make sure the outlet is wired correctly and grounded. Many homes, clubs, etc have new modern outlets with ancient two wire wiring attached to them. If you have no ground find a cold water pipe.

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