all my basement rigs are distorted!

[Gunn_Slinger]

Hi guys
Havent been able to play for a couple of years due to back problems
Started back about a month ago. Everything was good.
Then, about 10 days ago, my main rig started to distort.
I switched to another rig, only to find the same thing, just not as bad.
All 3 rigs distort.
All my rigs use AKG wireless guitar bug systems into Korg Ax3000g's.
Main rig amp is a fender frontman 1/2 stack.
2nd rig is into marshall vs-100 head.
3rd rig is into marshall mg100hdfx head
All amps use the clean side with korg in front.
I have swaped pedals between amps and akg's between pedals.
My main rig is feed from an APC 600 watt power supply.
The 2 and 3 rigs are feed from a second APC 600,
I have a number of guitars with good pickups, all distort.
Thanks for any help.
Clay

[Enzo]

But have you tried a plain old guitar cord from guitar to amp? Eliminate the wireless, and eliminate the big Korg floor toys. Still sound bad?

We need to isolate the problem. There may be something consistent, or it may just be coincidence. So plug a guitar direct into each amp to check it at its most basic.

How are the wireless batteries? Measure with a meter.

Don't assume your local mains power is not at fault, check that.

If the guitar sounds OK through one of the amps, then use that amp as a tester. Try each wireless system into that amp, one at a time. All three OK or any one bad? Then set aside the wireless units, and get out the Korgs, and try them one at a time through that amp we know is good. Do they all work OK or do they all sound bad or maybe just one or two bad?

Once we know just which units are and are not contributing to the problem, we can then address each problem.

[Gunn_Slinger]

Thanks Enzo.
I have used a cable into the korgs. No help
The amps are ok going into with cord, also putting the korg on tuner or str8 thru
the korg is ok. The 'clean' pre sets on korg sound ok, but brighter than they were.
The distortion kicks in on the overdrive pre sets,especially on the high E and B strings
on notes 'E' 12th fret, 'D' 10th fret...."B" 12th fret, 'A' 10th fret, "G#" 9th fret
and "E" 9th fret on G string. Sounds like beat frequencies interfearing together.
My electrician thinks 'dirty power' , but using 2 seperate APC 600 voltage regulated
power suppiles should eliminate that, I would think.
Thanks
Clay

[DRH1958]

What about trying to plug your amps directly into the wall outlets and bypass those power supplies? Guitar directly into the amps.
Do you live in an area that loses power frequently? I'm wondering why you need two APC 600 UPS units. These are designed to provide power if you lose power to your home without the power glitch when converting to battery backup. I'm wondering about those units after sitting for 2 years.
EDIT: Agree with Jazz, otherwise, the Korgs are suspect.

[Jazz P Bass]

Sounds to me like there is an issue with the Korg.

Can't tell from your first post. Is it Korgs. (plural)?

[olddawg]

Do you have triac light dimmers anywhere? The first thing I would do is take one complete rig to another location and test it. Have you tried a hard reset to factory presets on the Korg?

[Gunn_Slinger]

Wow. Thanks for all the support guys.
I have 3 korgs for my 3 rigs. I have no trac lighting.
Plugged 1 amp into wall, no help.
The APC's are voltage regulated power supply's at 600 watts.
They are putting out 120.4 volts steady.
They have been used in the last 2 years by my friends who come to jam
and by my guitar tech who is an old friend.
Its like an EMI is causing harmonic distortion , but nothing has changed.
Guess when my back is better, I'll have to take everything apart
and re-do each rig 1 plug at a time.
Thanks for all the help
Clay

[Enzo]

Just bypassing the power conditioners is not enough. You need to isolate the problem. The procedure I outlined is one way to do that. As long as you have multiple pieces of gear in a rig, you can't easily tell which thing is responsible.