GCX loops big problem...

[Manhell]

Hello, for starters let me show you my rig;





This is wired guitar>gcx guitar in> loop 2 (whammy), loop 3 (ts9), loop 4 (decimator)>out> axe fx in.

The thing is, whenever I turn a loop on with one of the pedals, it starts a horrible noise which get's over my signal and when I touch the pedals with my hand the noise change a bit.

What is wrong with my gcx? am I in trouble? how can I solve this?

thanks

[JohnClark]

Cool setup you got going on there!

For a test, try running your guitar directly to the In of GCX Loop 2. If this makes the noise go away then you can solve the problem by isolating the GCX from the rack rails using a product known as HumFrees or you can lift the chassis ground connection inside the GCX.



Are you in trouble? You bet!!! That stuff you did the other night at the local bar is all over YouTube now... we have all seen it! The proper authorities are en route to your location now, and they don't appear to be smiling.

[Manhell]

ahahaha, That was funny hope they don't catch me with my pants down...


the gcx is isolated from the rails, the noise is just too much, umberable actually,
Could it be the cables I mounted? they are george l's and I tested the by pluging into my practice amp and tapping the other end with my finger.

the pedals are connected to a regular power suply (home like) could it be that?

but there is one question that scares me the most...is my gcx broken???

[JohnClark]

I see the washers you have on the front but they may not totally isolate from any metal to metal contact... but this is jumping ahead of things a bit... what happens when you try the above mentioned test?

[Manhell]

I cannot do it because the rack is in the studio and I'm at home, but I tested there like this:

Guitar> guitar in >guitar out > fractal and there was no noise, the noise only happens when a loop is open

[kenora]

Is it a 60 cycle hum? Maybe the transformers for the pedals if they are bad. I had a similar issue with my rack wah power adapter - was making silly noise then when I got the correct one, it stopped.

[Manhell]

Don't think that's the case because I have 2 diferent ones, one for the whammy and the other for ts9 and ISP and all them make noise.

[mibu]

man, I had such an issue a few months ago, with a rack and pedalboard I built for a client. after lots of hours of research I found out that the culprit was the cable that linked the pedalboard to the rack. it was a semi-balanced one and some pedals had a problem with this kind of connection. after using a normal cable (1 wire plus shield) the hum stopped.
so, check please your cables and see if using other ones helps...

[Manhell]

I did all the cables myself, they are george L's and never have problems with them, so can ONE bad cable be the center of all this?

I just have a midi cable running to the pedalboard, and it just gets noise when I open the loops.

[mibu]

well, I think it's about time to carefully check all your cables...