New Member and Newly purchased PRS Archon 100 questions

Ok so I’ve spent the last 3 hours trying to figure this all about and I believe I have come to a good area.

I pulled the amp with cab a little further from the wall but it didn’t make much of a difference. Next I started testing each pedal individually. I’ve noticed that the Earthquaker pedals in the chain do add a bit of a small hiss or hum, nothing to bad but yeah. Most of my pedals are powered by my Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2 but I had a couple pedals that I didn’t have room for that I used 1 Spot power supply adapters but I didn’t daisy chain - I only ever used just the adapter to the peda by itself but still even though I didn’t daisy chain and just used two of the 1 Spot power adapters single wise I noticed if I didn’t use these adapters period it cut out some hum as well. Next I used all new patch cables and this seemed to have cut a bit of hum as well. The last two things I noticed is if I place the Voodoo Labs Power Plus 2 further away then it helped with hum and lastly if I face certain directions then the amp is pretty much dead quiet except for the typical silent sound of the amps power.

So in all l I feel like I’ve come to a good area. I might end up selling the couple of Earthquaker pedals because I find myself not so much in love with them like I once did. I have two Electro Harmonix pedals that I’ve been eyeing for some time now that could replace 4 of the Earthquaker pedals on my board.

But I think I’m all good now and very happy with my results I’ve come to find. I was able to get both the Clean Channel and Lead Channels both pretty silent except for just the most faint amp power sound.

Any wall-wart power supply radiates EMI and RFI to nearby pedals and cables to a greater or lesser degree. The farther you move them from pedals, even if not daisy-chained, the better. Also, wahs are notorious for picking up stray noise from power supplies.

Even a good power supply like the Voodoo Labs can generate a little EMI from its transformer, although I find the VL stuff extremely quiet. That can usually be solved simply by moving the cables away from the power supply.

The facing certain directions thing is simply that your guitar’s pickups are picking up stray EMI from various parts of your room. There can be lots of causes of that. You can check to see if it’s the guitar or something else simply by turning the guitar volume all the way down. If the noise stops, it’s your pickups. However, magnetic pickups are magnets, and pick up lots of stray electrical signals. Noise doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with the pickups, it’s just what pickups do.

Consider also that ground loops can be very difficult to track down and eliminate. Not only do ground loops hum, they also increase the susceptibility of the rig to EMI and RFI.

My own feeling, however, is that amp effect loops are the Devil. ;)
 
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