Getting Rid of Ground Loop Noise

USE CAUTION! I HAVE BEEN TOLD BY ELECTRICIANS THAT THIS IS NOT A SAFE METHOD! [But it DOES work in a pinch]

How to get rid of ground loop noise when using two guitar amps simultaneously. Video made for the Axis Youth group.

(Camera work by Heather Sink)

#amplifier #groundloop #noise

[extendedrangetechmetal]

musicians die every year cause of this, it reduse noise yes, but also if lightning strikes near by or some like that, it reduces the number of musicians.

[electricring]

It is true that completely lifting a safety ground is risky. The point of a safety ground is to shunt current to ground (i.e. the chassis) if there is a failure after the power plug tripping the breaker and shutting off power. Ground is still connected through the other amp = no shock. The issue is that that ground return is higher impedance (i.e. fire risk). A better solution is a transformer on one of the amp inputs, check out the Radial Big Shot ABY. Funny how commenters think they know

[spencerhutchins]

In my experience, this is a quick cheap way to get rid of ground loop.  The safety caveat being, make sure only one guy rigs your  sound eqt when you use this method, because if you have two guys plugging eqt into two different circuits, and both think they are helping to cut the ground loop by using one of these....the lead singer gets a very fun surprise when he puts his lips on the mic.

[jamminjh]

I am an Army electrical tech. This method is perfectly safe providing that at least one of your pieces of equipment has a solid ground and all other pieces of equipment in the circuit have some way of making contact with that one ground. There is NO danger in doing this. I am running an orange terror bass, an ampeg b2r and a bassman duo ten. I was racking my brain on whether or not to pull the ground pins and then saw your video. My amps are glad your video stopped me from nuetering them.

[electricring]

BTW, safety grounds are a relatively recent invention, many old houses have no grounds to the outlet. It will not damage your equipment to not have a ground. The safest thing to do is run on a GFCI breaker (trips if hot and neutral currents are not equal but opposite, meaning current is leaking out of the circuit somewhere), and you can actually run safely with no ground (though code requires labeling as no ground in most jurisdictions). Lots of electrical equipment has only two prong plugs.

[easygeorge]

@Sound Speeds  2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter connected to headset of phone, then to 3.5mm to 1/4 phono (, mono) then inserted to mixer using aux send and mic input, , , , dial does not hum but when you try to dial a number, a loud humming comes up, , , how do I fix this ?

[Jg]

how can i fix my hum that is coming from my krk's 6's, thats xlr's connected to the rca outs on my peavey pv6 mixer?...
everything is grounded also

[ShannonNewbold]

That device is not meant to remove ground. It is meant to provide a safety ground (via the cover plate screw to a grounded outlet) in the event a three prong plug is used with a two prong outlet.

[YooTooobJeff]

Are those plugged into different circuits? Or same circuit with one outlet way down the line from the other?

[JRandallS]

The unbalance of the load is supposed to be able to be carried back on the ground in a pinch. However, at the breaker panel the white and ground are bonded together. There is also a wire going to a ground rod from the main breaker panel on most houses built since the 60's. If you lose the neutral wire (white) the ground is supposed to take the unbalance of the load back to the panel and into the earth (ground). Reality is that most of England is run without an independent ground, and they are running 220v not 110v. It works fine without a ground. We get 220v also ran to the house for some higher applicances like electric stoves and dryers, but we generally split that 220 in half and run one side for one 110 circuit and the other 110 for other circuits.

If you have your amp plugged into one side and your PA into the other, you could get 220 across your lips when you step up to the mic. I have had it happen to me. I was playing a coffeehouse in Alaska, in the seventies. My head jerked back so fast that all the indian gals in the front row thought I had got the power (religion) and a revival broke out...sort of. Another time I was sitting on the front bench in a church playing guitar and the bass player was sitting next to me. We were plugged into different circuits. At some point we leaned into each by accident touching shoulders. It propelled us out of our seats in unison (probably the only unison that day) till we fell apart.

Okay it can be dangerous to lift the ground. In a lot of the old buildings i've played in, they didn't have a decent ground anyway. I was working as an electrician trying to fix a weird voltage problem in a house. Some circuits read 70v and others read 180v. I called a friend of mine. He said "Go outside and see if the neutral has been broken on the power drop to the house. It had a branch fallen on it and had only broken the neutral. So this house was only relying on the ground, but it didn't work as you might think. Every motor in the house (furnace fan etc.) was a place where the voltage was used in an unbalanced way, and the rest of the power went back through the neutral to the ground at the main panel, but not in a balanced predictable way. The TV blew up and several other appliances were running really fast or really slow. They had grounds on them, but it might have done more harm in some cases.

Some electrical theoreticians have argued that having two paths to ground could cause just this type of problem and as a result be more dangerous. They used to attach the ground to the pipes, but some folks got shocked in the shower because of metal pipes to both the supply and the drain. Lightning really played havoc with that situation. Alright I've talked enough...

[robertkelly]

He’s still grounded, just through one amp, not both. Listen to the whole thing before commenting

[okiebsooner]

NOT RECOMMENDED way of removing your ground lead to get rid of hum...makes it dangerous and if you have a heart condition, it could be fatal. If doing this way on a vintage fender amp, just make sure you switch the ground switch at the back of the amp to be in the right direction of the two. Check it by touching the mic and then just one string (ie; High E). Really, you just have to get close to feel the electricity field. If you feel it, switch the ground switch to the other direction on the back of the amp and then you're grounded through the circuit. Make sure your fender amp has your "death cap" removed, if you own a vintage fender amp. Google it. If you've ever seen the Christmas lights of a club dim, you'll know the feeling. lol Not something you'll want to make the mistake on twice.... Mustang Sally :)

[Burnitnow]

The problem may actually be caused by the power strip, i would suggest buying a power line filter or a powerstrip with a decent line filter for noise pollution. Stay safe...

[JonPickles]

Thanks for this I managed to adopt a cheap solution (ground loop hum eliminator) and it works a dream!

[princessl.d.g.]

I purchased some Presonus Eris e5 studio Monitors and noticed they have a soft hiss. How do I get rid of that sound?

The sound isn't noticeable when I'm 2 or 3 feet away. I notice it when I have my ear right up against each of the monitors.

I'm using balanced TRS cables, and I have the monitors connected to my audio interface.

[Dacianandrei]

Can the adaptor cause the buzz, if i cut the câble and remplace it with another compatible in my home ? Which is different uk or usa it will work?

[bujoun]

I've got a 5.1 surround system and a power conditioner that does NOT stop the buzz. I would like to use that DI box but im not sure how to use it with my gear. Or if it's even possible. However this video seems to be a very good example of what does work.

[playmovingpictures]

Nice work, did you ever get noise from using a pedal effect plugged into your fender tube amp? If yes, how did you fix it.

[fsmo]

Im using a squier affinity HSS and a boss katana 50..the hum/noise/buzz is quite loud. What do i do?

[bronislawbonkala]

It sounds like a nice funeral tune... why not have a bath with the guitar now ? LOL