Calming the buzz from my Friedman Marsha

[arneyz]

If the hum is in your amp, the decimator will do nothing. Maybe check the caps? Often times a hum is a result of AC power leaking into the amp. So it could be worth checking the electrolitics. Also, maybe more likely, a preamp tube could be on its way out. Even check the rectifier tube if it's tube rectified.

[getarzan]

Thanks.

Well , the noise/hum is effected somewhat when i hold my hand against the guitar cord at the jack of the guitar , making it slightly more quiet

No noise comes from the amp without volume up on the guitar.

The higher the gain set on the amp , the more noise.

The noise is the same regardless of using different cords , and different guitars.

[litepipe]

When you say different guitars do some of these guitars have humbuckers or are all of them single coils?

[nedorama]

Google on power conditioners and you'll find they're a waste of money for amps - you're paying for a glorified power strip, and it will not help reduce hum on an amp.

Things that work:
Electrical Isolation Transformers - these help with issues such as bad/dirty power in your home or playing at a bar. Ebtech makes the Hum-X which works very well; I always have one in my gig bag and it does the trick very well.

Voltage regulators - in some places, you may be getting not enough/too much voltage to power your amp. Furman's AR-1215 regulates the voltage so you get a constant near 120 volts. Usually this is more for digital equipment that's more susceptible to voltage swings. I don't have one as our shows are usually at bars/clubs with stable enough power.

UPS - Uninterruptable Power Sources; good ones convert dirty power from your outlet into clean sine wave power, also electrically isolated.

If the amp is buzzing without anything plugged into it, I would try the electric isolation transformer first. If you have a pedalboard, make sure that the amp and the pedalboard are both plugged into the same outlet/power conditioner/strip so that you're not causing a ground loop. I own an APC that my iMac and recording gear are plugged into, and it did somewhat lower the noise floor. Bonus is that if the power goes out while I'm recording/editing, I have time to save...

So your power conditioner is great in having multiple outlets and giving some surge protection (for a while - read on MOVs and how they deteriorate over time), but to tame hum/buzzing in gear, you'll need something else.

Hope this helps.

[getarzan]

Thanks for the help.

Well , you were right about the conditioner not helping with the buzz. But , it did make the amp sound better. It made it cleaner and audibly better sounding. That was a surprise.

The buzz only occurred when there was a guitar plugged into it. Any guitar , with humbuckers.

What I DID find was, I had an open ground on the outlet. The ground wire was not attached to the ground on the outlet.
I suggest everyone have a GB outlet tester with the 3 lights on it. , that plugs into outlets. Pretty handy.