Again shield

[Tweed]

Remember when I said that I never notice interference from my guitars? Well, just now I was using my Carvin shielded guitar through my Carvin tube amp and turned the guitar volume down and heard... the radio! Spanish radio, that is!

So I probably won't be spending money on shielding paint or tape for my new W body.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

Usually there is a resistor on the input in the amp, about 10K to 66K, and this behaves like a speed bump to the radio signals you pick up.  They tend not to have the omph to get by it, so it filters them out.  When I built my first amp, I left that resistor out.  I got radio reception with the amp.  Chumbawumba was the band that made me add the resistor back in.  Never had a problem since.
Patrick

 

[Jeremiah]

Although a conductive material like the shielding in a guitar can act as an antenna, in this case it is not necessarily anything to do with the guitar, especially if the volume was turned down.

It is not that uncommon for speakers/amplifiers that are switched on but have no signal going to them to pick up radio interference. My first experience of this came in my student days, and made me think my room was haunted, as I had left my stereo on but with no CD in. I woke up in the middle of the night and heard a mysterious voice coming from somewhere in the room, and it took me ages to track down that it was the speakers picking up some kind of radio signal.  

 

[OzziePete]

Although a conductive material like the shielding in a guitar can act as an antenna, in this case it is not necessarily anything to do with the guitar, especially if the volume was turned down.

It is not that uncommon for speakers/amplifiers that are switched on but have no signal going to them to pick up radio interference. My first experience of this came in my student days, and made me think my room was haunted, as I had left my stereo on but with no CD in. I woke up in the middle of the night and heard a mysterious voice coming from somewhere in the room, and it took me ages to track down that it was the speakers picking up some kind of radio signal.  

:laughing7:

THAT would have been particularly worrying if you had gone to bed with some jungle juice in your system!

 

[JimBeed]

I get that from my computer speakers at times, specially my old ones,  and i swear it sounded french, WHERE the hell would the french be broadcasting close enough to the east midlands?  :tard:

 

[bagman67]

I get that from my computer speakers at times, specially my old ones,  and i swear it sounded french, WHERE the hell would the french be broadcasting close enough to the east midlands?  :tard:

Some signals will actually be reflected back down to earth off the upper atmosphere.  So a signal you would expect to be blocked by a large slice of the earth's crust instead bounces back at you from above.

 

[Damon]

Was your wah on? Sometimes they pick up radio.

 

[DangerousR6]

I get that from my computer speakers at times, specially my old ones,  and i swear it sounded french, WHERE the hell would the french be broadcasting close enough to the east midlands?  :tard:

A spark plug wire in my Camaro shorted against the valve cover, and until I found it, I was picking up radio stations from New Orleans.... :dontknow:

 

[OzziePete]

I get that from my computer speakers at times, specially my old ones,  and i swear it sounded french, WHERE the hell would the french be broadcasting close enough to the east midlands?  :tard:

A spark plug wire in my Camaro shorted against the valve cover, and until I found it, I was picking up radio stations from New Orleans.... :dontknow:

You whole engine block became one big antenna?  :laughing7:

 

[Patrick from Davis]

I get that from my computer speakers at times, specially my old ones,  and i swear it sounded french, WHERE the hell would the french be broadcasting close enough to the east midlands?  :tard:

A spark plug wire in my Camaro shorted against the valve cover, and until I found it, I was picking up radio stations from New Orleans.... :dontknow:

You whole engine block became one big antenna?  :laughing7:

Everything's big in Texas.
Patrick

 

[DangerousR6]

I get that from my computer speakers at times, specially my old ones,  and i swear it sounded french, WHERE the hell would the french be broadcasting close enough to the east midlands?  :tard:

A spark plug wire in my Camaro shorted against the valve cover, and until I found it, I was picking up radio stations from New Orleans.... :dontknow:

You whole engine block became one big antenna?  :laughing7:

The whole car became an antenna....

 

[Mor Paul]

I'd remove any pedals, and check the guitar cable too. If that doesn't do it, change guitars.

 

[OzziePete]

I get that from my computer speakers at times, specially my old ones,  and i swear it sounded french, WHERE the hell would the french be broadcasting close enough to the east midlands?  :tard:

A spark plug wire in my Camaro shorted against the valve cover, and until I found it, I was picking up radio stations from New Orleans.... :dontknow:

You whole engine block became one big antenna?  :laughing7:

The whole car became an antenna....

Didn't appreciate hearing some funky Trad jazz while zooming along with creole announcers? :laughing7:

(I know, that is a generalisation, New Orleans has much more to offer I understand...)


2500 posts !!!

 

[Tweed]

All right, thank you very much to all you people. This is the best forum I've ever seen! I am clearly out of my electronics field.

WHERE the hell would the french be broadcasting close enough to the east midlands?  :tard:

Don't you watch LOST? It's Rousseau. It's been looping for 14 years.

 

[DangerousR6]

All right, thank you very much to all you people. This is the best forum I've ever seen! I am clearly out of my electronics field.

WHERE the hell would the french be broadcasting close enough to the east midlands?  :tard:

Don't you watch LOST? It's Rousseau. It's been looping for 14 years.

I miss Kate... :sad1:

 

[JimBeed]

I miss the hour i lost watching one episode  :laughing7:
Let the hate posts begin  :toothy12:

 

[nexrex]

I have had this issue as well. With my orange tiny terror amp/cab combo. Never could work out what was causing it  :icon_scratch:

 

[Tweed]

I opened up the amp and there is a resistor right by the jack. R1.
But whatevz.

 

[Cagey]

The two things I would try are a better cord, or tying a very small cap (47pf or so) from the signal side to ground. A cap that small won't affect your tone at all since its reactance is well outside the audio range, but it'll pass RF to ground.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

I opened up the amp and there is a resistor right by the jack. R1.
But whatevz.

Is it in the signal path or does it go directly to ground?  Also what size is it?  Normally there is a resistor that puts an impedence load on the input, and a separate one for the filtering-esque aspect.  Also that tiny cap Cagey mentioned should help, but if you can hear the radio signal talking, it is in the general frequency range of the guitar.
Patrick