How to Stop a Guitar Amp from Buzzing or Humming

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Troubleshooting steps to stop buzzing so you can start playing
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It can be really annoying when you plug into an amplifier and it starts humming. Unwanted feedback from your amp can be caused by bad wiring, radio interference, or loose connections between your equipment. Often, it’s several things combined that make the problem worse. Luckily, there are a few things you can try to help reduce or completely eliminate the constant hum. This wikiHow article teaches you how to stop or reduce hum and buzzing from your amp.

How to Remove a Humming Noise from an Amplifier

Lower the gain on your amp until you don’t hear the humming anymore. If that doesn’t work, try swapping cables, disconnecting effects pedals, moving away from other electronics, and plugging your gear into the same outlet to prevent ground-loop feedback. You can also use a noise gate or switch to humbucker pickups.

1

Understand there’s going to be some noise.

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  1. This is especially true if you are using a tube amp or a guitar with single coil pickups. Single coil pickups will pick up interference from nearby electronics. That’s one of the most common complaints about guitars with single-coil pickups. Adding gain to your amplifier will also boost any floor-level noise in your amp. Usually, this shouldn’t interfere with or overpower your playing. If it gets to be obnoxious or interferes with your tone, this indicates you may have a problem.
    • Higher-wattage amps are going to produce more noise than lower-wattage amps. A 100-watt tube amp will produce much more floor noise than a 15-watt solid-state amp, especially when it is turned up.
    • If you are playing a high-gain style of music (i.e., punk or metal) and the buzz is too obnoxious when you are not playing, you may want to turn down the volume on your guitar or switch to a clean channel on your amp in between songs.
    • Certain effects pedals, such as gain, distortion, and compressor pedals, can lead to some added hum as they boost or raise floor-level noise.
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2

Reduce your amp gain.

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  1. The gain knob increases the strength of the amp’s signal, which effectively makes the audio louder. Turn the gain dial down (counterclockwise) until you don’t hear the humming sound coming from your amp anymore (or until it’s tolerable). Using less gain can make your tone a little sharper and more responsive. [1]
    • If you still hear the amp humming, then there may be an issue with the wiring or the equipment the amp plugs into.
3

Check your cables.

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  1. Try connecting your guitar to your amp without any effects pedals and see if you hear a hum. If you do, try using a different cable. If the hum stops, then you know the cable is the problem, and you will need to replace the cable. If you don’t hear any hum while connected to your amp, reconnect your effects pedals one by one and see if one of the effects pedal connectors is causing the hum. If so, replace the connector cable.
    • Tip: Always keep multiple cables with your amp so you have spares if you need them.
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4

Move your gear away from electronic devices.

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  1. Fluorescent lights, Bluetooth devices, computer monitors, and dimmer switches all emit frequencies that create radio interference for amps, guitars, and cables. Leave your amp turned on while you shut off other devices in the room one by one. Listen carefully to the amp as you turn off each device to see if the hum disappears. If you can still hear the hum, turn the equipment back on since it wasn’t affecting your amp. If other electronics are interfering with your amp or guitar, try moving them away from your amp, guitar, and cables. Try angling your guitar away from any nearby electronics. Turn off any electronics you are not using. [2]
5

Use a noise gate.

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  1. You can place a noise gate effects pedal between your guitar input (or your last effects pedal) and amp input. If your amp has an effects loop, you can also connect it to the effects loop. Set the noise gate threshold just above the volume of the hum, and it will block out any noise below that threshold.
    • If the humming is caused by your amp, a noise gate may not do a lot to reduce the hum unless you use the effects loop.
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6

Use humbucker pickups.

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  1. Humbucker pickups use two coils with opposite polarities, which cancels out the natural hum you get with single-coil pickups. If you are playing a high-gain style of music, you may want to consider getting a guitar with humbucker pickups.
    • For example, most heavy metal guitar players use humbucker pickups.
    • Humbucker and single-coil pickups have slightly different tones. Humbucker pickups tend to have a thicker tone, while single-coil pickups have a brighter tone. For some styles, you may prefer the brighter tone of a single-coil pickup. If you play different styles of music, you may want to get a humbucker and a single-coil guitar. Some guitars have a combination of single-coil and humbucker pickups.
7

Use a power strip to plug in all your equipment.

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  1. If you have an amp plugged into one outlet and another piece of equipment in a different outlet, you may hear feedback or buzzing once you connect them. Wall sockets have slightly different voltages when you plug into them, so connecting two pieces of equipment to different sockets creates a difference in frequency that makes the amp hum, called ground-loop feedback. Unplug your amp and any other equipment you plan on using with it, then choose one outlet and plug everything back in. [3]
    • If you don’t have enough sockets for all your equipment, use a power strip that has a built-in surge protector so you don’t blow a circuit.
    • Never remove grounding prongs or use 2-prong adaptors for your amp. Otherwise, you aren’t protected from electrical shock.
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8

Use the shortest cables possible.

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  1. Unless you are playing at a stadium, you probably don’t need super long cables. Always look for stereo and connector cables that have a little slack when you plug your amp into a piece of equipment. [4]
    • Avoid using cables that are pulled tight since you could damage their internal wiring.
    • If you are connecting multiple effects pedals, make sure you are using connector cables instead of regular cables. Not only will it look neater by reducing excess cable, but it will also reduce the amount of interference your cables are picking up.
9

Use an isolated power supply for your effects pedals.

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  1. Using a daisy-chain cable to power all of your effects pedals draws power from the same power source and spreads it across all your pedals. This can cause a ground loop that creates a hum or buzzing. Instead, buy a power supply unit with isolated outputs for each of your effects pedals. This will provide an isolated power source for each of your effects pedals and remove any ground loop problems.
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10

Use a ferrite choke.

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  1. A ferrite choke is a cylindrical clip that attaches around a wire and cuts out high-frequency noises. Position the ferrite choke about 2–3 inches (5.1–7.6 cm) from either end of the cable you’re using to connect your amp to your equipment. Place the cable in the center channel of the choke and clip it closed to stop the feedback. [5]
    • Some cables will come with ferrite chokes already built into the wiring.
11

Connect a hum-reducing adapter.

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  1. Sometimes plugging all your equipment into a single outlet isn’t enough. Especially if multiple appliances, lights, or dimmer switches are on the same circuit. This is just a problem with how your house or venue is wired. If this is the case, you plug your equipment into a hum-reducing adapter. Plug the hum-reducing adaptor into the wall outlet. Connect the amp (or power strip) to the socket on the adaptor before turning it back on. [6]
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12

Replace the tubes on your amp.

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  1. Check to make sure your tubes aren’t loose and tighten them. If your tubes need to be replaced, make sure you get the exact type that is needed as a replacement and that they are properly biased. You may need to take your amp to a technician to make sure they are properly biased.
13

Check the grounding on your guitar.

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  1. The easiest way to tell if your guitar has a grounding issue is if the humming goes away when you touch your guitar (or the strings) and then starts again when you take your hands off your guitar. In most cases, grounding issues in your guitar can be fixed with a simple soldering job. Make sure the black wire is properly soldered to each of the pickups, the back of the volume and tone pots, and the metal on the back of your bridge in the cavity on the back of your guitar. [7]
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14

Clean or replace your volume and tone pots.

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  1. If you notice the hum starts when you turn the volume or tone knobs, or when they are set at a certain setting, the pots may be dirty. Usually, you can solve this by spraying the pots with some switch cleaner and turning them a few times. If your pots are too rusty or damaged, you may need to replace them. If you are skilled with a soldering iron, you may be able to replace the pots yourself. If not, you may need to take it to a guitar technician.
15

Shield the electronics on your guitar.

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  1. One thing you can do to reduce the amount of interference from other electronic devices is to shield the electronics on your guitar. You can do this by lining your guitar’s electronics cavity with shielding tape . [8]
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16

Check for loose parts and wiring on your equipment.

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  1. Turn off and unplug your equipment so you don’t risk getting shocked, then remove the panel or cover near the equipment’s input port to access the wiring inside. Wiggle the wires carefully to see if any of the ends are loose or disconnected. If they are, solder or rewire the equipment to have a firm connection. Check to make sure the power transformer and other parts are securely screwed down tightly. Put your equipment back together and try testing it with your amp to see if it works. [9]
    • If you’re not comfortable taking apart your equipment, check if there’s a manufacturer’s warranty so you can have it professionally fixed. Otherwise, you may need to replace it or take it to a guitar and amp technician.
    • Also check to make sure the nuts around the cable inputs are tightly screwed down.

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      Tips

      • It’s normal if you hear your amp buzzing if you have a cable plugged into it that isn’t connected to anything else.
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      • If you have an audio clip with humming in the background, put a noise-reducing filter on it when you’re mixing to help eliminate it from the recording.
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      Warnings

      • Never remove the grounding prong from your amp or any adaptors; otherwise, you won’t be protected from potentially fatal shocks.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://guitargearfinder.com/guides/faq-getting-rid-of-guitar-hum-buzz-and-noise-issues/
      2. ↑ https://guitargearfinder.com/guides/faq-getting-rid-of-guitar-hum-buzz-and-noise-issues/
      3. ↑ https://hometheateracademy.com/preamp-hum-fix/
      4. ↑ https://www.theobjectiveturntable.com/documents/turntablehumreduction.pdf
      5. ↑ https://youtu.be/q2c6fKOu-vo?t=153
      6. ↑ https://youtu.be/je09zrb2Igc?t=144
      7. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMhzZL9WdK4
      8. ↑ https://www.guitarworld.com/gear/how-eliminate-guitar-buzz
      9. ↑ https://guitargearfinder.com/guides/faq-getting-rid-of-guitar-hum-buzz-and-noise-issues/

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