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saulhudson · 05-28-2009, 08:57 PM

I have a Tanglewood electro acoustic, a Tanglewood Sundance TW45 model from the mid nineties.

Although I have only used it a handful of times at gigs, and mostly at home, it has recently developed an annoying 'hum' that is really persistent and suggests to me at least, either an earth or grounding problem.

I swapped out the barrel jack today with the help of an electrician friend of mine as I'd been told these do fail on occasions....with no change, still got the hum.

If you hold the jack input the hum quietens considerably to the point of almost inaudible, and the strings all ring out clearly.

I've also put a new battery in, and also tried different leads including a brand new one but the hum persists.

Another friend has suggested unplugging the lead from the pickup to the pre-amp, (Fishman) and seeing if the hum goes, theory being if it does it's an isue with the pickup potentially, or if not the pre-amp or leads.

Anyone else got any ideas or experienced similar problems?

And boy they are an ass to work on/get to things aren't they?

septicpeg · 06-18-2009, 10:24 AM

Hi saul

Sounds like an earth problem, a mate had the same problem with his guitar. That was a fishman preamp (classic 4T)

He had exactly the same thing when you held the jack it stopped humming.

Have another look at the earth just to make sure thats all ok

andrewrg · 06-20-2009, 12:15 AM

Have you noticed the hum outside your home, at a gig, say? Just trying to eliminate variables like fridge motors, fluorescent lights and light dimmers in the vicinity which might be picked up.

05-28-2009, 08:57 PM	#1
saulhudson Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 119	Electro acoustic problem. I have a Tanglewood electro acoustic, a Tanglewood Sundance TW45 model from the mid nineties. Although I have only used it a handful of times at gigs, and mostly at home, it has recently developed an annoying 'hum' that is really persistent and suggests to me at least, either an earth or grounding problem. I swapped out the barrel jack today with the help of an electrician friend of mine as I'd been told these do fail on occasions....with no change, still got the hum. If you hold the jack input the hum quietens considerably to the point of almost inaudible, and the strings all ring out clearly. I've also put a new battery in, and also tried different leads including a brand new one but the hum persists. Another friend has suggested unplugging the lead from the pickup to the pre-amp, (Fishman) and seeing if the hum goes, theory being if it does it's an isue with the pickup potentially, or if not the pre-amp or leads. Anyone else got any ideas or experienced similar problems? And boy they are an ass to work on/get to things aren't they?

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06-18-2009, 10:24 AM	#2
septicpeg Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 14	Hi saul Sounds like an earth problem, a mate had the same problem with his guitar. That was a fishman preamp (classic 4T) He had exactly the same thing when you held the jack it stopped humming. Have another look at the earth just to make sure thats all ok

06-20-2009, 12:15 AM	#3
andrewrg Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Exeter, Devon, UK Posts: 2,537	Have you noticed the hum outside your home, at a gig, say? Just trying to eliminate variables like fridge motors, fluorescent lights and light dimmers in the vicinity which might be picked up.