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Bass Whammy Not Playing Well with Distortion

Discussion in 'Effects [BG]' started by Azure Skies, Jan 1, 2015.

  1. Jan 1, 2015 #1
    Azure Skies

    Azure Skies Commercial User

    Mar 21, 2012
    Toronto
    Sneaker salesman Importer/Exporter Broughton Audio
    I have the reissue bass whammy, and it is making a waterfall noise when I have a high gain pedal activated. When the whammy is bypassed, the noise goes away. Not the end of the world I suppose, but does anybody have a similar experience and/or solution?

    As an aside, in case anybody ever searches this: I am successfully powering the whammy via a voodoo labs pedal power 2, using outlet 5 (the high current one). I tried looking for this information and got nothing.
     
  2. Jan 1, 2015 #2
    bassmusic17

    bassmusic17

    Jan 15, 2011
    Where is the Whammy in your signal chain?
     
  3. Jan 1, 2015 #3
    Azure Skies

    Azure Skies Commercial User

    Mar 21, 2012
    Toronto
    Sneaker salesman Importer/Exporter Broughton Audio
    The whammy is first. The effect happens with all of my distortion and fuzz pedals.
     
  4. Jan 1, 2015 #4
    JasonNL

    JasonNL

    Aug 23, 2008
    The Hague, The Netherlands
    I use my Bass whammy reissue a lot as well, with high gain fuzz (Earthbound Audio Beast) after it too, and I haven't noticed that the Whammy adds extra noise, though the Beast is already quite noisy by iself when engaged as I tend to keep the gain maxed for my desired sound. I'll see what happens next Tuesday during band rehearsal if I try to reproduce your problems with the whammy + high gain dirt after it.
     
  5. Jan 1, 2015 #5
    ole Jason

    ole Jason

    Apr 3, 2003
    Louisville, KY
    Do you get any noise with an alternate power source for the Whammy?
     
  6. Jan 1, 2015 #6
    Tom Von Kramm

    Tom Von Kramm Commercial User

    Jul 19, 2012
    Try putting it after your fuzz, it breaks the "rules" but that's how I run mine.
     
  7. Jan 1, 2015 #7
    AgressivePassiv

    AgressivePassiv

    Feb 3, 2011
    I ran mine with a darkglass duality. I put the duality both before and after the whammy and had no issues. I liked it better with the fuzz first. I powered it with both a one spot and my furman powered board.
     
  8. Jan 1, 2015 #8
    LSMFT6

    LSMFT6 We brake for nobody Gold Supporting Member

    Aug 16, 2006
    California
    None
    Yeah, the B-wham does like isolated power and will add some noise if not isolated. Trying powering it with its own power supply (the factory-supplied one, preferably) and see if the noise goes away.
     
    Bass5150 likes this.
  9. Jan 2, 2015 #9
    gregmon79

    gregmon79 Supporting Member

    Dec 20, 2012
    Chicago IL
    It very well could be and is most likely the power supply. I would recommend trying it with the power supply that came with it and see if that stops that noise. I use the ps that came with it on my board when I use it. I just rigged a couple power strips under my bpard and that works very well. Especially when I have an extra ps or two I have to use. The BWhammy, I would think, is going to perform better with its own ps.
     
  10. Jan 2, 2015 #10
    pink pbass

    pink pbass

    May 9, 2014
    DC/NOVA
    esp basses, mesa/boogie amps, seymour duncan, ernie ball strings, digitech, pigtronix
    i noticed the waterfall noise on mine when using a shared one spot power supply, as well. i had used it for months at home for practice and in my live rig, where i was using the included power supply and never noticed this noise. i put together a small fly-board a couple months ago and that's when i heard it. the new board is a line 6 g50 receiver - polytune mini - bass whammy - mxr bass di, all powered by a one spot. i only hear the noise when both the whammy and the bass di distortion are on, and it seems to only happen about a second into a sustained note. it wasn't enough to keep me from using the board though, and i never noticed it while i was actually playing live with the band.