Ya take a listen to the more recent video with the cast iron test. There you get to hear the comparison between the three different pickups. I'm in a small town in the northeast US. Wicked old and wicked crowded. The close proximity of neighbors - primarily heroin addicts (SWAT busted down the door next door three times in the last year) - means pinpointing the source may prove to be tough, and I won't be parading a nice looking bass in front of them so an outdoor Amplug test is out
That's some good info. I completely forgot the whole point of a transformer. Over the years they just became something that explodes in the middle of the night. I'll take a look at where that leg from the transformer to the house is. So is the noise you hear definitely caused by the low voltage/high current from the inside wiring or pole-to-house leg, and not the high voltage/low current from the power lines? I wouldn't know the difference. I do know that killing the power in the house and walking towards the power lines (and subsequently the transformed leg) gets noticeably louder.
As mentioned above, I don't want to attract the attention of my neighbors, so outdoor tests will be minimal. It's not that I fear for my safety at all with these guys, I just don't want the stress and drama of showing them why
Even if I did the copper rod test, I'm thinking that the biggest money suck would be paying an electrician to upgrade the wiring and outlets. They may be legal now, but I've learned that industry standards are a ridiculous measurement of quality. I still can't believe that backstabbing outlets instead of wrapping terminals is legal.