Ferrite Choke on Humbucker Pickup Leads:

Robert Herndon said:
I have seen this on a Langcaster guitar. What effect would it achieve????
Click to expand...
Well, according to the article you provided, it would cut rf out of the signal, and function as a low pass filter.

Guitar equipment already features many low pass filters though, they are on the inputs of pedals and amps, as well as the outputs and between most gain stages.
In what I've seen, The noise problems with guitars is usually noise or just below it's frequency range. So another filter of this type probably wont help much.

The other problem is that this is an inductor, and affects the circuit in much the same way as souldering in a new part, and therefore could effect the tone of signal run through it.
 
MadMatt said:
Well, according to the article you provided, it would cut rf out of the signal, and function as a low pass filter.

Guitar equipment already features many low pass filters though, they are on the inputs of pedals and amps, as well as the outputs and between most gain stages.
In what I've seen, The noise problems with guitars is usually noise or just below it's frequency range. So another filter of this type probably wont help much.

The other problem is that this is an inductor, and affects the circuit in much the same way as souldering in a new part, and therefore could effect the tone of signal run through it.
Click to expand...

This is a work in progress. I have been in touch with Tim Williams, who actually wrote the article I attached above and he himself is a musician. I will keep you posted...
 
Robert Herndon said:
I have seen this on a Langcaster guitar. What effect would it achieve????
Click to expand...

Was the choke slipped over the entire cable, so both signal and ground passed through it, or was only the signal lead passed through? If the first, it has absolutely no effect on the signal. If the second, you may be able to measure some effect at many megahertz. The thing with guitars is that they work at very high impedance, so a bit of series choke is going to have essentially zero effect. You want to kill the HF? A parallel capacitor is what you need - in other words a long guitar lead.

But the fact that someone found a choke necessary is worrying - it says that the amp wasn't built properly.
 
MadMatt said:
Its still just another low pass filter. It'd be more useful in your pedal power supply then in the guitar its self.
Click to expand...

I'm not 100% sure how I will employ an internal ferrite. Tim Williams believes my recent radio reception here at the house on my Stratocaster may be a game changer. We may use a ferrite on the hot wire coming off the input jack. ALL my amps have ferrite cores on the power cables...and have for many years...
 
DonP said:
Was the choke slipped over the entire cable, so both signal and ground passed through it, or was only the signal lead passed through? If the first, it has absolutely no effect on the signal. If the second, you may be able to measure some effect at many megahertz. The thing with guitars is that they work at very high impedance, so a bit of series choke is going to have essentially zero effect. You want to kill the HF? A parallel capacitor is what you need - in other words a long guitar lead.

But the fact that someone found a choke necessary is worrying - it says that the amp wasn't built properly.
Click to expand...

I've spoke at great lengths with Angus Young's tech. He's set up rigs all over the world. He told me RF, at some point, will affect your rig.

In my case with the Stratocaster, its not the amp, but the guitar that's receiving the RF signal.

I have seen amps that will receive and play a radio signal as soon as you plug them into the wall and switch them on. Mine only plays RF when the Stratocaster is plugged in....none of my other guitars do this...
 
he's right there. If you are playing a gig next to a 100kW AM station, or a radio cab office, then you are likely to suffer. The best fix for that is a ferrite ring which you loop the guitar lead through as many times as will fit. That quietens down most problems. But in more normal environments, such things shouldn't be necessary
 
DonP said:
he's right there. If you are playing a gig next to a 100kW AM station, or a radio cab office, then you are likely to suffer. The best fix for that is a ferrite ring which you loop the guitar lead through as many times as will fit. That quietens down most problems. But in more normal environments, such things shouldn't be necessary
Click to expand...

My parent's studio is one mile from an AM radio station!
 
DonP said:
The best fix for that is a ferrite ring which you loop the guitar lead through as many times as will fit. That quietens down most problems. But in more normal environments, such things shouldn't be necessary
Click to expand...

Don, at which end???
 
ive seen the RF chokes used in CB and Ham Radio to cut unwanted RF down.this was usually used to cut down on bleed over from high watt linear amplifiers.i live in a rural setting so i didnt worry about bleed over
 
but when i lived in town i had the neighbor come over to my house all kinds of pissed off cause my ahhhhh, over wattage CB Radio and amp was bleeding over on all his appliances.
 
no but he was irate,said he couldnt take it anymore lol.if i kept the wattage up to 200 watts it was ok.ilegal CB amps dont have real good filers or rf chokes like a real ham radio amp
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top