Small mixer , too much noise

[Bo Borland]

I have a small old Soundcraft 4 in / 1 out mixer that I use to run an extra music source into my amp along with my steel.
It had 4 pots, jacks, and a resistor between each one..
It generates an annoying hiss.. aside from trashing it and getting a new one.. is there anything I can do to get it quieter?

[Paul Arntson]

Hi Bo,
-- I've edited out the stuff that was for the wrong noise --
Potentiometer spray won't get rid of hum and buzz, only whooshing type hiss and crashing noises.
Here's the web site:
http://store.caig.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.293/.f
Caig MCL faderlube.

tighten the nuts that hold the jacks in.

All the stuff said below...


-Paul

[David Mason]

The very first thing I would try is moving the mixer around in relation to your guitar's pickup, and moving any wallwart or other power supply boxes as far away from the mixer and/or pickup as possible. If it didn't used to hum, and now it does, something has changed?

[Bo Borland]

Thanks for the response and repair ideas.
Here is what I have tried so far.
There is little on no hiss when the steel is plugged directly in to my amp.
the cables are all new george l and the mixer sits on top of the amp.
Like the hum you get when you are plugged into a circuit with light dimmers, the hiss lessens a little when I turn up the pots all the way and seems to be at its worse when the pots are turned off.
I will clean the inside contacts on the jacks and lube up the pots and let you know if that works. thanx again

[Jack Stoner]

Sitting the unit on top of the amp can cause some noise problems. Move it off of the amp and see if it still does it.

[Paul Arntson]

What David and Jack said.

I should have asked more questions before I wasted your time on such a long post above. I got rid of the irrelevant junk.

Tightening and cleaning the jacks might help also, to improve the ground path from the guitar to the amp.

What does your guitar read across the cable in ohms with the volume all the way up?
I had a partially bad pickup once that still played but had similar sypmtoms. Read open circuit but music still came out, just a thinner tone.

[Mitch Druckman]

I suggest doublechecking the George L cables. Use a meter. If you put them together yourself, sometimes there is a partial bleed from the hot to the ground. They will still work like this but not at their best. I've had George L cables that "worked" but when I tested them on a meter I found out that they were not right. When I fixed them my noise problems went away. Snip and reinstall the problem cable ends. The tip and sleeve should be electrically isolated.

[Donny Hinson]

Bo, is this a "powered" mixer, (that has a 9v battery in it)? Many of those old, small, 4-channel mixers had a one transistor buffer amp in them, and they used real cheap transistors (with a high leakage) when they built them. Substituting a higher-quality transistor would solve the hiss problem if that's the case.

[Gordy Hall]

Bo,

Frankly it's probably time for a new mixer.

For $60 you can get one of these...

'Behringer XENYX 802 8 Channel Mixer'

It will be cleaner and more effective than your existing mixer, and pretty versatile as well, with more ins and outs.

Gordy

[Bo Borland]

Donny, there is no battery inside.. just the pots and resisitors..
I think it just plain old and out dated beofre I spend much time tracking down a old solder joint and replacing stuff.. i will get a new more modern , quieter one.

[Tom Mossburg]

Bo If I read the post correctly your problem is hiss. IMO I would doubt that the hiss is being generated from something with no "active" components i.e the mixer. Connections and passive components do not generally contribute to hiss unless they are part of an active circuit. Do you still get the hiss when the unit is plugged directly into the amp? If your plugging a line level into the amp and cutting the level with the pots in the mixer, my guess is the amp is boosting the hiss that is already present in what your trying to amplify. If that's the case the mixer is probably ok but just not good for this application.

[Mike Fried]

As an unpowered (passive) mixer that is noisiest when the pots are turned down, it sounds to me like resistance in the internal grounding. Considering what $50-100 will buy these days in a powered mixer with high-z inputs (for guitar, steel, etc.), I'd probably circular-file the thing and get a new one.

[Bo Borland]

Thanks for the advice amigos... I am looking in to a Behringer 802.. something newer quieter and more versatile..
I may even record stuff now..