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... Its not voices in your head.

I've always told my [computer] users that the only time a computer acts "weird" is when it levitates. Of course there are other weird things that can happen every day. Take this morning for instance.

I was reworking one of my [CBGs], had put everything back together and was testing the electronics to make sure I hadn't wiggled a wire loose. I plug up a practice amp, put the power on and nothing. Ok, so this is not unexpected, except there was some... noise. No, voices. Faint, but there. I figured it was coming from a TV that was on. I began to think my box was possessed.

As I fiddled with the volume controls, my pickup response showed up, so the electronics were still in tact. But when I turned the volume to 0, I could hear the voices again. As I moved my hand closer to the volume knob, the voices got louder -- until I heard John Boy and Billy [local radio personalities]! WTF?!?! My Ruby preamp that I built is picking up stinkin' radio! No kidding. It ceases if I increase the volume so it doesn't interfere with the pickup, but I can hear it clear as a bell.

Ok, this qualifies as weird.

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Permalink Reply by FatDog on August 21, 2009 at 2:39am

I used to practice at a place with a solid state Fender Amp that picked up radio from the Police, Firemen, Taxis, etc. Pretty loud too.
In the same joint, there was another room that had a Crate amp where you could listen next room's band rehearsing.
The ghosts are everywhere.

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Permalink Reply by Keni Lee Burgess on August 21, 2009 at 2:50am

Here is a discussion about this problem:
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/archive/index.php/t-25629.html
Now if you could get free cable TV, that would be something! LOL

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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on August 21, 2009 at 2:57am

Sweet. Its prolly coming from the preamp tho. I never hear it otherwise from the practice amp (VOX AC30 personal amp). I suspect the "speaker" pickup is acting as an antenna. I do have an LED which as we understand about crystal radios is supposed to be a component, but its inline with the power so that shouldn't be the case. Funny thing is, its FM not AM that I'm picking up (which is not only higher frequency but frequency modulation.) And to top it off, only happens when the volume is 0-2, at that point I suppose the gain pot on the board kicks in and amps the pickup signal over the radio. I dunno. All other components are caps and resistors and the 386 amp chip. I guess it makes sense tho. Antenna receives the signal and gets amp'd before output on a radio.

Craziest thing man.

Keni Lee Burgess said:

Here is a discussion about this problem:
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/archive/index.php/t-25629.html Now if you could get free cable TV, that would be something! LOL

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Permalink Reply by Mortimer Snerd on August 21, 2009 at 4:44am

That would come in handy, you could air guitar a song on the radio, and folks would think you were good.

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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on August 21, 2009 at 4:48am

He he he. 'Bout what it is now ;-)

Mortimer Snerd said:

That would come in handy, you could air guitar a song on the radio, and folks would think you were good.

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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on August 21, 2009 at 5:11am

HA HA HA HA ! Wait, unplug my head? How preposterous ;-)

Ted Crocker said:

Seems like an easy fix, just unplug it. My problem is that IT IS voices in my head...

lol

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Permalink Reply by HOLLOWBELLY on August 21, 2009 at 10:13am

owned a vox ac30 in the early seventies that did this-picked up the taxis-I knew where everyone was goin in Warrington on a Friday night!

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Permalink Reply by J. K. on August 21, 2009 at 10:28am

If you have wiring that goes to the amplification and the wire length is the same as the radio wavelength divided by X you can pick up FM transmissions. Darn creepy when it happens.

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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on August 21, 2009 at 11:37am

Keep this in mind, this is a practice amp and not the big ones.

One good little practice amp. You can plug in an MP3 and have your guitar along with the music. You can also plug it into a normal amp. Kinda like a pre-amp for an amp. HOLLOWBELLY said:

owned a vox ac30 in the early seventies that did this-picked up the taxis-I knew where everyone was goin in Warrington on a Friday night!

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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on August 21, 2009 at 11:37am

Now that is interesting!

J. K. said:

If you have wiring that goes to the amplification and the wire length is the same as the radio wavelength divided by X you can pick up FM transmissions. Darn creepy when it happens.

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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on August 21, 2009 at 3:27pm

Ohhh yes it is. In fact one great thing you can do with it (that i'm doing tonight) is testing piezos. I can do this with headphones and can hear it really clear.

Ted Crocker said:

A guy who bought one of my guitars has that and it is a sweet little amp!

Wes Yates said:
Now that is interesting!

J. K. said:
If you have wiring that goes to the amplification and the wire length is the same as the radio wavelength divided by X you can pick up FM transmissions. Darn creepy when it happens.

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Permalink Reply by bairfoot cajun on August 21, 2009 at 4:42pm

john boy and billy gots way to many gigawatts fer their programs,but thats why they make the big bucks.this has happened to me before also many years ago. i had some kind of little diode that i soldered into my electronic component structure[i said to myself i wonder if this will boost something if i add it] so the same thing happened when i turned the volume down i heard voices,then i listened real close and it was a high powered radio station,and i turned the volume back up and the voices went away. so this was a funny thing to me,made me think of tesla and what he was up to back in the day. haaaaaaaaaaa.