Are new Sparks just being recieved coming with a grounded power supply
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Lmao! I defer to your seniority XB! (for whatever the hell thats worth! lol!) A pleasure meeting you none the less.
Keoki
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@stinger0625 Mine just came with a normal power supply, no hums.
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I mentioned this in another thread..
maybe those with him should find out what electrical distribution system their country/area has, this should then show a definite graph of the problemOk.. I'm in qld, no hum whatsoever.
QLD uses a neutral to earth bonding system.
And.. like everything else from A to Z in Oz, differs from state to state.
Electrically, areas that are old may have a different type of earthing system.
Australia used to have 3 different types, The most common nowdays is the MEN system.
I've lived in different countries that use that system, and have never had a hum problem in my life on any of the abundant equipment that has passed my hands.
Could be a reason why each state has a different electrical licensing system for the sparkies here in oz. -
@keoki Pleasure is all mine!
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@ledbazooka 👏 👍
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My spark came with a 2 pin ungrounded power pack , the humming was terrible, i solved this issue by using the power supply from my old laptop, both 19v, amp is stone silent.
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@odinp My Spark arrived yesterday with the original 2-prong power supply. But it did also have the latest firmware already installed. No hum whatsoever, even in a room with a flourescent overhead light and a portable air conditioner running.
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@dhbailey Good to see the box wasn't just rocks. Right? How is it?
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@sarawson Marvelous! using the included power supply in a room with a running air conditioner and an overhead flourescent light fixture there is no hum at all. I'm currently running on this battery pack: >https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DN0KBXU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1> I've been testing this all day -- so far in hour 9 of using the Spark as a bluetooth speaker and the battery pack is only down 30% (70% remaining). I'm about to start putting the Spark through its paces as a guitar amp and messing around with smartjam more, etc. The Spark is everything I thought it would be and as others have remarked it is amazingly small for the sound output it's got!
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@keoki This is what I purchased based on a recommendation from one of the threads in this forum. I am not endorsing it other than to say it worked well for me. The connector is loose at the amp and I'm still waiting for a replacement from Positive Grid. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07R4Y7HTQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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@xbfoz Ever cross phased with another guitarist in an old building with a Wye transformer?....the other guitarist was one of those guys who left the string ends on his strings. he turned to his right and one of the the string ends ran across my arm....like a hot knife at 110vac! The amps were OK but what a racket!
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Ive had 3 of them, all with two prong plugs and no hum whatsoever.
It's actually so quiet in high gain mode, that I think I can hear a gheko fart.
It seems the only people with hum problems are living in countries with an electrical distribution method other than the MEN(multiple earth neutral) type. -
@pzaiatz Wow, I think I know how that feels. The worse part of the (exposed) body is the inside forearm! I always made sure not to touch another live guitar on a different amp just from prior unpleasant experiences (yes, more than one!). Even with most my equipment now being "solid state", I still have that old "no touchy" habit. I do have one hybrid tube/solid state amp.
As of this past weekend I have played in several homes in different states, including one 50 year old house and my Spark is hum free.
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FWIW..Bought the grounded supply mentioned above and getting the behavior I expected. I play my frankentele more than any other guitar in my collection and I usually don't have an issue with hum. The Spark was the exception. and of course, it would go away just by touching the strings or the cable connectors. Giving it a place to put that noise resolved the issue except at super high gain and there the gate helps but does seem a little slow to react. Hey....what do you expect at this price point? I think it's great for the money!
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When I got my Spark I played a Gibson Les Paul through it no hum. I then tried a custom built guitar with humbucker pickup and it would hum when not touching the strings or cable. Upon closer examination of the guitar I realized the guitar does not have a ground wire from the volume pot to the tremolo plate. I soldered a wire and hum disappeared. I never noticed the issue on other amps so if your guitar is not grounded properly it will hum through the spark. If you do not want to use a noise gate I would suggest possibly checking to make sure the guitar is grounded properly, To me the hum was a good thing because it made me ground the guitar properly. A properly grounded guitar will not hum or will at least barely hum. I still notice a very small amount when lifting fingers off strings but its practically not even noticeable compared to being unbearable before. So since Positve Grid did not put alot of work into the power supply and provide a good ground you need to use a quality grounded guitar, With that said the amp is incredible and alot of fun! Good luck!
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@stinger0625 - No they are not - Very poor!
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@dwhfish Wow, I got my replacement months ago and had been using one I got off Amazon for under $20. No humm.
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I received my Spark two weeks ago and it came with a 3 prong grounded plug.....no issues at all. Very happy with it.
