tracking down a hum on the line...

[What5647]

alright, about a month ago i started getting an intermetent 60 hz hum on the circuit my amp and stereo are both located on. (this is louder and more obnoxious than the normal 60 hz hum i get on my amp or on my stereo when i crank it.) now it's no longer intermitent, and it's quite an issue with the guitar amp and stereo now, you can clearly hear it when listening to music or playing xbox on the stereo, with the amp it's just way louder than normal, play something and it's not noticable. i've checked all the usual suspects, appliances turning on/off elsewere in the house, bad grounding, lights, etc., and haven't turned up anything. i haven't ruled out a bad cable connected to the stereo, but that doesn't fully explain how this hum gets to both my amp and stereo, as the two are not connected in any way other than being on the same circuit.

any ideas what else to check?
could a bad cable on the stereo be enough to allow more noise on the line?

[PatrickStar4491]

Does it happen if you plug it in another room in the house?

[What5647]

haven't tried that. although when i originaly bought i i tried that and found that my room was ampng the quietest places in the house. still, it's not like i can move it out of my room, that's were i play guitar, and the stereo sure isn't moving.

anyways, i'll check some outlets on a different circuit as soon as i can.

[guitarjockey111]

if that doesnt work have you tried buying on of those grounding things that goes on the end of the plug there really cheap at home depot and that can help.

our church has the same problem with amps but then we go to the school and its fine its something about old buildings and stuff have more hum with the wiring from what ive experienced. but yeah try one of those little grounding plug things.

[What5647]

no need, i've tested the ground at the outlet, it's good. actually that was the first thing i checked.

[Nate]

If it gets to be too troublesome and you can't pin it down, try an EBTech Hum Eliminator.

[What5647]

better still, i could just build a simple band-stop filter centered on 60 Hz. place it betwen the stereo and the speakers, and deal with the amp noise. it's a bigger issue with the stereo than that guitar amp.