No sound from headphones with electric guitar DP-02

[Martha Zanetis]

I am trying to make a recording on my DP-02 using my electric Gretsch guitar. I am getting no sound other than humming through my headphones. The level indicators show that the machine is getting sound. I did not have this problem with an acoustic electric and was able to complete a song but the electric is only giving me a buzzing noise and no guitar sound through my headphones. I am plugged directly into input one with the line mic button switched to guitar. I would really appreciate anybody's help with this issue. I'm trying to complete a recording and submit it to CD Baby. Thank you so much.

 

[Phil Tipping]

Welcome to the forum Martha. I don't have a dp02 so here are my thoughts until someone else can give a more definitive answer.
If the input meters are showing a healthy signal is present, we can assume the input cable & connection is ok, so the problem is maybe with the monitoring.

Are you using stereo headphones with an adapter? Using a faulty adapter, or a mono adapter instead of a stereo one is a common cause of one side disappearing. Page 13 in the manual refers to an input mode key/button, which if set to stereo, will send input A to the left and input B to the right, so if the left signal is getting lost, you wouldn't hear anything. Setting the input mode to mono should confirm this as it mixes both A and B together and sends the result to both sides of the headphones.

If this doesn't help, go back to your acoustic electric guitar and compare the differences in the setup, e.g. are you using that guitar in electric mode with a cable to the same input, or are you using it in acoustic mode with a mic?
Failing that, post a description of exactly what you connect and what settings you used for both cases, and we'll see if we can spot any anomalies.

 

[Martha Zanetis]

I would like to publicly thank Phil. His advice was helpful and I'm happy to report that, after exchanging the cable from the electric guitar to the Tascam for a newer one, (input A) it worked immediately! Evidently the Gretsch does not like the cable that the Breedlove acoustic-electric enjoys. LOL. I appreciate the Forum and wish you all happy composing playing or performing. Sincerely,Martha Z

 

[Phil Tipping]

Glad it's all working Martha, although my conclusion re. the cable & connections being ok was obviously wrong I guess in hindsight this must have been the hum, so its movement would not have correlated with your playing? Either way, talking through a problem is sometimes enough to solve it. Thanks for following up with the solution - it will help others with similar problems. Good luck with your recordings and hope to see you on the forum later down the line.