Audio Systems: Trying to do it all way too fast, own personal studio, pro xl

Question
I am working on building my own personal studio that I hope to one day expand to open to the public. I have more equipment than I know what to do with and I have no clue as to how to set it up. I started with just running my guitar into the CUBASE MI4 interface with Cubase Software and I have only continued to expand from there. I came to the conclusion that I needed a compressor but I have no idea where to insert the compressor in the signal chain. Currently I am trying to figure out how to put together a good guitar set up. I current configuration of; Guitar to pedal to amp to "buzz off" (buzz or humm remover : that doesn't seem to work worth a shit)to my behringer autocom PRO-Xl MDX2600 Composer PRO Compressor limiter etc. into my interface and yet my signal is still out of control and there is still a hum and I am just sick with frustration.

If you can help I would be forever greatful. Advice Instruction, I don't care. Quitting is not an option and I don't have time to go to school. If you have any direction. Chat rooms message boards move a little slow but if you know of some good ones great, any direction would be  much appreciate. Thanks

Answer
Hi Michael,

The compressor question is easy: your guitar should plug directly into it.  I recommend the RNC-1733 compressor as a very quiet, clean compressor, but if you're looking for a pedal, I'd go for a Boss Compressor-Sustainer CS-3, although it gets noisy if you turn up the comp or sustain too much.  The RNC won't do sustain but is extremely quiet and won't add any hiss or noise to your signal.

The "buzz" and "hum removers" pretty much don't work - if you've got that noise, it's either part of your rig and you need to keep taking parts of it out until you figure out what the noisy piece is, and replace or fix it.

The Behringer Autocom - well, with Behringer you get what you pay for.  I've had their compressors, three so far, and they were all pretty much junk.  They're cheaply made, noisy, and prone to breaking.  I've gotten rid of them all and replaced them with dbx 2066 and 1066 units, and a couple of RNC-1733.

If there's still hum, all you can do is start with plugging your guitar into your soundcard directly, and if you still have hum, either you need to get a pro soundcard, or your guitar needs to be worked on.  Your pickups might be bad and causing the hum and your headaches, and you're spending time worried about all the other gear.  Start with the minimum, guitar -> computer, and if there's no hum, keep adding stuff until it starts, and you've got your culpruit to replace or fix.

I'd definitely have the guitar go the compressor first - it's my experience that it's best to have that as the first unit out of my guitar - and then I have another one at the end of the chain before it hits the computer, just to make sure I don't get any clipping while recording, which can ruin an otherwise great take.  Good luck!  Cheers, Wink