Excessive noise and AM radio interference

[jpage]

I love my new Mark V but I'm experiencing a LOT of hiss and noise on Ch 2 and 3 that my band is getting annoyed with. My issue is that I live in an apartment where I have to practice quietly so I can't tell the noise is there until we get together for gigs or practice. My settings aren't extreme--my gain is never above 1:00 or so. Last Saturday I had a football game coming through loud and clear--annoying indeed.

I am hopping it is a preamp tube that went microphonic--I bought the amp new but I know these things happen. I have a million 12ax7s lying around but to be honest, the MV is not an easy amp to swap out tubes in, even for a head. I sprung for Dougs Tubes preamp cocktail so I'll be able to swap them all out at once...hopefully this will resolve the issue?

 

[pivot]

Check the pedals and cables first. I had a religious channel coming through my line 6, fender and my mark V 3 different amps it was the old whammy pedal. Unplug all pedals and go straight into the head and try a different outlet. Bad grounds in pedals can cause all kinds of annoying radio interference and line noise. I went as far as building a farday box around the whammy and ended up pulling it out of the chain was a major pain in the ass!

 

[Chester]

Cables and cable connections are a huge source of hiss, interference and tone loss

Changing over even good quality cables can cure the issue (at relatively low cost if you don't have a good spare), and regularly maintaining jacks and inputs with contact cleaner is a must to reduce the hiss that a "bad" connection can generate. I recently learned that lesson after rolling tubes did not cure a crackling problem

 

[jpage]

Cables and cable connections are a huge source of hiss, interference and tone loss

Changing over even good quality cables can cure the issue (at relatively low cost if you don't have a good spare), and regularly maintaining jacks and inputs with contact cleaner is a must to reduce the hiss that a "bad" connection can generate. I recently learned that lesson after rolling tubes did not cure a crackling problem

Well after the tube swap the microphonic tube issue is gone, but I still have noticeably more "hiss" with my pedalboard in front than when I go straight to the amp. Next step will be what you suggest, thanks!

 

[SteveO]

Cables and cable connections are a huge source of hiss, interference and tone loss

Changing over even good quality cables can cure the issue (at relatively low cost if you don't have a good spare), and regularly maintaining jacks and inputs with contact cleaner is a must to reduce the hiss that a "bad" connection can generate. I recently learned that lesson after rolling tubes did not cure a crackling problem

Well after the tube swap the microphonic tube issue is gone, but I still have noticeably more "hiss" with my pedalboard in front than when I go straight to the amp. Next step will be what you suggest, thanks!

The hiss is coming from the pedal board, not the amp. Troubleshoot by removing one pedal at a time from the board until you find the one that is causing the noise. If your pedals are on a daisy-chain power supply and you have any digital pedals, those are going to be your prime suspects.

 

[4406cuda]

I run my pedals through a bypass looper. It keeps the noise out of your signal when not in use.

http://www.loop-master.com/index.php?cPath=22&osCsid=e9du58v3r3v84tmu8ok6tf2f77