How quiet can i expect my MIII to be?

[boogiemon]

i've got a bare-bones 'no-stripe' MIII & it sounds great, but i wish the 3rd channel were a little quieter. The offending sound is just a pervasive background buzz. i can't hear it when i'm blazing away, but all the quiet spots are not as quiet as they could be. It's not the tubes or cable (or the guitar) so i'm wondering if a tune-up at the shop will make much difference. i have the gain set pretty high so it might be the price to pay for tremendous tone from a 25 year old amp.


thnx.

 

[phyrexia]

They seem to vary a little in noise. My '94 Blue Stripe was a lot quieter than my '85 Purple Stripe.

Have you checked your preamp tubes? V3 is the main tube for the lead channel.