Mark IIB Crackling

[gitapik]

Hoping for some help, people:

It's probably a preamp tube, but before I take it out of the chassis:

> There's no crackling sound when nothing's plugged in, but you can definitely tell its on when you crank it. Not a 'hum' but more of a very minor 'white noise'. is it supposed to be dead quiet in that situation?

> The crackling's more obvious with my G&L single pups, but you can hear it with my Strat's DiMarzio Vintage Noiseless ones, too.

Its not like a constant, very loud thing. More obvious with OD and/or compressor pedal kicked in. But you can hear it straight into the amp (clean and lead channels).

The reason I'm questioning this is that I just started playing this G&L ASAT Classic a lot lately. The pups are noisier than my Strat (which I'm used to). So the extraneous noise is more obvious. Then, when I play through the Strat for comparison, I'm listening for it. It might have been there all along. Not sure.

Btw: I tried multiple cables. That's not the problem.

Thanks for your time.

 

[SonicProvocateur]

Does it only happen when the standby switch is off and there is a guitar plugged in?

Odds are it's a bad preamp tube; i'd check V1 first since it's happening on all the channels. Some preamp tubes buzz, hum or tick, some crackle or pop - they all start to go bad differently.

 

[gitapik]

Thanks for the tip. I'll look into it...but I'm totally confused now:

1) I tried it in an outlet in another room: no crackling
2) Plugged into original outlet: crackling
3) Tried in another outlet near the one that the problem was: crackling then none
4) Plugged into the original outlet: no crackling. For an hour. Of it being cranked, plugged in, no standby, not played. Then, when I did turn down and play: no crackling.

I noticed that when I touched the steel volume knob of the G&L, it crackled. All the time. But I haven't been touching it when the crackling comes, all the time. And it happens with the Strat, too (not with the volume knob, though).

A few months ago there was radio interference in my amp while I was playing in this spot where I practice now. Is that a sign of something?

 

[gonzo]

sounds like static from the guitar.

my new strat build did this for a while, because of the new vinyl scratchplate.

i took some dryer static sheets, wiped the scratchplate down multiple times, crackling disappeared.

it's more obvious with more gain.

 

[gitapik]

sounds like static from the guitar.

my new strat build did this for a while, because of the new vinyl scratchplate.

i took some dryer static sheets, wiped the scratchplate down multiple times, crackling disappeared.

it's more obvious with more gain.

Yeah...it's not constant. I noticed the other night that I'd get the crackling when I touched the volume knob.

I'll give the static sheets a try. Thanks.

 

[stokes]

Try "rocking" each preamp tube in the socket and listen for noise.Could be a dirty/loose tube socket.Could also be a dirtyor loose input jack,try gently moving the jack at the input and see if you get the noise.