noisy DR

[jtb226]

hey everyone. this might be a stupid question, but here goes anyway. i'm getting a lot of noise through my DR at band practice. it gets worse as i go up higher in gain. i know it isn't the power tubes, as i just replaced those last night and it was doing the same thing both before and after. i do run a lot of pedals, but i don't remember ever getting this noise before in my basement at home (we practice at the lead singer's place). in front of the amp, i run a boss tuner, boss acoustic simulator, dunlop wah, boss compressor, and boss noise gate. in the effects loop, i have a boss reverb, boss chorus, and boss tremolo. is this noise being caused by an electrical problem? i mean, we are pushing the electrical system in his house hard, as we run all our stuff on only a few outlets (sometimes only one outlet) and it is an old house. is there something else i'm overlooking that could be the cause of the problem? we're playing a gig in 2 weeks, and if there is something wrong with my amp that i'm overlooking, i want to get it figured out now.

thanks and hope this wasn't too stupid of a question.

 

[Platypus]

What sort of noise is it?

Isolate the problem to just guitar into amp, no pedals.

 

[jtb226]

it is a hiss with a little bit of hum. almost like air blowing out through the speakers if that makes any sense. i use a mesa 4x12 standard also.

oh also, i'm pretty sure it is the amp, as it makes the noise even with my volume pedal down.

 

[Platypus]

I would look into preamp tubes first if you've isolated the problem to just the amp. Try bypassing the loop as well.. try and get down to basics.

Guitar -> amp -> cab

(no pedals, FX loop bypassed)

 

[jtb226]

i won't be able to try that til thursday when i'm back home again (live at college...drive home for band practice). if that is the problem, what would you suggest? should i try moving the noise gate to the loop and just leaving the loop on?

any other suggestions? still feel like it might be a problem with the electrical current in the house. is that even possible?

 

[Platypus]

i won't be able to try that til thursday when i'm back home again (live at college...drive home for band practice). if that is the problem, what would you suggest? should i try moving the noise gate to the loop and just leaving the loop on?

any other suggestions? still feel like it might be a problem with the electrical current in the house. is that even possible?

Dirty power is very possible but most frequently it's tube related. When I say bypass the loop, I mean physically move that knob on the back to 'BYPASS FX LOOP' so it's completely out of the circuit.

Follow the tube test section in your owner's manual (or get the manual off M/B's site) and test your preamp tubes. There is a quick synopsis I wrote in the FAQ in my signature as well.

 

[jtb226]

awesome. thanks for the advice. i'll def give that a try. i was thinking of replacing the preamp tubes anyway, as they are pretty old. i just figured the power tubes were probably a more important replacement first.


anyone else with any input? looking for all possible options so i can debug my amp before playing live.

 

[Platypus]

awesome. thanks for the advice. i'll def give that a try. i was thinking of replacing the preamp tubes anyway, as they are pretty old. i just figured the power tubes were probably a more important replacement first.


anyone else with any input? looking for all possible options so i can debug my amp before playing live.

Just for the sake of argument, where are your knobs set (if you can recall)?

 

[jtb226]

i can't remember to be completely honest. i really drive the power tubes by setting the output control high and control volume with the channel masters. green channel is pretty clean, with some breakup; orange is my main distortion, pretty heavy with gain around 2 o'clock; red is about the same, with a little higher gain.

i try to tailor the sound to what my ear is hearing that day and what the rest of the band sounds like, so my settings will vary.

 

[jbird]

any other suggestions? still feel like it might be a problem with the electrical current in the house. is that even possible?

Ya, I have one! You need to seperate the outlets used for the effects in front of your amp, and the effects running in your loop! You could also try lifting the ground, by using one of those two pronged adapters! I'd also put the Tremolo out front! You are using the loop function on that Noise Supressor, right?