gnarwailnmt said:
On the Gain Channel, with just the guitar plugged in, i get a lot of hiss. It could just be my amp, or the tubes. Also, with the gain turned past 2 it starts to get to messy for me. I don't get that insane metal gain right from the amp, like everybody says, the more time you spend tweaking the amp the better sounds you'll find. But it just doesn't give me the tight punchy gain that i want for the type of metal i play.
If anybody else has that hiss/hum to their drive channel let me know. Other wise im gonna go talk to my tech
I rarely notice hiss or noise unless I've got the master output around 2:00, which is about as loud as I can tolerate it. Every now and then there'll be some weird noises coming and going, but I generally chalk that up to other electronic stuff going on in the room. (computer monitor, lights, etc...if I've got my Nextel on me, there's a weird, Morse code popping sound I'll hear about five seconds before my phone rings!) I've never given it much thought, and was under the impression it was common for any tube amp.
If it's a problem with more than one guitar, I'd check out your cables, pedals, wall outlets, etc. I've got a ton of pedals, some of them inviting noise more than others. In particular, a Holy Grail reverb pedal that's just about unusable at high volume, it's so noisy.
The gain on mine is sterling, whether Modern or Vintage, at 12:00 or dimed. And EQ pedal definitely helps tighten things up, but the natural voicing is pretty darn usable. Honestly, I can't imagine running a distortion box through this thing. I tried a Jekyll and Hyde through it, just for giggles, and it didn't even come
close to the natural gain of the amp. A lot of guys around here swear by their OD pedals, but I've personally never felt the need for one. Might be worth a shot, though.
If anything, I have a much harder time tweaking a really good clean sound out of the thing.
Kind of a long winded post, but I hope it helps.
Best of luck