amp sounds noisy

[kristjan]

i have a guitar with seymour duncan sh11 in the bridge posistion and i play through a peavey 6505+ head.
the thing is that when i plug the guitar straight to the amp, the drive channel makes this funny fuzzy noisy sound. the drive just doesnt sound pure.. so ive been trying to get rid of this sound by turning down the volume on my guitar... if its turned almost to zero the drive sound clear, but the sound isnt the same anymore, its not that punchy. the other thing i've been doing is that i put my boss gt6 through the effects loop on the amp. this will take the fuzz away when just using some preamp settings on my gt6.
i'm thinking it might be that the output of the pickups is too high and it overdrives the amp?

the question is how could i get the clearest sound when just playing straight through the head and not using too much effects. i've been looking at different gain control pedals but havent had a chance to test any of them.
i'm not sure if theyll work because i need to reduce gain not to boost it.

if anybody knows what im talking about, please some advice

[ErikH]

Re: amp sounds noisy

Turn the gain down on the amp. The pickup isn't overdriving the amp, that amp just has a crapload of gain on tap. The SH-11 Custom Custom is a more a medium to medium-high output pickup in my book.

[kristjan]

Re: amp sounds noisy

i've been trying all kinds of settings on my amp and nothing seems to take that wierd sound away. i mostly use less than half of the preamp gain on the drive channel, and the fuzzy noise is still there.

i tried to put my guitar to the amp's input through the gt6 (which was on bybass mode), and turned the master volume down on the gt6, so it must have reduced the output of the guitar, it helped to improve the sound a bit even.

but i cant make out whats making that sound.

i'm just thinking, is there any single effects pedals which either help to control the gain of the pickup or help to remove the hissy sound the preamp makes -> to use in the effects loop

[ErikH]

Re: amp sounds noisy

Sounds like you're trying to get a clean sound out of the overdrive channel (channel B). That's not going to happen with the 6505+. Switch to channel A and turn the gain down. You might also want to roll the guitar volume a little until it cleans up.

[kristjan]

Re: amp sounds noisy

sry, not so good at explaining, clean sound, no not really.
i'm trying to get a really on drive sound... thats what i bought the 6505+ for.
i hardly use any clean at all. before i got my 6505+ i just used the gt6 through what ever amp. if i used any of the other amps, mostly not even tube amps, the drive sound (gt6) sounded clear... you can make out exactly what notes you are playing and every thing. its still allmost on full drive... but its clear... compared to the sound i get through the 6505+ lead channel.

i used to have my bridge pickup closer to the strings earlier and i changed that since i got the amp, it improved the sound a little bit, but the extra unwanted sound is still there. i mean the drive sound just isnt clear. i've tried many effects pedals just for drive and distortion and they sound ok when i use them through the clean channel.. or through the loop.

but i'm hoping to get the drive sound i want from the amp.
as i said before.. i can almost get it when having the gt6 in the effects loop, which will take the unwanted hissy sound away... but i'm hoping to sell the gt6... so hoping there will be another way...

i just cant make out what is making that sound...

[ErikH]

Re: amp sounds noisy

Try the rhythm channel. The 6505+ (same as the 5150 II) just has so much gain on the lead channel that it's almost impossible to get a clear drive sound, like a classic Marshall cranked up. The more preamp gain, the more buzziness those things have, especially the plus model because it has one additional preamp tube from the 6505 (same as the 5150). Your best bet is to try it on the rhythm channel. If that doesn't work, sell the amp and get something else but I think the rhythm channel may do the trick. Actually, the 6505 (not the plus model) sounds like it would have been the better fit.

[kristjan]

Re: amp sounds noisy

are you sure it must be the amp?

i've played my guitar through the marshall jcm900 sl-x.. and a bit of the same problem...

i have tried one other guitar on my amp, which sounded a lot better. well still buzzing.. but a lot less, and it would be ok...

but i'm hoping to get my guitar working with the head.

[ErikH]

Re: amp sounds noisy

Highly possible it's the amp. The SL-X is another one of those high gain amps like the 6505+. It's got quite a bit of gain on tap as well and it too gets buzzy to my ears.

What you need is an amp that has less gain than those two. Take your guitar to a local shop, or a couple shops, and play through what you can. Just don't play through high gain amps like those.

You said you lowered the pickup. How far is it from the strings now?

[kristjan]

Re: amp sounds noisy

about 1 cm
its a washburn wi66

[ErikH]

Re: amp sounds noisy

Sounds like it's sitting pretty low. 3/32" is a good starting point.

[kristjan]

Re: amp sounds noisy

ok i'll try to do something with my guitar.
but about the amp.. thinking that i dont really want to sell it yet. so i might get some kind of eq or other effect to get that sound right...
which works best?

[ErikH]

Re: amp sounds noisy

No affect is going to take away that buzziness. An EQ pedal may help but it won't be 100%. The best you can do is to use the rhythm channel with the gain down. The signal goes through less gain stages on the rhythm channel so that should help. Also mess with the EQ on the amp.