Any way to stop the hissing?

[Nightburst]

I have a Randall RG100SC SS combo, good cleans and I finally managed to get a nice distortion sound out of it. (I'd say somewhere inbetween marshall and mesa it's pretty cool actually) As a matter of fact I really like it though I wouldnt mind some extra thump.
But alas due to it's SS hi-gain nature it's quite hissy on the hi-gain channel. The low gain channel doesn't have this kind of hissing.
I was wondering if there was some sort of easy fix for this. I don't want to buy a noise gate pedal, I like the amp distortion mainly because of the uncompressed and dynamic sound. I've been scouting around the net and I read something about resoldering some connections with silver solder.
I am about to e-mail Randall but I thought I might as well ask about it over here too.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Any way to stop the hissing?

The two best ways I know to tame a hissing amp are a Rocktron HUSH Super C and a power conditioner such as the Furman PL8 or PL Plus. On an amp with a lot of background noise (like a Recto) I would use both.

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Any way to stop the hissing?

Rocktron HUSH Super C.

Listen to this man... he knows!

My Triamp was noisy as hell on high gain settings. New tubes (the GT 12AX7M in V1) and my Rocktron HUSH Super C eliminated virtually all of it. It's an amazingly transparent noise silencer and I don't think I'd trust anything else (heard mixed reviews about other brands like MXR, Boss and even Rocktrons other models). The HUSH Super C is where it's at :bigok:

 

[Nightburst]

Re: Any way to stop the hissing?

Hmm, rack gear, I don't know... that might work but would also be expensive and inconvenient. Why don't they buit that kind of circuity into the amp in the first place?
Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[Nightburst]

Re: Any way to stop the hissing?

Also there is this 'popping sound' when I switch over from the clean channel to the gain channel.
Is this normal? It has alway been there but now it is starting to annoy me.

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Any way to stop the hissing?

Hmm, rack gear, I don't know... that might work but would also be expensive and inconvenient. Why don't they buit that kind of circuity into the amp in the first place?
Thanks for the suggestion though.

I don't even have a rack setup, but it doesn't matter. Just place the gear on top of your amp and you're good to go.

It sounds like a pain, but the quality is worth it. I got mine for $90, which is right around what you'd pay for that crappy Boss one.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Any way to stop the hissing?

I got my HUSH for $75. I would also highly recommend a power conditioner as you never know how good the power will be where you're playing.

 

[Kent S.]

Re: Any way to stop the hissing?

The Boss is good for the money, and works well with pedals. Thr Rocktron is the stuff though, I've got a old RX-20, with a very simple hush circuit on it, and it works great. One thing you could try though, is have a tech solder in some small value capacitors to ground,small enough to knock down just that upper end hiss, it will pull you highs down a tiny bit, but you should be able to turn your treble up a bit to compensate,another thing would be to due it at several places in the gain chain , knocking out upper nosie before it has a chance to grow ... Ask Randall though, they might be able to recommend some lower noise op amps, silver solder only really helps reduce thermal noise somewhat (or bad connections in general), and it doesn't normally take out that much ... but it's Randall's baby, so ask them ... it might be a common complaint that they found an easy solution for, good luck. Poping noise, just probably the way they did their switching, but ask anyway.

 

[Nightburst]

Re: Any way to stop the hissing?

Thanks for the advice guys, so far that rocktron Hush Super C looks good with everybody giving it the green light.

I already recieved a reply from the Randall customer service representative. He told me that a noise gate is the only real fix.
He forwarded my mail to his production manager as well, so I'll have to wait and see if he can come up with a possible solution.

Should I use a noise gate in the fx loop or in front of the amp?

 

[DeadSkinSlayer3]

Re: Any way to stop the hissing?

Noise gate in the loop, the preamp, not the guitar, is what's causing the hiss. As for the low end, if you're getting a Hush (yes, get it), a BBE Sonic Maximizer would work well. They run about 75 used.

 

[Kent S.]

Re: Any way to stop the hissing?

Thanks for the advice guys, so far that rocktron Hush Super C looks good with everybody giving it the green light.

I already recieved a reply from the Randall customer service representative. He told me that a noise gate is the only real fix.
He forwarded my mail to his production manager as well, so I'll have to wait and see if he can come up with a possible solution.

Should I use a noise gate in the fx loop or in front of the amp?

A gate isn't going to help get rid of the hish itself, the big daddy is the Pro Hush ... that's if you want to tweak every parameter per effect patch and such, plus it's true stereo (or dual mono depending on need), overkill for your needs perhaps, but nonetheless, the Hush stuff is one of the best working, easiest to set up and use, and least *obtrusive* ie, it works without you hearing it work, systems around. I guarrantee you this, if you get one, you won't be disappointed. I haven't used the Hisu Super C, but the older units/models were pretty much flawless. :fing2:

 

[korovamilkdud]

Re: Any way to stop the hissing?

I'm interested in jumping in on this one since my gear is a bit noisy too...I hate noise gates because I use a volume pedal and delays and reverbs and they get cut off...I don't really have space for one in front of my other pedals...would a Super C help with this, or is it similar to a noise gate?

 

[Robert S.]

Re: Any way to stop the hissing?

Amp noise drives me crazy. I don't know when it happened, but somewhere along the way I came to the conclusion that I didn't like noise. It's nothing new, and if you listen to old live recordings or even some of Hendrixs studio stuff you can hear the amps humming in the background. It's the nature of the beast that when you turn up the gain, you turn up the noise.

I have a rack setup and for a long time I ran a DBX 166XL compressor/limiter/gate between the preamp and the power amp. My rig ran dead silent at idle that that way. The problem I ran into though was that in high noise situations (clubs with bad grounds), the level that I had to set the gate at was so high that it started to mute my clean channels output. It got annoying so I finally removed the 166XL from the rack.

Much of the noise I was getting was simply power amp hum. Even with two Rocktron processors in the rack (both have the Hush IIc circuits), any input signal at the power amp got it making some noise. I found I was happiest getting my noise ceiling down to a tolerable level and then ignoring the transient hiss. It's hard to do after running silent for a couple of years but Im getting better at it. I also find that now that I'm playing through better PAs and I'm not trying to fill a room with my amp signal that my stage level is lower, so the noise is less apparent.

If you are going to run a gate in the loop make sure it is a unit that runs at unity gain and doesn't add alot of noise when it opens up. it's not generally a good idea to mess with the gain structure in a loop as it can cause squeal and of other problems, and an inexpensive but noisy gate in the loop will add noise to your tone.

The pop when you change channels may be uncurable and some amps just do that. It is a design limitation. You usually have to spend some real money to get amps and effects that switch instantly without noise or dropouts.

 

[Nightburst]

Re: Any way to stop the hissing?

Thanks for the advice guys! really apreciate it. I'm about to buy a new amp in 2 months and it will be a gain monster so I'll probably need a noise gate as well with it.
The pro hush would probably too much for me. I just want to get rid of the hissing or at least tame it to an acceptable level. I don't understand why manufacturers don't use some noise gate circuit in high-gain amps in the first place. Especially since high gain hissing is nothing new.

 

[Robert S.]

Re: Any way to stop the hissing?

It's probably for a number of reasons that such stuff doesn't come in most amps. For one, it adds to the cost of the amp and many amps are marketed with price in mind. Most people don't fuss about hiss so adding an extra $100-200 dollars to the price to solve a percieved problem by a few doesn't pay in the long run. Besides, for the folks among us that are freaks about noise at idle there are already inexpensive cures out there.

The other thing is that units like the Hush IIc aren't easy to develop. If they were, everyone would be selling one. I'm sure Rocktron is in no big hurry to license their technology to amp makers when they can sell it at full retail to the folks that want it. It's a big selling point in their marketing of their amps and products.

I know for myself and from practical experience that it usually works out best to buy a straight forward amp with great tone and add the effects and other extras I like aftermarket. Most amps that have alot of effects and extras built in usually sacrifice tone from the amp as well as the effects to keep the price reasonable. It just seems that you are better off getting a killer amp, stellar effects and a solid gate or noise processor and wire it all together than it does to get one box that does everything ok but that does nothing exceptionally.

It costs more, but you end up with better tone in most cases.

 

[Nightburst]

Re: Any way to stop the hissing?

Thanks for the advice Robert S.

 

[Kent S.]

Re: Any way to stop the hissing?

Thanks for the advice Robert S.

And I would really listen to that advice! Concerning the issue though of using a noise gate, well the only thing I can add would be to insert it before any delays and /or reverbs ...now some amp's fX loops send the signal post internal spring tank reverb ... and this is cool, but just realize that you may be getting a gated reverb effect from your amp ... This too can be a very cool thing, depending on how you use it. Also ,I persoanlly have found that delay pre reverb Vs. delay post reverb is a personal taste issue; However a chorus effect after the reverb is a subtle, and complex effect that lend itself well to almost every situation ... slightly off topic, but FWIW.