Hi gain or volume noise

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Xandeeno

New member
I have a fender bassbreaker 15 head running through a Marshall 1936 2x12. Clean the amp makes barely any noise, it's great. However when I go to overdrive and distortion it starts to buzz and whistle when I am not playing. It gets louder and worse when I put volume up. It also does this when I run my boss ds2 overdrive pedal through it and if I try and run the pedal when the amp is driven already I may as well just smash my windows. Is this normal? I realise I may be being stupid here so sorry if I am. (The amp also makes a hissing thumping hum upon startup but I've been told that's probably either the tubes warming up of the filter caps charging)
Sorry for being a pain, thanks so much all replys are really helpful.
 
Re: Hi gain or volume noise

hissing and thumping? that doesnt sound all that good. does that go away once its warmed up? im assuming you mean when the structure is set to low there is no noise but when you turn it to medium or high it gets noisy? what if you set the gain knob full up but structure low? still noisy? i havent spent much time with the amp in a quiet environment or with any pedals since it was just in the store
 
Re: Hi gain or volume noise

The Bassbreaker is not a hi-gain amp, so if you are trying to do that with it, it's gonna have a lot of noise..you can't get blood out of a turnip, and you can't make a Bassbreaker a dedicated hi gain amp even with pedals.
That said, My 6505, which is a beast of a true dedicated hi gain amp, squeals lke a stuck pig right at about the eq and volume that makes it sound perfect..at least to this reporter.
It's a game of give and take, you can use an eq, but it probably will quash the dynamics that make the amp sound awesome.
People use a TS/variant religiously with the 6505 , maybe thats why, IDK.
 
Re: Hi gain or volume noise

Okay, at least I know something isn't wrong, yes the hissing and thumping is just for about five seconds on startup then it works absolutely fine. And yes you're right about it getting noisier as you put the structures up. It doesent make a huge difference putting the gain up on the low structure setting but it does when I'm on the medium and mainly high
 
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Re: Hi gain or volume noise

more gain, usually means more noise. boosting the signal also boosts the noise
 
Re: Hi gain or volume noise

There is a difference between it's just noise from high gain and something is wrong noise. Like Bill said, if it is whistling or making noises that amps don't normally make, it might be worth changing out one or more of the preamp tubes. It's also worth trying if you think it is too noisy, different tubes will have different noise levels.

Of course, when you throw a distortion pedal in too, yeah, things can get noisy quick.
 
Re: Hi gain or volume noise

I messed around with eq and the only huge noise problems are the startup (but I don't really care so long as it isn't breaking) and when I add a distortion pedal when it's driven. Thanks for all the replys, I think it's alright
 
Re: Hi gain or volume noise

Hi gain = noise. There is no way around it. Some are noisy than others, but when you add gain, or add boosts, ODs, distortion pedals, its noisy. A noise reducer, and the ISP Decimator II G String is the best I've tried, are your friend.
 
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