do all amps just hum pretty loud when at 10?

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rjd2
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do all amps just hum pretty loud when at 10?

Post by rjd2 » Thu Mar 29, 2007 4:54 pm

or, more specifically, would modding a 3-pin amp to be ground lifted be a bad idea to get rid of hum?

i have a fender bassmaster, and i use it all the time at 10, cause it breaks up so nice. i just recapped it hoping to get rid of the ground hum/noise when its at 10, but its still pretty noticeable.

any other tricks (after recapping) for this? thanks guys.

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Milkmansound
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Post by Milkmansound » Thu Mar 29, 2007 5:34 pm

its probably always going to have some noise. There are more ways to get it down - changing out of tolerance resistors, diodes (if there are any even in there), tubes... but its never gonna be dead quiet like a mic preamp or something.
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lg
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Post by lg » Fri Mar 30, 2007 9:09 am

wouldn't know. i have a twin reverb :D

seriously, what are you running through it? i think a bit of hum is charming, too much annoying, and it is pretty much everpresent to some degree, no matter the amp. stating the obvious: ground hum is one thing, source hum (single coils, for example) quite another...

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Post by mjau » Fri Mar 30, 2007 9:18 am

Yep, I've never had a dead-quiet amp, but single coil noise and fuzz pedals have always been the more pressing noise problem for me.

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Post by peterc » Fri Mar 30, 2007 12:08 pm

Tubes?

Does it hum with a shorted plug plugged into the input?

Take out the toobs & turn the amp on. Is there any hum in the speaker? This means that the output transformer is picking up mains from the power transformer via the chassis. I use plumbers washers about 3 or 4 mm thick to lift the output transformer off the chassis.

Gets rid of that last damn bit of hum.....

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rjd2
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Post by rjd2 » Fri Mar 30, 2007 12:16 pm

thanks for the help, guys. im gonna do some a/b-ing and see if i can isolate the hum.(that tube trick sounds interesting).

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Re: do all amps just hum pretty loud when at 10?

Post by kayagum » Sat Mar 31, 2007 6:49 am

rjd2 wrote:or, more specifically, would modding a 3-pin amp to be ground lifted be a bad idea to get rid of hum?
Whatever you do, don't do that. Unless you want to cash in on your life insurance for someone else.

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Re: do all amps just hum pretty loud when at 10?

Post by GooberNumber9 » Sat Mar 31, 2007 8:31 pm

rjd2 wrote:or, more specifically, would modding a 3-pin amp to be ground lifted be a bad idea to get rid of hum?
Yes, that would be a bad idea. The third pin is there to save your life, don't mess with it in any way for any reason.

It may very well be that your environment is causing the hum (flourescent lights, dirty power, etc.) Also, in answer to your question, different amps do have different quiescent noise levels. In general, a more expensive, higher-quality amp will have less noise at higher gain levels.

Todd Wilcox

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Post by juice » Thu Apr 05, 2007 12:45 am

dc filament supply

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Post by Brian » Thu Apr 05, 2007 5:27 am

juice wrote:dc filament supply
Thanks for saying that. My old Marshall JMP 50 watt has DC power and does not hum.
Harumph!

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