Question:
I heard my sons band the other night. The guitarist owns a Randall 100w amp head with 4 x 12" cabinet. It is a transistor amp, I don’t know the model though. They play metal. The thing is, when he engages the gain with the foot pedal, and I think he has it set pretty high, even when not playing there is a white noise coming out of the amp that is so bad he has to hit the foot pedal to turn it off to communicate with the other band members, they cannot even talk above the hiss. They were busy so I didn’t have time to try much to isolate the problem, he is playing an Ibanez guitar, single coil pickups, into a DD-3 (I think it was) boss delay pedal into the amp. I did try the ground lift switch in back but it made no difference. Also it lessened (but was still WAY above anything I have experienced and I have played in bands for many years with many different amps) a little when I got him to try the guitar direct into the amp. It MIGHT be cables…but it sounds like self-noise from the amp. I think this amp must mute when no guitar is plugged in because it is dead quiet when nothing is plugged in, even if the gain is set the same. Any ideas or helpful hints? Thanks, JIm — Check out my original music at http://www.soundclick.com/bands/1/jackermusic.htm "In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but not in practice."
Response:
Sorry about the formatting…I kept hitting "return" not thinking. — Check out my original music at http://www.soundclick.com/bands/1/jackermusic.htm "In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but not in practice." – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> I heard my sons band the other night. The guitarist owns a Randall > 100w amp head with 4 x 12" cabinet. It is a transistor amp, I don’t know > the model though. > They play metal. The thing is, when he engages the gain with the foot pedal, > and I think he has it set pretty high, even when not playing there is a > white noise coming out of the amp that is so bad he has to hit the foot > pedal > to turn it off to communicate with the other band members, they cannot even > talk above the hiss. > They were busy so I didn’t have time to try much to isolate the problem, he > is > playing an Ibanez guitar, single coil pickups, into a DD-3 (I think it was) > boss > delay pedal into the amp. I did try the ground lift switch in back but it > made no > difference. Also it lessened (but was still WAY above anything I have > experienced > and I have played in bands for many years with many different amps) a little > when > I got him to try the guitar direct into the amp. It MIGHT be cables…but it > sounds > like self-noise from the amp. I think this amp must mute when no guitar is > plugged in > because it is dead quiet when nothing is plugged in, even if the gain is set > the same. > Any ideas or helpful hints? > Thanks, > JIm > — > Check out my original music at > http://www.soundclick.com/bands/1/jackermusic.htm > "In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, > but not in practice."
Response:
> > 100w amp head with 4 x 12" cabinet. It is a transistor amp, I don’t know > the model though.
even when not playing there is a > white noise coming out of the amp that is so bad they cannot > even talk above the hiss.
I just fixed a Randall recently which had a serious hiss, due to a loose capacitor, cold solder joints if you will, where the cap was still mounted on the board, butt…pushing down on it made the noise go away. Could be something like that. Mass production circuit boards. BTW, if it’s an older Randall, forget about tech support from Washburn Company. Porky
Response:
Thanks for the information! Jim — Check out my original music at http://www.soundclick.com/bands/1/jackermusic.htm "In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but not in practice."
the other night. The guitarist owns a Randall – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> > 100w amp head with 4 x 12" cabinet. It is a transistor amp, I don’t know > > the model though. > even when not playing there is a > > white noise coming out of the amp that is so bad they cannot > even talk above the hiss. > I just fixed a Randall recently which had a serious hiss, due to a > loose capacitor, cold solder joints if you will, where the cap was > still mounted on the board, butt…pushing down on it made the noise > go away. Could be something like that. Mass production circuit boards. > BTW, if it’s an older Randall, forget about tech support from Washburn > Company. > Porky