Question:
I'm kind of getting tired of the "noise" from my amplifier. Was wondering what everyone would suggest doing to take care of it. I am using a vintage Realistic 50w SS PA amp going into a 1x12 Celestion Seventy-Eighty. I would also like to reduce the noise on my vintage Realistic 35w SS PA amp that goes into a 1x8 Peavey Blue Marvel. Any suggestions are appreciated!
P.S. I know it's not the guitar because I have used several guitars with each amp.
Answer:
Well then I suppose a noise suppressor pedal wouldn't work, since you're convinced it's the amp. If it really is inside the amp, then I don't know what to say. You said it's vintage. How old is it approximately. Could it be that some of the components are just worn out?
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have you tried playing it in different places? sometimes i get noise from my amp, because i'm playing it too close to my computer monitor, or my allergy tower or something.
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Are you using an OD/dist. pedal or modeler with a lot of distortion? Compression and distortion both raise the noise floor considerably.
What's in the signal chain?
The problem may at least in part be due to the fact that those old ss amps were not really engineered as guitar amps - the application for those little PA amps would be for paging, background music, etc at low volumes where noise would not be an issue like it is with guitar. Other than that, it could be almost anything. Try tightening the nuts on any and all 1/4" jacks; a loose nut on a chassis mounted jack can cause a ground loop.
Be careful with those old ss amps - most modern ss amps have built in limiters that start to compress the signal when it starts to peak out to protect the speakers. Older amps that didn't have that protective feature are notorious for blowing speakers. Never mind the fact that it may be a 20 watt amp and a 100 watt speaker, if the signal gets clipped hard enuf, it will start to look like DC, at which point the voice coil can fry. You can blow almost any speaker with any amp (within reason) by putting a DC signal thru it. Speaker wattage ratings are for audio freq's, not DC... Conventional wisdom in pro sound system design = you're more likely to blow a speaker with an underpowered amp than an overpowered one.
Speaking of "vintage" amps. I see old tube amps all the time going for big $$. I went to Sam Ash today, they had an old Silvertone (Sears brand) SS amp, probably early 70's or so, they had "USED VINTAGE GEAR" price tage on it and they wanted 600 bux for it !! FCOL ! Those things were cheap junk from day one. That thing should have been put out on the curb 25 years ago. There's a difference between "vintage" and dumpster fodder. If someone actually buys it, I hope they take a picture of him/her, as I would like to see what someone that stupid actually looks like.
While in the store, I just happened to notice they now have the new Vox CC AC30's in stock now...at $999.00, CRACKY !! I'll have to stop back when I have more time and play thru one, notwithstanding the fact that I don't presently have any need whatsoever for an amp that big/loud (not to mention hea-vy). GAS, GAS, GAS.
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totally off subject, but i've heard the Silvertone Twin-Twelves are supposed to be pretty decent amps for the price...which isn't $600.
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Thanks for all of the input everyone!
Major Tom: My current chain is directly from the guitar into the amplifier. The noise level stays the same whether I have a guitar playing directly in or if I put my Boss DS-1 and Digitech RP200 in there. I've read some googled stuff and am thinking maybe I need a conditioned power supply. Would that help?
Answer:
Originally Posted by kquamme94 Thanks for all of the input everyone!
Major Tom: My current chain is directly from the guitar into the amplifier. The noise level stays the same whether I have a guitar playing directly in or if I put my Boss DS-1 and Digitech RP200 in there. I've read some googled stuff and am thinking maybe I need a conditioned power supply. Would that help?
Is the noise present when there is nothing hooked up to the input?
And out of curiousity's sake, do you know approximately when it was from? (50's, 60's, 70's?)
Answer:
Originally Posted by kquamme94 Thanks for all of the input everyone!
Major Tom: My current chain is directly from the guitar into the amplifier. The noise level stays the same whether I have a guitar playing directly in or if I put my Boss DS-1 and Digitech RP200 in there. I've read some googled stuff and am thinking maybe I need a conditioned power supply. Would that help?
Hmmm, in that case it could be about anything. One thing it could be...if they are pretty old, it could be the filter cap(s) in the power supply section; as they age, they lose their capacitance - not enuf capacitance across the the rectifier would probably cause a lot of 60 cycle hum. Is that what you're hearing. a low HUMMMMM ? Could be some other dried out, old electrolytic caps in another circuits causing it, or a combination...
As far as a power conditioner... I doubt that would help - can you descibe the noise?
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Originally Posted by thesteve totally off subject, but i've heard the Silvertone Twin-Twelves are supposed to be pretty decent amps for the price...which isn't $600.
They had one of those also, they only wanted $699 for that one.
I have never played thru one, those are all tube, I think with 6L6 power tubes; I have heard that they are kinda OK in a retro low-fi garage-band sorta way. Back in the day, they were the bottom of the barrel, I mean they were sold thru Sears...
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Originally Posted by Major Tom They had one of those also, they only wanted $699 for that one.
I have never played thru one, those are all tube, I think with 6L6 power tubes; I have heard that they are kinda OK in a retro low-fi garage-band sorta way. Back in the day, they were the bottom of the barrel, I mean they were sold thru Sears... dang...they can't be all bad. Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard used to use one live. That being said, the sound from what I understand is definitely low-fi and they're definitely not considered great amps unless you want to hassle with 'em. still, I wouldn't mind owning one.
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The humm I hear is always there, no matter what is being played through the amp. I think Tom is right about something being too old because the 35w amp hardly makes any more noise than my peavey did, so I think it is ok, but that 50w will probably need those filter caps.
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I have an RP-200, too, that I use with a DS-1. The RP 200 has a built in noise gate for itself. The DS-1 can put a tone of hiss in the mix, but I love it using the RP-200 in wah mode on my strats. Talking about nailing SRV's intro to Voodoo Chile, it's great.

If the RP-200 (by itself) doesn't stop the noise when in lead mode and you are not playing the guitar, then I would say it's in the amp too.