EQ pedal or Amplifier EQ?

raindog.promo

Hey folks,

I've had a problem with hiss coming from my amp for a while now and it drove me crazy.
I replaced the valves and cleaned it and researched it a fair bit and did a full on job and still couldn't get rid of the hiss. After a process of elimination I was fairly convinced it was the pots causing the hiss. Numerous attempts at cleaning them failed, using air sprays and solvents and all sorts.

The other day I opened up the amp and unsoldered the bass, treble and mid pots. The hiss is gone and a nice clean sound is coming through now. Score.

However my eq control is obviously now gone. Checking out the make of the pots online shows that they are actually quite expensive so I'm mulling over whether to simply buy an EQ pedal/unit instead or should I replace the pots.

I'd like to hear some opinions if people have any, cheers.

Grolschevik

Valve amps make noise, even idle. I had a vintage reissue that would noticably hum even before power got to the speakers; that is, while still on standby.

Unless your hiss was noticably intrusive -- as in, would interfere with recording; not just annoying when playing quiet at 2am --I'd have left things be, and I'd be looking to correct them if I hadn't.

And I don't think that an EQ pedal can be in any way a substitute for the tone stack in an amp. But I am open to correction...

raindog.promo

A little hiss I can deal with. A lot I can not, or in a way, I did deal with it
When I say hiss, I mean noise, crackling, popping and a bit of volume drop out from time to time. Now it's gone.

I've been using the EQ section on a pod pedal to see what it's like. Not bad, but after sleeping on it, I think I'll solder in new pots anyway and look into getting an EQ pedal.

rcaz

Well a pedal would equalise your signal before it got to the preamp, while the amp's tone stack equalises it after preamplification, right? Not the same thing, which could be a problem if you're looking to recreate the amp's sound. But if you're not bothered about staying faithful to the amp you could get a much more flexible equaliser than just 3 knobs. Like the Boss or MXR graphic equalisers.

500x

Hi,

I don't know anything about what goes on inside an amplifier, but if you've eliminated a noise that was making you unhappy with your set-up that has to be positive. Fairly drastic measures I will say, but it seems to have worked! I reckon you've created a pretty clean signal from your guitar to your speakers, and I wonder how that actually sounds. I'm guessing not bad at all?

In my opinion, EQ pedals belong in the FX loop. So, if you put something like a Boss GEQ pedal in the loop, you now have a seven band EQ rather than a more simple Bass/Mid/Treb tone shaping section. Far greater flexibility, as you have a lot more control across the frequency range. You also have the option of kicking your EQ in and out while you're playing, and hey, you could even use more than one EQ pedal and really expand your tonal possibilities... (doesn't Slash use a couple of EQ pedals in his live set-up?).

One thing to consider is that if you're using a pedal in the loop, your EQ section is now battery controlled (assuming you're not using a power supply). Also, since if you're using a pedal in the loop, your signal is coming out of your pre-amp, through the pedal, and back in to the power section. You should be sure to use as high quality cables between the units as possible, as naturally you don't want to lose tone via attenuation and all that.

It actually seems like a really nice way of capturing your ideal tone, assuming the sound you've created by taking the amp's onboard EQ section out of the equation is good. I wouldn't have the skills to do it myself, but please do report back and let us know what sort of results you get.

Best wishes,

Tony
Ps: I'm a wuss when it comes to experimentation like this... I use a guitar/amp set-up, with no extras! I like my tone well enough though.

raindog.promo

*UPDATE:

I've hooked the effects loop up to a Compressor thing I had lying around which has EQ settings and seems to be working quite nicely. I'll definitely put the EQ pots back in (They'll cost around €50) but I'm also looking into gettng a stand alone EQ unit. The amp I have (Laney LC30 II) has a strange feature with the FX loop that there's a pot to control it, so the direct sound of the guitar is sent through the amp and then the pot adds the FX loop on top. It's a bit hard to figure out whether it's mixing a wet/dry signal ratio or what's going on. I'll have to dig up the manual, but I don't think I found much info on the function of the pot last time.

CLEAN CHANNEL WITH EQ REMOVED. DIRTY CHANNEL WITH MID REMOVED (IT WAS BROKEN)


TESTING THE AMP. OVERJOYED TO FIND IT STILL WORKING AND NOISE PROBLEMS GONE.


CLEAN CHANNEL POTS REMOVED AS SEEN FROM INSIDE THE AMP.


FX LOOP WITH COMPRESSOR UNIT (1).


FX LOOP WITH COMPRESSOR UNIT (2).


THE BROKEN MID POT ON THE DIRTY CHANNEL.

boycey

I had both the LC30II and it's little brother, the LC15. Both were noisy at times, plenty of snap, crackle and pop going on, I loved them all the same!
Apparently poor soldering from Laney is a cause of a lot of problems, with 'cold' solder joints deteriorating over time. Might be an idea to check it out, or have an amp tech have a look for you? I'm not gonna pretend to be overly versed in this stuff, but it seems it can cause a lot of that intermittent popping and hiss.

Have a read of this:
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?30230-What-is-a-quot-cold-solder-joint-quot

If Paolo pops in he's ninja at this amp stuff, definitely a good man to ask.

raindog.promo

Cheers, I seem to have sorted the noise and hiss now.
I've studied electronics and wiring and backline with instruments so I'd rather do the work myself.
Unfortunately, due to getting screwed over by an independent retailer ("How I bought a guitar for €540, never received it, won the small claims case and yet still didn't get the guitar or the money back") I do not like to do business with them or anyone that has a problem with putting down in writing the services they will perform and which I will pay them for. My trust is gone in that area, I'd rather just learn how to do it myself and know the job is being done.