Jump to content

I just realised that my amp sucks


FlameTree

Recommended Posts

  • Members

 

Your Laney LC 30II?

I wouldn't jump to any conclusions until you try your Laney through the big cabinet. The LC30 is a loud brothertrucker. Are you able to crank it enough to hit the sweet spot?

 

 

You're right that it is incredibly loud and i have cranked it a fair few times, but the thing i don't like about it is the incredible amount of hum and hissing it produces. Actually come to think of it the only time i've really cranked it and loved the sound was when playing through the same cabinet mentioned earlier.

 

So you may be right that i just need a cabinet...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

If you go to the amp forum, they probably will tell you that your amp sucks.

 

As for me, I think those Laney amps are lovely and you and it just need some bonding time. The longer I go between playing out of my Twin, the more I want to sell it. But when I play it, I love it all over again. Funny how that works. :thu:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

Every time my amp hums, I twittle each knob(not adjust, just wiggle) until it goes down or stops humming. No idea why it works, but it does....

 

 

 

is everything in the guitar properly grounded?

good friend of mine had a guitar where it would hum/buzz incessantly until he bridged his fingers between the bridge and the jackplate (strat).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

is everything in the guitar properly grounded?

good friend of mine had a guitar where it would hum/buzz incessantly until he bridged his fingers between the bridge and the jackplate (strat).

 

Yes, it's not the guitar, chords, pickups, it's the amp as far as I can tell.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Bass amps typically make GREAT clean-tone guitar amps, especially off the neck pickup of a Strat. I started guitar as a switch from bass, and used to use an SWR Workingman's 12 combo almost exclusively for almost ten years.

 

Tube crunch finally lured me away. Now I'm a stack addict.

 

(Of course, the "tube head plus dual 4x12 stack" concept was originally conceived as a bass-amp solution, too, but that's another story.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

^haha yh that could be my problem too

 

I've decided that before I do anything expensive like getting a new speaker/cabinet or a new amp i'm gonna get new cables and see if the could be the source of most of that hissing.

 

Also I know that the pots are all dusty and crackly, so how do i go about cleaning these?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Also I know that the pots are all dusty and crackly, so how do i go about cleaning these?

 

Ahaaa! That could be the source of your hum.

 

But, most likely it has to do with the internal routing of some wiring that run across the PC board.

 

This is what I found related to my AC30TBX a few years ago. I re-routed the wires and it made a huge difference. Be freakin' careful though.

 

Does your amp have an annoying low level hum that actually gets quieter when you turn up the volume controls? This is a "lead dress" issue, and you can fix it yourself.

 

Please remember, you are working around voltages that can electrocute you, so if you are not a competent amp tech, show this to a local service center and have them perform the work.

 

The picture at upper left shows the pairs of red and black wires that carry the 6.3 volts to the filaments of your preamp tubes. If these wires are not positioned exactly right, your amp will hum at idle.

 

In the lower picture, you will see how I used a electrical tie wrap to position the right red wire. This eleimnated the hum in this particular amp.

 

This is a trial and error thing. When you find the right location, carefully tie wrap the wire or wires into a permanent position.

 

 

heaters.jpg

 

heaters2.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

Just plugged my guitar into my dad's bass amp (SVT Classic w/4x10 ampeg cab.), through my SD Twin Tube Classic. It sounds fantastic, much different type of distortion, no hum at all.

 

 

The guitar parts on the first Steely Dan album (from 1973, had "Reelin In The Years") was a Strat with a humbucker in the neck position plugged into an Ampeg SVT bass amp + 6x10 bass cabinet.

 

The reason that amp setup was used was that it was the only amp in the shoestring budget studio they were booked into at the time by ABC Records. ABC/Dunhill Records = cheapness.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I'd check guitar grounding, cheap cable, running cable near transformers for pedals, then tubes and maybe pots on the amp.

 

Then, being a Laney LC30, I'd upgrade the speaker/s (maybe to a Vintage 30 if its the 1x12, or to 2 Greenbacks if it's the 2x12). The stock speakers on most Laney's (especially the older ones that used HH speakers) pretty much suck. Troubleshoot the hum problem and upgrade the speakers and you should have a really good sounding amp.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...