MESA BOOGIE hum or buzz

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bfoundation81

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I bought 2 mesa boogie studio preamps. The reason i bought 2 was first one had a buzz and got louder when i turned it up. So i bought another and both of them do the same thing this is a tube amp. It kinda bugs me and shows up in recording and im just looking for some pointers on what to do with it is there something i can buy that wont kill my tone. Any help please im pretty lost i always wanted a mesa and now im real depressed i mean sound good when im playing but when i stop or let a note ring too long i can hear the buzz crankin!!!!!
 
Maybe you have your gain too high, or your guitar isn't grounded properly?? Maybe bad power in your house??

Any effects pedals etc??? Single coil or humbuckers?? Give us some info to try helping you with..

If you play w/ high gain, any amp will have SOME hum/buzz/noise...
 
Where are they compared to the speakers? If you can feel them vibrating while you play, then it may be the tubes rattling. Time to replace the tubes if that is the case. Take them out and shake them. If they sound like salt shakers you found the problem.
 
It kinda bugs me and shows up in recording
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Bingo.... you using a CRT??? (Computer monitor that's not an LCD?)

If so, THAT IS YOUR PROBLEM...

By the way, if your tubes sound like salt shakers when you shake them, they aren't going to sound very good, if they were to work at all...
 
Man Does This Bring Back That Memory

I currently own Marshall gear. TSL100 and 1960A cab. I am VERY HAPPY with this amp. I also own an older 60 watt combo valvstate which I in fact recorded with it. I know I should have used the TSL but I cant turn it up loud enough in my apartment to get the sound I wanted. but now to your problem.
I bought a 60 watt Boogie head in 1981 I believe. it was one of the best amps I ever owned. I bought it in Boston at Wurlitzers. Then later in life I ORDERED FROM BOOGIE A 100 WATT Mark 4. The amp was a peice of crap. It had harmonics from hell and I sent it back to boogie and they just sent it back to me and said nothing was wrong with it. I lived with this friggin amp for years until I finally sold it to someone. it cost over 1 grand.
MORAL of story.

DONT EVER ORDER BOOGIE GEAR FROM BOOGIE. buy it at a store an make damn sure it sounds like you expect it too.

I am still pissed as HELL about it. If I were you I wouldnt even buy their products. Its a snake nest of wires in their heads. Its no wonder they cant fix their own gear.
 
Opened Up

well i have changed tubes i have extra and thats not the problem. Like i said i have 2 of these and both seem to do it. If i run a distortion pedal WOW ITS HORIBLE its like a microscope and just brings more buzz. Anyway i opend the boogie up and on the second one i ordered all the tubes were a little slanted forward they went pushed all the way down strait like one side was down and other side was pulled a little out on all of them. Does this do something?
anyway i have a MUSICMAN SUB1 guitar has 2 humbuckers. And when i turn guitar down there is alot less buzz but is still in background if amp is turned up loud.
I have tried my setup in 2 difrent places (difrent houses and still got buzz)
 
about the monitor!!!!

yea i run strait into mixing board and i get same buzz as i do through my amp.
I just got a new flatscreen monitor im not shure what it is though ( lcd or crt ) i payed 350.00 bucks for it though. Anyway is there a way around my monitor like turning it off while i record and should stop if thats the case?
but i really dont think thats the problem seems to be doing the same thing through my power amp and cabinet as it does directly into board.
 
Then later in life I ORDERED FROM BOOGIE A 100 WATT Mark 4. The amp was a peice of crap. It had harmonics from hell and I sent it back to boogie and they just sent it back to me and said nothing was wrong with it.
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Mark IV's are about the most complex amps Boogie ever made....They take a long to understand, and learn to dial in your sound. A lot of people don't want or need to take the time to learn the details. Some people like "plug-n-play" amps. I'm guessing you're one of them...

I origiinally thought my Quad preamp was defective, but I just hadn't learned yet about the gain structures interaction w/ the tone controls and EQ. I love it now. Amazing tone....

Back to the original question.... I have played hard rock/metal since the early 80's, and owned almost every amp ever made. :D If you play w/ high gain (distortion) sounds, you will almost always always have some buzz or noise. (Unless you use active pickups, well shielded, and maybe a gate.)

Good luck.
 
The only downside to valve amps is the strange little noises they make.
I've found the best solution is to crank the amp up as well as the volume on your guitar so that the melodic noise coming out of the amp beats the amp-noise.

Obviously clean sounds will suffer more as you wont be able to crank the amp up as high without the sound breaking up.

Sometimes not using the amp's reverb can help reduce noise - you can always add your reverb of choice later. Not much good if you like your amp's reverb though...
 
Is this a full time noise? Or just when you play?


Also, shake the tubes...I am telling you, just becuase you replace them doesn't mean they are being replaced with good ones. I have come to the conclusion that almost EVERY single tube that has come with a piece of gear has been bad. Not all, but if an amp has 3-9 tubes, half will be bad and have the previously mentioned "salt shaker" syndrome. Swapping them out with non syndrome tubes solved every one of my previous problems.
 
thanks everyone

well i have been mesing with this amp for awile know and im relizing there is just gona be a little noise but the tone is making up for it im starting to dial in a good sound (the boogie sound) anyway the main noise is when its all cranked up sounds like im at an ocean the shhhhhwwwisshhhhhhhh sound. Im guessing this is just normal on a tube amp. If not let me know anyway im gona buy new tubes any help with those i play mainly hard rock/ hardcore/ metal im gona probly be playing on clean channel with a distortion pedal but anyway just looking for a good tube. jj/tulsa maybe or electro harmincs whats the best for my style?
 
im gona probly be playing on clean channel with a distortion pedal but anyway just looking for a good tube. jj/tulsa maybe or electro harmincs whats the best for my style?
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What difference does a good preamp tube make anyway, if your going to use the clean channel, and get your sound from a distortion pedal??? Why not just use a solid state power amp, and save yourself a bunch of cash???

but the tone is making up for it im starting to dial in a good sound (the boogie sound)
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Say goodbye to the "Boogie Sound", if your going the clean channel/distortion box route.... Jeez, this whole thread was for nothing.... :confused: :( :confused:
 
power amp

i am using a solid state power amp

And the distortion is kinda week on the boogie it is from like 1980.
gota run a distortion pedal to get beter distortion ( i think???) i dont know how else i would achive a beter sound i mean for rock and roll its a sweet sound but for like hardcore/grunge/ hard rock it seems a little to 80's distortion what other options do i have as far as reaching a beter sound with this uint on the dirty channel?????????
 
turnitdown said:
What difference does a good preamp tube make anyway, if your going to use the clean channel, and get your sound from a distortion pedal??? Why not just use a solid state power amp, and save yourself a bunch of cash???



Say goodbye to the "Boogie Sound", if your going the clean channel/distortion box route.... Jeez, this whole thread was for nothing.... :confused: :( :confused:
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Preamp tubes are vital no matter if there is 'distortion' or no 'distortion'. The simple act of amplifing the signal is 'distorting the original by making it larger. Then the power amp section proceeds to make that 'distorted' signal even larger.

A clean channel form a tube will not sound anything like a clean channel from a solidstate. Not saying which is better, because jazz players might prefer the solidstate, but a lot of people like clean tube sounding "Fender" tone. That would be why the Twin Reverb is so popular. Not because it gets overdriven for distortion, but becuase of its clean sound. And Mesa amps are not famous for their "Metal" distortion, they are famous for a lot of things. Only the Dual and Triple Recifier series got famous for that.


That said, using a distortion pedal is a cop out and is just plain wrong IMO when you are using such an amp. Unless its as a change of pace once in a while...
 
bfoundation81 said:
i am using a solid state power amp

And the distortion is kinda week on the boogie it is from like 1980.
gota run a distortion pedal to get beter distortion ( i think???) i dont know how else i would achive a beter sound i mean for rock and roll its a sweet sound but for like hardcore/grunge/ hard rock it seems a little to 80's distortion what other options do i have as far as reaching a beter sound with this uint on the dirty channel?????????
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Ya, 1980 isn't the year of NuMetal. You bought the wrong amp(s).
 
Sounds like you bought the wrong Boogie for your needs... Sounds like you want a Rectifier.... Stusio preamps are GREAT sounding preamps, for TONE!!!

And yes, it is an 80's sounding piece of gear (Brad Gillis used one on the Night Ranger solos, if you're old enough to remember them... GREAT SOUNDING LEADS!!!)....

Sell it on eBay, and save for a RectumFryer.... (Rectifier)

BUT, it too, will generate noise when cranked up... nature of the HighGain beast...

Good Luck!!!
 
Looks like Outlaws and I posted nearly at the same time... I smell a Studio preamp for sale on eBay soon... :D :D
 
Preamp tubes are vital no matter if there is 'distortion' or no 'distortion'. The simple act of amplifing the signal is 'distorting the original by making it larger. Then the power amp section proceeds to make that 'distorted' signal even larger.
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Thanks... I had no idea....

Dave Mustaine better go sell his rig (Rocktron SS preamp into a Marshall Power amp), because he has no preamp tubes!!!!! They are "Vital"!!!! ;) ;)

Oh, and the act of amplifying a signal is not defined as
'distorting the original by making it larger
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Just razzin... ;)
 
hahahah

lol thanks for all the help i think you nailed it i sold 1 preamp already but i think im gona sell this one someone should be using it for what its made for.
Im just kina lost i dont know what pre amp to get.
i have had a digitech 2101 2120 and line 6 pod pro, mesa studio pre, any sugestions on a good preamp for me i got a mosvlave 962 power amp and just need a good preamp to go along with it!!!!
 
turnitdown said:
Thanks... I had no idea....

Dave Mustaine better go sell his rig (Rocktron SS preamp into a Marshall Power amp), because he has no preamp tubes!!!!! They are "Vital"!!!! ;) ;)

Oh, and the act of amplifying a signal is not defined as
Just razzin... ;)
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:D

Actually it is distorting since it makes it larger. That is changing it. just like compression is distortion too....but thats for another day.

I never said you can't get good metal sound out of a solidstate. Dime used those Randalls for a long time. I believe you said "what difference does a good preamp tube make..." So that is where my answer was. A 'good' preamp tube will make the same preamp sound much, mcuh better. ;)
 
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