I've had my TC-50 for about 4 years now. There's a buzz when I switch to the blue channel which I've always just accepted as the price of admission for a tube amp with tube distortion, but my bandmates all think it's abnormal. The other guitarist uses a small Fender amp with pedals for distortion, where I rely completely on the amp, and he does not get that buzz, so they're all telling me that something's wrong with my amp. To clarify, the noise is clearly audible and slightly annoying when I'm not playing, so in between songs I switch to green, but when I'm playing that noise can't be heard. Do I have an issue to be addressed, or is it just a normal part of having a high gain tube amp?
Buzzing on blue channel
- Thread starter kgf
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Sounds abnormal. Do you have the buzz on rhe red channel? Red has a lot more gain than blue and should have a little more ‘hiss/buzz’ but not so much where you have to switch channels between songs.
Might be a bad pre-amp tube in the Blue channel circuit that isn’t used in the other channels? That would be an easy fix maybe! I’d start with V3 and V4
Might be a bad pre-amp tube in the Blue channel circuit that isn’t used in the other channels? That would be an easy fix maybe! I’d start with V3 and V4
Buzzing in the amp is not normal. As mentioned it could be a tube that is used for only Ch 2, check the tube task chart in your manual to see what tubes may be specific to Ch 2 and start there.
Dom
Dom
So, describing the sound is difficult. Not really a buzz, more of a loud hiss, almost a white noise. I'm trying not to call it a hum.
Not present at all on the green channel, noticeable on the blue, louder on the red but it sounds different. Meant to shoot a vid when I went to practice last night but forgot.
Not present at all on the green channel, noticeable on the blue, louder on the red but it sounds different. Meant to shoot a vid when I went to practice last night but forgot.
How high do you run the gain on Ch 2 & 3?
Noise floor? are you running with active pickups? Are you using the FX loop too? How much noise do you get with nothing plugged into the input jack, just the amp by itself dialed in the way you use it? I can understand some white noise or hiss, just background noise you get with preamp tubes some can make more noise than others. The Hi/lo gain circuit can be sensitive.
You can swap V1 and V2 with V3 and V4, at least that may help you rule out a preamp tube related issue. Noise floor will go away while you are playing since the signal is usually stronger than the so called white noise. When preamp tubes age, they tend to make noise and it will get louder over time. Even new tubes can be noisy. Runing the gain on the high side will just make the noise louder. You should hear what the EVH 5010IIIs EL34 100 sounds like with no signal that one is noisy.
If it is an issue, and preamp tubes do not fix it. the only option may be a noise gain in the FX loop. that is what I had to use with the EVH amp. I do not use noise gates with my Mesa's, never had to even if it has a bit of noise floor.
You can swap V1 and V2 with V3 and V4, at least that may help you rule out a preamp tube related issue. Noise floor will go away while you are playing since the signal is usually stronger than the so called white noise. When preamp tubes age, they tend to make noise and it will get louder over time. Even new tubes can be noisy. Runing the gain on the high side will just make the noise louder. You should hear what the EVH 5010IIIs EL34 100 sounds like with no signal that one is noisy.
If it is an issue, and preamp tubes do not fix it. the only option may be a noise gain in the FX loop. that is what I had to use with the EVH amp. I do not use noise gates with my Mesa's, never had to even if it has a bit of noise floor.
