First post- noob to board questions

I just bought my first Mesa- A Stiletto Ace 1x12. I love the amp, but I get excessive noise on the gain channel. I set the pre gain to noon on the "Fluid Drive" setting and I get all this noise that I can only describe as "white noise" or the sound of static, like you're in between stations on an AM radio. I don't notice the noise on the clean. The noise also remains when my guitar's volume is turned all the way down. I tried to lower the gain, but I'd like to have the option of using more gain (possibly turn it up to 2 o'clock max).

I owned a Rivera Fandango, Blues jr., Line 6 Vetta (ughhh) and none of them were this noisy, even at higher gain settings.

A friend suggested I try the Mesa SPAX7's in the first 3 pre stages to cut back the noise. I'm also considering buying an Ebtech Hum X or Boss noise suppressor pedal to kill this noise..

Also, I'm thinking of buying an extension cab to open the sound up; I guess I'm gonna have to buy the Mesa ext cab since the color/grill are unique (green/basket grill).

Yes, I'm a noob!! I really would appreciate any thoughts or advice on either or both areas.

if you can hear that noise over your playing, it's probably the tubes. If your playing can drown it out, its just your amp working hard. cutting off the signal with a volume pedal in front of the amp should mitigate the problem if you need silent breaks live.

My Deuce II doesn;t have that problem at all. I have relatively hot pickups and still not a problem. I'd say get a new set of tubes and it'll be rectified..... pardon the pun.

Morley Hum eliminator works well for me to eliminate floor noise in my guitar signal. I actually use it in between my gmajor racmount and my amps effects loop and it makes a noticeable difference in excessive floor noise. I got this Idea from looking at Andy Timmons Rig at a clinic actually. I have a Ace Head on order and a 2x12 rectifier cab to go with it. I am sure the SpaX7's would help as well. I myself was considering a set of tubes from Bob on his EURotube site.
If not Eurotubes i will probably upgrade to str450's and spax7 in critical stages 1 2 3.

Probably a tube issue. My favorite tubes were JJ ECC83's in the preamp (high gains in V1 - V3) and JJ EL34L's in the power amp of the ACE's I had. I also use a BOSS NS-2 last in my chain with all amps, and I have no noise issue with any of them. They're all dead silent.

Silverwulf said:

Probably a tube issue. My favorite tubes were JJ ECC83's in the preamp (high gains in V1 - V3) and JJ EL34L's in the power amp of the ACE's I had. I also use a BOSS NS-2 last in my chain with all amps, and I have no noise issue with any of them. They're all dead silent.

Click to expand...

You're exactly right; that's what it was. I switched my V1 tube (bad tube) with the V5 (good tube) and there was no more noise save the ground loop buzz on the gain channel, which is pretty normal. I did notice a drop in the bass response, which I'm sure will be fixed when I retube with JJ's. The amp sounds great now as is; I can't wait to hear how good it will sound with the JJ's!