fizzy sound in amp?

[Superlizard]

Okay, the fizzy quality diminishes as the amp is turned up.  I don't know if anything is "off" or "wrong" but I definitely know there is a distinct difference between the boost being on and being off.  I recorded some random chords in the linked mp3.  I played my Gibson SG Std on the bridge pup.  The first half is the lead channel at about 5.5 or 6 on the volume, gain at 8.5.  Bass at 12 o'clock, Mid and treble at about 11 o'clock.  The second half of the track is with the boost on and the only setting change was dialing the volume back about 1 or 1.5 to keep the output volume approximately equal.  I did this on the fly, it's total noodling so don't fuss at me for that. It's total a-la-carte improvised on the fly as I went along.  Haven't been playing for around a year until the past few weeks.

Anyway, let me know what you think of the amp's sound.  At first when I listen to the first half of the recording, it doesn't sound bad.  But the tone is much fuller with the boost on.  I guess they are just different sounds altogether but with the boost off the amp kinda sounds a little thin or wirey to my ears.  It's probably just the amp's sound with the Celestion Vintage 30 in it.  I put the V30 in because when I got the amp it just sounded a little muffled.  The V30 made it sound more like it was breathing.  I'll say one thing, this amp is damn loud.  I'm about deaf and probably have a couple of gaps to seal around the window now, ha ha.

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8073590

I'm not home (still at work) so I can't give a *good* listen, but yes, the boost thickens up the tone (more mids/lower mids).

Is it possible for you to do another clip at "bedroom" levels, so we can hear the difference (and hopefully the "fizzy quality")?

 

[Superlizard]

Okay, the fizzy quality diminishes as the amp is turned up.

In other words, if you turn up the *master volume* (not the gain / preamp gain / whatever it's labeled on your amp), the
fizzy quality diminishes, right?

 

[tt0511]

yeah, that's right.  I can't quite hear the fizzy quality that was bothering me before.  I've tried recording it several times and whenever I listen to the playback, it sounds perfectly normal to me.

I've tried letting the amp sit and cool to see if that did it.  I don't know if I'm going crazy or not.  I suppose it is possible that since I've always played the amp with the boost function engaged, the less "smooth" sound of the distortion on the lead channel sounded wrong to me.  Crap if I know.  I will keep an eye on it, ...or should I say an ear on it over the next bit and see if it returns, or if I'm losing my mind.

 

[Superlizard]

yeah, that's right.  I can't quite hear the fizzy quality that was bothering me before.  I've tried recording it several times and whenever I listen to the playback, it sounds perfectly normal to me.

I've tried letting the amp sit and cool to see if that did it.  I don't know if I'm going crazy or not.  I suppose it is possible that since I've always played the amp with the boost function engaged, the less "smooth" sound of the distortion on the lead channel sounded wrong to me.  Crap if I know.  I will keep an eye on it, ...or should I say an ear on it over the next bit and see if it returns, or if I'm losing my mind.

And to double-check, this "fizz" you speak of isn't in *addition* to the sound coming out of the speakers (like extraneous noise), it's actually part of the tone (like say the distortion/clipping sounds "fizzy"), correct?

 

[tt0511]

And to double-check, this "fizz" you speak of isn't in *addition* to the sound coming out of the speakers (like extraneous noise), it's actually part of the tone (like say the distortion/clipping sounds "fizzy"), correct?

I'd say in my limited experience that this is correct.  At low volumes it sounded pretty much like television or radio static fizz mixed in with the sound.  It did seem to be part of the tone and not a buzz like when the A/C unit kicks in or anything like that.  It wasn't a sound like when you hear your car alternator coming through your car speakers in older cars.  It's more that the tone itself has the fizziness about it, but it seemed really dramatic.  The only other amp I've owned was my first and it was a Flextone.  I never got that sound out of it.

It may just be because of all the changes that have happened.  I haven't actually played through the amp a LOT since buying it because life got really busy.  But, the amp used to sit on the floor.  Then it sat on the floor beside the extension cab.  Now it is up on top of the extension cab and is closer to the ear.  And, the boost switch was always on until recently.  It seems to me that all these things add up and point toward the fact that the amp just sounds different in this configuration and it was not what my ear tells me it should sound like based on previous experience with the amp.

 

[Superlizard]

And to double-check, this "fizz" you speak of isn't in *addition* to the sound coming out of the speakers (like extraneous noise), it's actually part of the tone (like say the distortion/clipping sounds "fizzy"), correct?

I'd say in my limited experience that this is correct.  At low volumes it sounded pretty much like television or radio static fizz mixed in with the sound.  It did seem to be part of the tone and not a buzz like when the A/C unit kicks in or anything like that.  It wasn't a sound like when you hear your car alternator coming through your car speakers in older cars.  It's more that the tone itself has the fizziness about it, but it seemed really dramatic.  The only other amp I've owned was my first and it was a Flextone.  I never got that sound out of it.

It may just be because of all the changes that have happened.  I haven't actually played through the amp a LOT since buying it because life got really busy.  But, the amp used to sit on the floor.  Then it sat on the floor beside the extension cab.  Now it is up on top of the extension cab and is closer to the ear.  And, the boost switch was always on until recently.  It seems to me that all these things add up and point toward the fact that the amp just sounds different in this configuration and it was not what my ear tells me it should sound like based on previous experience with the amp.

Alright, so combining this info (fizzy tone when Master Vol is low) with your previous info (tone is fine when the Master Vol is up), I have to conclude
(re-assert) that it's a "gotta push the powert00bs to get good tone" issue... i.e. gotta turn the amp up to get away from buzzy-fuzzy preamp
distortion-land.  Again, a common tone issue with Master Volume amps running at low volume.

 

[tt0511]

Alright, so combining this info (fizzy tone when Master Vol is low) with your previous info (tone is fine when the Master Vol is up), I have to conclude
(re-assert) that it's a "gotta push the powert00bs to get good tone" issue... i.e. gotta turn the amp up to get away from buzzy-fuzzy preamp
distortion-land.  Again, a common tone issue with Master Volume amps running at low volume.

I believe this is the case.  Remember, this is my first tube amp.  When I bought it and ran it the first week, I decided I liked using a distortion pedal on the clean channel better than the amp's distortion channel.  I may go back to that.  I'm trying to explore the amp.  The RAT or Boss DS-1 in front of the clean channel sounds better.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

Not the Diodes.  That gets worse as gain goes up (more initial volume to amplify the fiz) and as the volume goes up (more volume makes it easier to hear.)  Good luck on ironing it out.
Patrick