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Amp hiss

Motha JudsonMotha Judson Posts: 104
edited January 2009 in Musicians and Gearheads
I just moved to a new place and my amp hisses now. I was carefull during the move with my amp, guitar, etc. I tried it clean with different cables and checked for damage on my amp...nothing. I moved it to different rooms away from other electronics...still happens. It had no hiss what so ever at my last place, but here it drives me nuts. Its a Fender Frontman 25R and I had it less than a year. Any help would be great.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • mccreadyisgodmccreadyisgod Posts: 6,395
    Most likely it means that the power is bad at your new place, or there is an issue with the grounding. Do the power outlets have proper grounded three-prong jacks, or are they older, non-grounded polarized plugs?

    Even if they have the three-prong jacks, they might not be wired correctly, or the building my lack a proper ground source. You can get an outlet tester from any hardware store or someplace like Walmart's hardware dept. and check your outlets. The testers have three little lights (usually two yellows and a red) and cost a couple bucks. They're worth having, I've used it in all sorts of suspicious places and found some nasty power in some (like hot and neutral reversed, etc).

    Even if you have a proper ground, getting the right voltage at the right frequency can be a problem for older buildings, transmission lines, and transformers. Sometimes a good power conditioner (Furman, etc) can clean up the power and get rid of hiss, but not always.

    Anyways, if your amp worked fine somewhere else, but has a lot of hiss now, it's 99.7% sure to be bad power. That's what I can tell you.
    ...and if you don't like it, you can suck on an egg.
  • Motha JudsonMotha Judson Posts: 104
    I'll have to try it, I've use those testers before. The house isn't mine, and its only 8 years old, but that doesn't mean they botched the wiring job when they built it.

    Thank you for the reply
  • NovawindNovawind Posts: 836
    MiG hit it right on the head. On the cheap, you could try plugging your amp into a surge protector instead of the direct wall, or on the expensive, you could try a Furman Power Conditioner.

    http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigati ... tioner&st=
    If idle hands are the devil's workshop, he must not be very productive.

    7/9/06 LA 1
    7/10/06 LA 2
    10/21/06 Bridge 1
  • NovawindNovawind Posts: 836
    double post
    If idle hands are the devil's workshop, he must not be very productive.

    7/9/06 LA 1
    7/10/06 LA 2
    10/21/06 Bridge 1
  • mccreadyisgodmccreadyisgod Posts: 6,395
    The problem with a Furman is that it costs more than his amp cost in the first place... and there's no guarantee that a power conditioner will fix the problem. I'd start with the outlet tester first, just to make sure the outlet is wired correctly.
    ...and if you don't like it, you can suck on an egg.
  • DeLukinDeLukin Posts: 2,757
    Interesting. I've had a Fender 25R for a few years now and it started hissing recently. I thought it was something I was doing wrong, but your post made me think maybe it's the amp. In fact, if you google 'fender 25R hiss' you'll find a lot of customer reviews about it. Time to upgrade I suppose...
    I smile, but who am I kidding...
  • Motha JudsonMotha Judson Posts: 104
    I've had mine for a year now and want to upgrade to a nice tube amp down the road.
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