Wilco

I use one of these:- [url="http://www.diago.co.uk/pedal-power/pedal-power/"]http://www.diago.co.uk/pedal-power/pedal-power/[/url] Very reasonably priced, powers all sorts of pedals via adaptors & as quiet as a (dead) mouse!

I've just bought a Gold Lion ecc83 (12AX7) from this company [url="http://www.hotroxuk.com/"]http://www.hotroxuk.com/[/url] & that was an improvement over the Sovtek 12AX7-WA my amp was shipped with. Whilst doing a bit of research, stumbled across this article which you may find useful. [url="http://thetubestore.com/12ax7review.html"]http://thetubestore.com/12ax7review.html[/url]

Defo have a go with a 5 string - I did three years ago & my Geddy Lee Jazz hardly gets a look in these days! Sort of wondering why the 5 string hasn't become 'the standard' bass over a 4 string to be honest - extra low notes & no need to detune: no brainer!! I would say though, trying a more modestly priced instrument first makes sense. I've got two Maverick S5's & if you can find a used one for sale it will be for very modest money (less than £400) & you would get a bass that could compete with instruments costing at least twice as much.

I've had 500w & 1000w Superfly's & both the LG models in the last two years & now have a Hartke head - enough said? To be fair the LG's did sound brilliant, but were unreliable (one went up in smoke, the other kept cutting out as the cooling fan worked at odd times!). Love Ashdown cabs though - had a couple of MAG's for three years & recently have replaced those with a couple of Klystrons/Classics. All these speakers have been excellent.

Well the Genalex Gold Lion valve turned up today &...........................it made hardly any difference to the hiss. For anybody that might want to know, the valve I pulled out was a Sovtek 12AX7-WA. What I have noticed now is that the amp seems slightly louder at any given point on the volume control & that notes are tighter a better defined. Low notes are controlled better & the treble is a bit 'glassier' - so not a total waste of £35 then.... (& at least I have a spare valve in the original Sovtek). So what now? I've only tried this amp out at home in a fairly small room & I'm thinking that in a band environment, this hiss may not be an issue (thankfully in a loud rock covers band). Our next band get together is at the end of the month though so I won't know that for a few weeks More research & posts on this thread indicate a mixed response - some LH500's hiss & others don't. This could be a quality control thing, although when I had the lid off replacing the valve, the internals looked very well put together - everything was totally neat & tidy. Bearing in mind the hiss on my amp occurs with nothing plugged into the input too, the only other variables I can think of are the cables & the speakers. I bought new cable for this amp due to the 1/4 inch jack outputs - Klotz cable with genuine Neutrik jacks so I'm thinking they should be fine. The amp is outputting to two Ashdown Klystron/Classic cabinets - these are excellent quality cabs so perhaps their transparency is just letting more white noise through. Or I could just have a faulty head in some other way.... On balance I think in a band environment all should be ok though. Thinking of the tone & volume from this amp for, let's face it, a very reasonable £299. (NB: item bought from Soundslive - a company I've bought from many times. A bit disappointed then that they were very quick off the mark when I was on the 'phone wanting to buy, but clearly a punter who is not entirley happy with his purchase is a bit of an inconvenience to them....... Big difference to The Academy of Sound who bent over backwards when my Ashdown went tits up, & gave me all my money back (in warranty) when they ran out of options)

Genalex 12AX7 Gold Lion on order - will let you know the outcome!

[quote name='paul_5' post='1006457' date='Oct 30 2010, 05:10 PM']I've got the LH1000 and found that replacing the valve with one of higher quality made a difference. Also attenuating the horn in my 4x10 reduced the hiss too. I also found that I had some noise from the effects board too (not using the FX loop of the amp though). I'm not entirely sure whether I eliminated all of it as I've recently been using a compressor with a built in gate which has killed ANY background noise, maybe not the solution for everyone, but worked for me.[/quote] Thanks for your post. Interesting that you felt the need to change the valve, so valve noise may be an issue with some of these amps. I think I will order a top quality valve & see what happens. I've actually turned both horns off in my cabs as I can get a trebly enough sound from this amp without them on! From the sounds of it though, most of your noise was coming from your effects board / instrument - if you are not using the effects loop & plugging into the front end + all noise has gone by introducing a noisegate, then most of the noise must have been pre input. Mines got loads of white noise with nothing plugged in

Many thanks for your posts guys. Dood - tried your process. Connected active & passive basses into their respective inputs (separately obviously!) & amp hissed way merrily. Put a good instrument cable in the effects return socket & the hiss went (mind you, doing that muted the whole sound - was that to be expected?). Unplugged both basses & the hiss was still there. Didn't actually try it previously with nothing plugged in the front end - the hiss was quieter, starts getting noticeable at about 5 on the volume control, but to me, still way to loud at 7 (although will I ever need to have it that loud is another question.....). I think the basses are a contributing factor, particularly an active one, but as a couple of the other posts are saying their LH500's are silent I'm thinking I have a noisy pre-amp. As you say, possibly the valve is the guilty party. I've mentioned it to the retailer & he was going to get some advice from the distributor so I'll await their response & take it from there.

Hi All, I would be grateful to hear from anyone who uses one of these amps, particularly in relation to background 'hiss'. I had an Ashdown Little Giant 1000 which I loved until the thing recently went up in smoke The LG was virtually silent when on but not playing, with no audible hisses, pops crackles etc... Ashdown no longer make the LG so I had to look for an alternative & based on an internet full of positive reviews, I went for the Hartke LH500 which arrived today. The tone is fantastic & the thing has oodles of power, but to my ears it is quite hissy. This is dramatically increased when turning up the volume control rather than when the treble is increased which is the usual culprit for hiss. It's [i]very[/i] noticeable with the volume on 5 & over - get the volume knob to 7 & it's just hiss city! I've reduced the hiss by turning down the gain on the active Maverick basses, but it's still very noticeable even with the passive Fender plugged in. It may be just the way these amps are which is why I am keen to hear from any other users, or is it a preamp problem I've got (are these shipped with low quality valves does anybody know?) Any words of wisdom would be much appreciated. (nb: I live in a fairly new house so the electrics are good & I only use good quality cables. New speaker cables bought for this amp - Klotz cable with Neutrik jack plugs)

How the hell have I managed not to see this website before! I have been playing for 29 years (well actually there was like a 17 year non-playing break in there, & got back into all things bass about 4 years ago). Play in a local contemporary rock covers band (that's my mid-life crisis then!). Have three basses, two Maverick S5's & a Fender Geddy Lee Jazz. Recently bought a Hartke LH500 head which runs through two Ashdown Klystron cabs (a 2x10 & a 1x15). Effects wise, using a EH Bass Big Muff Pi which is awesome & on the look out for a decent tru-bypass chorus pedal (that doesn't add a load of electrical noise or the sound of waves washing ashore when it is activated!) Glad to be here!