Tone Hammer noise?!?!?

Oh! Henry · #1 10-22-2008, 10:44 PM

So I jumped on the Tone hammer band wagon, and I must say I really love the tonal options this pedal offers.

I tried it at rehearsal today, pluging it into my markbass amp, and using the DI into the PA system. First thing I noticed is a fair amount of noise(hiss). I first pushed the Gnd button and it helped with the grounding issue, but this pedal introduced a lot of noise into my signal chain! I had the EQ at around 12 oclock, the gain at about 3 oclock and master at 11 oclock, it was bearable at these settings but turning gain and master any louder would cause way too much noise. Does anyone else have this problem, or did I do something wrong? when disengaged the noise went away, so I know it's the pedal/DI

For the record I used both an active Stingray, and a passive Reverend

KarateKid25 · #2 10-22-2008, 11:06 PM

Have you tried less gain, more master?

Oh! Henry · #3 10-22-2008, 11:17 PM

yup, that's how i used it at rehearsal, it was still noisy although a little less. gain was set a about 25%

Oh! Henry · #4 10-23-2008, 10:24 AM

Anyone? I really want to know if I'm the only one having this issue.

stflbn · #5 10-23-2008, 10:28 AM

How was your EQ on the unit set? Flat at Noon? Cut? Boosted?

Oh! Henry · #6 10-23-2008, 10:48 AM

Eq was between 11 and 1 oclock on bass treble and Mids. Gain at 25% and Master at 40%................With or withour AGS I still had noise, although less without AGS.

noise was both in the PA and my amp.

Kambonation · #7 07-06-2010, 12:14 AM

I have this problem with my tone hammer. It amplifies all the gain in my signal chain and just introduces a tone of noise that messes with the PA limiter. I have to use a passive direct box to record now and I feel like the Tone Hammer is worthless as a DI for recording.

iamdenialNJ · #8 07-06-2010, 12:42 AM

Wow sucks man...I use my tone hammer just as an overdrive since I find the volume boost to be ridiculous. Never used it as a DI.

GrowlerBox · #9 10-23-2010, 11:16 PM

I bought a Tone Hammer recently, and had all sorts of problems with noise, which seemed to be some sort of grounding problem, as it would get louder the nearer I approached the box, like a snake on the defensive (I live in NZ now -- no snakes -- but am Australian, badass snakes). I am waiting on a replacement from Aguilar (Marco has been very helpful) and expect no further problems. I'll never know what the real issue with the first pedal was; when I returned it, it was stolen from the car of the agent here as soon as he picked it up from the post office! Most users seem to find it very quiet. I guess I'll find out.

LightGroove · #10 10-24-2010, 02:29 PM

hissy one here has well..no longer own it.

metalinthenight · #11 10-24-2010, 07:12 PM

Thats weird. My doesn't add excessive noise at all, and I never got any complaints from the sound men at shows or when I used it to record earlier this year. Good luck, man. Try emailing Aguilar, they are nothing but helpful.

Eublet · #12 10-25-2010, 12:45 PM

Gain at 3 and master at 12? Wow! That's darn hot. Is that unity gain for you? Do you get a huge volume drop when you disable the pedal?

Low_blow · #13 11-01-2010, 04:23 PM

I experience this problem from time to time (from place to place). Sometimes lifting the ground improves the situation, sometimes it does not.

Aguilar/Dave B. · #14 11-01-2010, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Low_blow

I experience this problem from time to time (from place to place). Sometimes lifting the ground improves the situation, sometimes it does not.

If you have a ground problem that is not solved with the ground lift, write me a note, and we'll check it out for you.

There is a lot of gain available with the Tone hammer; but should not be "hissy" or have a persistent ground noise. Lots of guys doing studio work with them. Anyway, you know where to find us if you think your Tone Hammer is noisy. Please feel free to hit us at info or techsupport@aguilaramp.com

Dave B.

fesojstubb · #15 11-01-2010, 09:05 PM

I use my tonehammer with my Acoustic Image head and when the Phantom power button was on I got a nasty noise as well. You might check to see if the board is supplying phantom power on your di channel. On some boards the phantom power is not controlled per channel. When I just used batteries it went away and the pedal is noiseless. I hope that helps. Maybe that will help.

Joe

GrowlerBox · #16 11-03-2010, 04:07 PM

Just got my new Tone Hammer this morning to replace the noisy one. Absolutely noiseless! Not even any appreciable hiss added at high gain in AGS mode. Supposedly it's "B" stock, meaning there's a cosmetic flaw, but I can't find it.

I'm a very happy camper, and I would encourage anyone having noise issues to contact the guys at Aguilar -- clearly there has been an issue with a handful of individual boxes, but it's obviously not a design flaw, and I had nothing but fast and helpful responses from Marco via email.

Ozzey · #17 06-21-2011, 08:24 PM

Sorry to resurrect this thread, but I'm having much of the same problem. It seems to be introducing too much hiss into my signal (GK 1001RB-II/GK Neo 410 Cab), and from the looks of this thread, a good box shouldn't be introducing any, should it? I just had the settings at flat to test it out, and it was fairly hissy, but moving treble and master around for example prove to be quite the chore, and my AGS... I can't do anything with it. I have emailed Aguilar (though I ordered through Musician's Friend), but have already spent an appreciable amount of money getting it to Canada. Though.. I am going on a choir tour next week that stops by in Michigan; maybe I could return it from there? Please help!