hissy cab?

[mellowgerman]

I feel like the hiss/hum on my bass has increased a bit lately. I first thought it was the pickup. Then I thought it was all in my mind.
Today though, I recorded a little bit of stuff by running my exact setup as always(amp, cable, and bass) directly into my laptop. I used the post eq d.i. line out. Somehow it seems that my hiss/hum problem has been cut down considerably.
Therefore, I'm wondering: could my cab be the reason for my (seemingly) unusual amount of hiss/hum?

 

[Stingray_EB]

My first thought would be that its the tweeter in the cab if you have one. If that has been turned all the way somehow, I would expect some hiss. Also If you have your mids and treble boosted and bass cut I get alot of hiss. IME

 

[mellowgerman]

I use a 1x18 cab. No tweeter... so i figure this should be the least-hissy cab of them all.
I always play with my EQ flat as well. I'm using a single darkstar so it's perfect as is

Also, it's the kind of hiss that's relative to your position/angle to the amp. It's completely gone when the amp is to my right but when I'm facing the amp or facing away it is at it's loudest. I thought this to be normal with a singlecoil, but that still doesn't explain why it goes away once I'm recording...

 

[troll]

Using any compression in your signal path?

Some settings with increased input gain vs compression ration/amount can seemingly bring up more hiss or noise, especially with a tweeter.

 

[mellowgerman]

no compression. This is my exact set up: bass-cable-head-speakercable-cab

 

[billfitzmaurice]

could my cab be the reason for my (seemingly) unusual amount of hiss/hum?

No. Cabs don't create anything, they only reproduce whatever signal is sent to them. Since your recording setup bypasses the power amp the power amp is the source of the noise.

 

[mellowgerman]

cool thanks for the input bill. guess i'll start looking for a new head then

 

[Stingray_EB]

I would have the amp looked at first before you think about replacing it. It may be something very simple that is causing this ? Also have you tried a different bass with the set up ? Is your bass active or passive ? could be a battery issue ?

 

[mellowgerman]

I have tried all of my basses(all passive). It seems like normal noise you get from any single coil pickup, it's just louder when the sound comes through the cab.
Also, the head in question is just a cheap behringer 300watt head so it wouldnt be worth the money to get it looked at. besides, most of the time i've ever taken an amp to get "fixed" or "looked at" the problem isn't fixed and i'm rid of $50 or more (at several different professional locations).
But thanks again for the input. I'll try some new ones and if I come across one that I like more i'll probably just upgrade.