Markbass hissing issue

[Aloneinmyhead]

Hey everyone, I just recently bought a Markbass 1000w vintage head from musiciansfriend.com.
I'm within return policy, and whenever the master and gain are are about 2 or 3 (not o'clock) I hear a hiss through my cab.
Cab is Genzler Bass Array series 2 15".
I switched ground lift. tried it with and without my pedalboard. I also have it plugged into a power conditioner. Thick awf speakon cable.
Idk if all markbass amps do this.
I may return and get the genzler kinetix, or the bergantino ultra amp head.
Unless someone knows a solution! Thanks.

 

[SJan3]

Hey everyone, I just recently bought a Markbass 1000w vintage head from musiciansfriend.com.
I'm within return policy, and whenever the master and gain are are about 2 or 3 (not o'clock) I hear a hiss through my cab.
Cab is Genzler Bass Array series 2 15".
I switched ground lift. tried it with and without my pedalboard. I also have it plugged into a power conditioner. Thick awf speakon cable.
Idk if all markbass amps do this.
I may return and get the genzler kinetix, or the bergantino ultra amp head.
Unless someone knows a solution! Thanks.

Is it a hiss or a hum? If a hiss, it could be the cabinet. If a hum, most likely the amp.

 

[Aloneinmyhead]

Is it a hiss or a hum? If a hiss, it could be the cabinet. If a hum, most likely the amp.

the cab is brand new. bought them together. if you made a chaaaaa sound like TV static. consistent hiss noise

 

[SJan3]

the cab is brand new. bought them together. if you made a chaaaaa sound like TV static. consistent hiss noise

Understood, so you're not really that familiar with the cabinet or amp yet. So many things could be the issue. How do you have the amp's treble EQ set? Is there a tweeter adjustment on the cab? Have you tried another amp with the cabinet? Have you tried another cabinet with the amp?
Just trying to brainstorm here..

 

[agedhorse]

This may be the normal noise floor if the amp with the controls in that position.

How loud is your bass when playing in that position.

 

[Boneless]

Markbass amps are usually quiet. Some hiss is normal, but that won't be high enough to be noticeable when playing.

 

[Element Zero]

2 o’clock on both Gain AND Master? That’s seems like it’d be pretty loud. Sometimes knob positions mean jack squat but with my Mesa 2 o’clock on both gain and master and stuff falling off my walls on the other side of the house and my retired police officer neighbor across the street is walking over to drop some knowledge on being neighborly.

 

[Gervais Cote]

To me, some hiss with a vintage 1000 watts amp is normal. It’s made to be played loud so this hiss disappears in the crowd.

FYI, I have a bit of hiss on my 500 watts Hartke LH500 which becomes inaudible when I play notes at very low volume.

No such problems with my contemporary class D amps though, no matter the wattage.

 

[Aloneinmyhead]

2 o’clock on both Gain AND Master? That’s seems like it’d be pretty loud. Sometimes knob positions mean jack squat but with my Mesa 2 o’clock on both gain and master and stuff falling off my walls on the other side of the house and my retired police officer neighbor across the street is walking over to drop some knowledge on being neighborly.

(not o'clock). 2 as in all the way left is 0, then you turn right to 2. 0, 1, 2.

 

[Aloneinmyhead]

This may be the normal noise floor if the amp with the controls in that position.

How loud is your bass when playing in that position.

my actual volume bass knob on my bass is always maxed

 

[Sparky Mark]

Hey everyone, I just recently bought a Markbass 1000w vintage head from musiciansfriend.com.
I'm within return policy, and whenever the master and gain are are about 2 or 3 (not o'clock) I hear a hiss through my cab.
Cab is Genzler Bass Array series 2 15".
I switched ground lift. tried it with and without my pedalboard. I also have it plugged into a power conditioner. Thick awf speakon cable.
Idk if all markbass amps do this.
I may return and get the genzler kinetix, or the bergantino ultra amp head.
Unless someone knows a solution! Thanks.

Does the level of hiss remain constant or vary with the gain and/or master setting? Unless you are using a very hot input signal, setting the gain at only 2 or 3 (out of 10 or 12) seems rather low. Are you setting the gain until the LED just starts to flash when you play your hardest with either fingers or pick? Doing that should improve your signal to noise ratio.
Markbass 1000w heads are (obviously) extremely powerful and designed for gigs requiring significant volume with decent headroom; using one at low settings probably isn't the best application.
I'm confident that on a gig you will not be concerned by hiss.

 

[Aloneinmyhead]

Does the level of hiss remain constant or vary with the gain and/or master setting? Unless you are using a very hot input signal, setting the gain at only 2 or 3 (out of 10 or 12) seems rather low. Are you setting the gain until the LED just starts to flash when you play your hardest with either fingers or pick? Doing that should improve your signal to noise ratio.
Markbass 1000w heads are (obviously) extremely powerful and designed for gigs requiring significant volume with decent headroom; using one at low settings probably isn't the best application.
I'm confident that on a gig you will not be concerned by hiss.

It seems only when gain is on, I'm sure my gig Thursday I won't hear nothing. I'm also first timer with an aml with a visible tube, my other head is darkglass 500w. So I'm beginning to assume this is just a normal sound. And the sound happens regardless if the bass is plugged in or being played however which way. I'm chalking it up to it being normal, ty everyone

 

[Sparky Mark]

It seems only when gain is on, I'm sure my gig Thursday I won't hear nothing. I'm also first timer with an aml with a visible tube, my other head is darkglass 500w. So I'm beginning to assume this is just a normal sound. And the sound happens regardless if the bass is plugged in or being played however which way. I'm chalking it up to it being normal, ty everyone

Assuming the gain LED doesn't flash, set the gain to half way. Then the master to get the volume you need, which is unlikely to be above half way too. Those are the settings that most often work for my Markbass heads. With 1000 watts available these settings will be very loud.

 

[Geri O]

my actual volume bass knob on my bass is always maxed

But how audibly loud is your bass at those volume control settings?

Quiet?

Fairly loud?

Shaking walls loud?

 

[Topkat13]

Is there a cat in the room?

 

[Sparky Mark]

As this amp has a tube preamp, the harmonic content increases as the gain control is increased. Setting the gain at half way is probably the point at which the extra harmonic content (which is, after all, the point of having a tube preamp) starts to warm the tone.

 

[SJan3]

@Sparky Mark gives good advice here.
Turn your pre amp gain up until the clip light starts to blink, then back off until the blinking stops on all but the most aggressive attacks. Then adjust Master to taste. If you do this, you're not going to need much Master at all unless you're playing at extreme levels. This will maximize your signal and reduce power amp hiss. But with a 1000 watt amp, you're still likely to hear some hiss. A HEMI still makes noise at idle.

 

[Brother V]

Hey everyone, I just recently bought a Markbass 1000w vintage head from musiciansfriend.com.
I'm within return policy, and whenever the master and gain are are about 2 or 3 (not o'clock) I hear a hiss through my cab.
Cab is Genzler Bass Array series 2 15".
I switched ground lift. tried it with and without my pedalboard. I also have it plugged into a power conditioner. Thick awf speakon cable.
Idk if all markbass amps do this.
I may return and get the genzler kinetix, or the bergantino ultra amp head.
Unless someone knows a solution! Thanks.

I think i remembet turning the tweeter on my cab down or off. I've used many different MB 500 & 1000 watt amps.

 

[PBassAcidJazz]

Every amp (or perhaps speaker) I’ve owned has some degree of hiss. How bad is it?