New Yamaha SLB 300 owner.

[Charles Tomaras]

Hi,

I'm a sound engineer/mixer with a living room jazz recording setup and I decided I wanted a "house" bass on hand. Bought the SLB 300. Love the sound of the bass but cannot believe the noise floor (hi frequency hiss) when the SRT preamp is turned on. Probably wouldn't be an issue in a live performance but in the studio with an amp near an open piano lid, I am not digging the noise floor. Yamaha does/will not provide electrical specs for the SRT preamp. Have been in conversation with their warrantee folks, got professional measurements of the noise issue today and am curious if anyone else notices a big mid to high end noise floor from the preamp? They sent a second bass to my dealer and it sounds exactly the same. NOT studio grade electronics.

Anyone else here have experience with the SLB 300? If so, does yours noise up when you turn on the SRT?

 

[magicmerv]

@Charles Tomaras I have recently bought one and this past weekend had a play on it for the first time. I too had a hi frequency hiss when SRT is on. Hiss is not there when SRT is off. It is quite audible and increases in volume as you turn the volume up. Not good for any playing situation!!

I have a Genzler bass acoustic array amp which has a column of tweeters on the front. These accentuate the high frequencies to provide clarity for acoustic double bass. With the SLB 300 the only way to reduce most of the hiss was to turn the treble dial all the way off (cut all treble). I will try it with a speaker that does not have a tweeter. That may make a difference. Still should not have to do this for a bass at this quality and price point.

Anyone else experience similar?

Just realised this is on the electric bass side. Have posted in double bass side. May get more response.

 

[pasmithy]

I'm having the same problem. I'm hoping someone comes up with a solution like they did with the Ampeg PF50t, I went the cheap route and bought from Japan. So I'm a little stuck I think. Luckily for my purposes and the price I paid, (I'm alright playing straight from the piezo in to my external preamp) I'm satisfied enough. Still would be nice plugging straight in to an amp.

Just realised this is on the electric bass side. Have posted in double bass side. May get more response.

Definitely... Over on the Double Bass side, most are reporting quiet SLB300's.

 

[ClusterFlux]

Yes, this is a known issue.

If you're recording, you should be able to eliminate that type of white noise and hum using software noise reduction. Most DAWs have something built in, and there are 3rd party options as well.

 

[pasmithy]

Thanks @ClusterFlux ! I'm still reading through all the threads to get some ideas. There's a couple guys that mentioned the problem years ago and are still using the bass. So I'm assuming there's ways to make it better.

 

[TimothyGroovy]

I'm experiencing the same problem. To achieve a volume level sufficient for an arena gig that accommodates both the FOH and IEM board, the hiss is quite unbearable. I've tried using various noise gates and high-frequency cuts with my Quad Cortex, but I'm still not satisfied with the results. I really hope Yamaha can address this issue so I can enjoy playing this bass again.

 

[Reissueplayer]

I tried a noise gate which worked, but the hiss was still unacceptable while notes were sounding. I just got the LR Baggs Para preamp, plugged in with the Yamaha preamp off and this was a whole lot better. Plenty of signal, no hiss whatsoever. It may be a solution for anyone googling this.

Before this, the noise floor was so high, it discouraged me from playing at all. This is no longer the case and i am happy.

 

[Luke Winter]

I just bought an SLB300 and I have the same problem. The noise starts around 2 kHz, so cutting it with a filter robs the instrument of its sound. This level is unacceptable, not only in the studio but especially on a live stage. I've watched a few videos of musicians playing this instrument, and nobody mention it. The instrument itself sounds quite good with this system, but it's probably not worth the price just for practice. Has anyone tried modifying this preamp themselves?