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Newbie Head/Cab and Bass question

F

frenchy750

Apr 6, 2026
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12
#1
Hello,

I am a 56 year old bass guitar *absolute beginner* with a question.

I recently scored a new (to me) rig for a ridiculously cheap amount of money... Hooray for FB Marketplace! The gear consists of a GK Legacy 500 head, SWR Goliath III and SWR Son of Bertha cabinets.

My bass is an Ibanez Soundgear with active Bartolinis.

My issue is there is a loud hiss coming from the cabinets whenever the bass is plugged in with the active switch on. The cabs are silent when nothing is plugged in. Trimming the horn volume cleans up the hiss, but I like the way the bass sounds with the horns dialed up a little bit.

IS there anything I can do to clean up the hiss but keep the high end?


IMG_0377.JPG
 
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#2
frenchy750 said:
Hello,

I am a 56 year old bass guitar *absolute beginner* with a question.

I recently scored a new (to me) rig for a ridiculously cheap amount of money... Hooray for FB Marketplace! The gear consists of a GK Legacy 500 head, SWR Goliath III and SWR Son of Bertha cabinets.

My bass is an Ibanez Soundgear with active Bartolinis.

My issue is there is a loud hiss coming from the cabinets whenever the bass is plugged in with the active switch on. The cabs are silent when nothing is plugged in. Trimming the horn volume cleans up the hiss, but I like the way the bass sounds with the horns dialed up a little bit.

IS there anything I can do to clean up the hiss but keep the high end?


View attachment 7468638
Click to expand...
Honestly, probably not much unless your location in relation to the amp has an effect on how you hear the hiss. But that's usually hum more than hiss. Have you tried a different bass?
 
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#3
Monster rig. Some amps, and some GKs including the Legacy 500 which I also own, have a subtle hiss when they're on, but it's low enough to not be a deal breaker at all. It's very low level, and does not increase as you turn the amp up. So if the amp is functioning normally....likely must be the bass if it's as loud as you say. I agree, try another bass first, and go from there.
 
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#4
Not really. GK's have this hitting the rails topology. The usage of this amp is also live music and it becomes a non issue there They will always be hiss.

Also some amps even amps designed for acoustic instruments like my Acoustic Image series 3 Focus R, there is hiss or whoosh when the Master Volume is below 1/3 it's travel. SO that means I keep my input low when I am practicing in the evening if I am bothered by that. Since this amp is supposedly 1000 watts at 2 ohms and 800 watts at 4 ohms, I couldn't really risk blowing my 300 watt 4 ohm speaker so I tolerate the whoosh .

Or since many of us has been playing for a long time in loud environments have probably high frequency hearing loss ::D, so we are saying just live with it.

BTW my other Acoustic Image head does not have a Whoosh or Hiss as the other one. It is rated at 600 watts .
 
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#7
frenchy750 said:
My bass is an Ibanez Soundgear with active Bartolinis.

My issue is there is a loud hiss coming from the cabinets whenever the bass is plugged in with the active switch on.
Click to expand...
So, if the bass is in passive mode the amp doesn’t hiss? If so it could be the onboard electronics in the bass.

If you could plug the bass into some other amp system you could see if the problem carries over. Or scare up another bass (or an electric guitar) and try plugging it into your amp to see if the hiss is still there.

And congrats on picking up the bass - hope it gives you much groove and enjoyment!
 
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#8
frenchy750 said:
Hello,

I am a 56 year old bass guitar *absolute beginner* with a question.

I recently scored a new (to me) rig for a ridiculously cheap amount of money... Hooray for FB Marketplace! The gear consists of a GK Legacy 500 head, SWR Goliath III and SWR Son of Bertha cabinets.

My bass is an Ibanez Soundgear with active Bartolinis.

My issue is there is a loud hiss coming from the cabinets whenever the bass is plugged in with the active switch on. The cabs are silent when nothing is plugged in. Trimming the horn volume cleans up the hiss, but I like the way the bass sounds with the horns dialed up a little bit.

IS there anything I can do to clean up the hiss but keep the high end?


View attachment 7468638
Click to expand...
Which precise model of Ibanez do you have? It should be stamped onto the back of the headstock, something like “SR400e.”

I remember the Bartolini BH2 pickups that came stock in my SRC6MS having very little high end and a whole lot of noise, and of course they only got noisier when boosting the highs. I can imagine them getting distractingly noisy using horns or tweeters, but I don’t use them.

Forgive me if you already know this, but “active” basses often use passive pickups with onboard, battery-powered preamps (as was the case with my SRC6MS with the BH2 pickups). Active pickups have preamps within them and require battery power to produce any significant output (such as the EMG pickups I have in the SRC6MS now). Many Bartolini pickups are active, but not all. Yes, it’s very confusing 🫤 you will know for certain the pickups themselves are active if you remove the battery and it drastically reduces output.
 
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#10
My guess is that the preamp either isn’t that great or is faulty. It’s an opportunity to get a better preamp! Or just play in passive mode and use the amp controls for tone shaping, which should be pretty easy given the amount of tone shaping SWR amps have available. Nice rig!
 
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#15
LOVE the Goliath III.

I used that same 410 & 115 combo (With SWR head) for a few years (also w Ibanez Basses), until I BLEW the 115. (Could not tell when I actually blew it, as most of the sound always came from the Delicious GIII 410). Replacement 115 speaker would have cost almost as much as I paid for the cab, so I just stuck w the 410, which was STILL awesome (if not better) sounding than the 410 WITH the 115.

As others said, likely the bass (or cable/Battery etc).

:thumbsup:


:cigar:
T$
 
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#16
Hi @frenchy750, welcome to the wonderful world of bass!

If you’re an absolute beginner, you may not realize it, but most active basses have tone controls that boost and cut. If you feel a little “click” in the middle of the knob rotation, that’s almost certainly what you have.

Sometimes players who are new to active instruments will habitually turn all of the knobs all the way up, which is common practice for passive instruments. But if you do that on an active instrument you’re actually getting maximum boost for the EQ knobs. And if you turn up the treble knob to maximum, you will definitely hear the hiss through a cab with a tweeter.
 
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#17
ctmullins said:
Hi @frenchy750, welcome to the wonderful world of bass!

If you’re an absolute beginner, you may not realize it, but most active basses have tone controls that boost and cut. If you feel a little “click” in the middle of the knob rotation, that’s almost certainly what you have.

Sometimes players who are new to active instruments will habitually turn all of the knobs all the way up, which is common practice for passive instruments. But if you do that on an active instrument you’re actually getting maximum boost for the EQ knobs. And if you turn up the treble knob to maximum, you will definitely hear the hiss through a cab with a tweeter.
Click to expand...
This is exactly what I have. I will experiment with changing the settings and see if it helps... Thanks!
 
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#20
Gervais Cote said:
Try your kit with another bass and if the hiss is still there, it’s probably your amp head and there might not be much to do.

I had "normal" hiss with GK and Hartke amps and I now use some class D Traynor heads that are dead quiet.
Click to expand...
I tried with another bass with similar pickups and had the same hiss issue. May in fact be the head or the horns on the cabs...
 
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