Wilco

Many thanks for your posts guys. Dood - tried your process. Connected active & passive basses into their respective inputs (separately obviously!) & amp hissed way merrily. Put a good instrument cable in the effects return socket & the hiss went (mind you, doing that muted the whole sound - was that to be expected?). Unplugged both basses & the hiss was still there. Didn't actually try it previously with nothing plugged in the front end - the hiss was quieter, starts getting noticeable at about 5 on the volume control, but to me, still way to loud at 7 (although will I ever need to have it that loud is another question.....). I think the basses are a contributing factor, particularly an active one, but as a couple of the other posts are saying their LH500's are silent I'm thinking I have a noisy pre-amp. As you say, possibly the valve is the guilty party. I've mentioned it to the retailer & he was going to get some advice from the distributor so I'll await their response & take it from there.

Hi All, I would be grateful to hear from anyone who uses one of these amps, particularly in relation to background 'hiss'. I had an Ashdown Little Giant 1000 which I loved until the thing recently went up in smoke The LG was virtually silent when on but not playing, with no audible hisses, pops crackles etc... Ashdown no longer make the LG so I had to look for an alternative & based on an internet full of positive reviews, I went for the Hartke LH500 which arrived today. The tone is fantastic & the thing has oodles of power, but to my ears it is quite hissy. This is dramatically increased when turning up the volume control rather than when the treble is increased which is the usual culprit for hiss. It's [i]very[/i] noticeable with the volume on 5 & over - get the volume knob to 7 & it's just hiss city! I've reduced the hiss by turning down the gain on the active Maverick basses, but it's still very noticeable even with the passive Fender plugged in. It may be just the way these amps are which is why I am keen to hear from any other users, or is it a preamp problem I've got (are these shipped with low quality valves does anybody know?) Any words of wisdom would be much appreciated. (nb: I live in a fairly new house so the electrics are good & I only use good quality cables. New speaker cables bought for this amp - Klotz cable with Neutrik jack plugs)

How the hell have I managed not to see this website before! I have been playing for 29 years (well actually there was like a 17 year non-playing break in there, & got back into all things bass about 4 years ago). Play in a local contemporary rock covers band (that's my mid-life crisis then!). Have three basses, two Maverick S5's & a Fender Geddy Lee Jazz. Recently bought a Hartke LH500 head which runs through two Ashdown Klystron cabs (a 2x10 & a 1x15). Effects wise, using a EH Bass Big Muff Pi which is awesome & on the look out for a decent tru-bypass chorus pedal (that doesn't add a load of electrical noise or the sound of waves washing ashore when it is activated!) Glad to be here!