Warwick Gnome (and other micro amps) fan noise and mod to cure it

[Johannes]

Sometimes I hear and read fellow bassists complaining about the fan noise these amps tend to have. My experiense is similar.
I have the smallest model Warwick Gnome for practising at home. It’s driving a markbass 12-inch wedge, 8 ohms so there is 130 W on tap, plenty for my practicing needs. Usually I use very modest volume but after a while playng its fan started to make really annoying and loud high-pitched whining noise. It is rather cheap amp so I didn’t care about voiding the warranty and decided to mod it. Original fan is a 12-Volt Crown-branded 30 mm fan. So I got the smallest high quality fan I could find, Noctua NF-A4x10 FLX, it is 40 mm and cost about 15€. First I removed the stock fan and drilled the holes on the top plate a bit larger. Then I removed the welded screw closer to the middle of the amp, it gives up easily by twisting it back and forth with pliers. Fixing it to the top needs some creativity, I managed it with the remaining screw and bolt, some heat-resistant glue, a twistable scrap metal piece and self-made silicone washers. 
When started, Gnome gives only couple of volts to the fan. Voltage raises according the temperature. Noctua kicks in at about 6 volts. It moves much more air than the stock one. After this mod it has been really quiet, even after playing long session I must take my ear few inches to the exhaust to hear it is spinning.

One thing puzzles me is the eq of this amp. For live gigs I use Markbass amp, . To get somehow similar sound like eq set flat  with mb You need  to set Warwick’s bass at 3 a clock and mid+ hi at 8 am. 
My biggest wish is the ability to choose d.i. to be pre or post. By the way, gnome doesn’t need those (airflow obstructing) aluminium add-ons. Actuallylooks better without.

[Dan Dare]

1 hour ago, Johannes said:

One thing puzzles me is the eq of this amp. For live gigs I use Markbass amp, . To get somehow similar sound like eq set flat  with mb You need  to set Warwick’s bass at 3 a clock and mid+ hi at 8 am. 

 

"flat" is very much a notional concept. The fact that the dials are at midday/neutral means little. The sound depends on how the amp designer voiced the preamp. MB are anything but flat in my experience. I'm partial to the sound they make, but "flat" they ain't.