Archon 50 watt mk 2 head effects loop hum

[Read774]

Hi, I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this issue and has a resolution but the effects loop hum on this head is driving me nuts. I absolutely love the amp and playing live/rehearsing it wont be a problem as volume levels will drown out the hum, but playing it at normal home volume its really annoying and playing clean at low volumes isn't doable such is the level of hum.

I've only had the amp new for about a month (bought it from Andertons here in the UK) and I love the tone out of it so its not going anywhere but its a pain in the arse to have a new amp with this issue. I troubleshot all my pedals, leads, isolated power supply (hot stone), and as soon as I plug any lead into the loop the hum kicks in, and its not a hum that the noise gate can remove.

Is power supply related/mod/fixable, or have I just got a dodgy one?

Thanks, Ben.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Hi Ben

What have Andertons said about this?

I know you don’t want to, but it might be a return to dealer issue.

Welcome, if I hadn’t said so before.

 

[Read774]

Thanks, it's something I worked through trouble shooting late last night and thought I'd pick people's brains on here given the time of night. I'd picked up a Carl Martin switcher and had been adding pedals to my setup so once I'd got it wired up properly I noticed the noise and worked through all the options. Why I didn't notice first off that as soon as I plugged a cable in the effects loop it kicked in is beyond me. Could have saved me hours.

I'll contact andertons I think. Thanks for the reply

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Probably best.

FX loops can be the “devils spawn” sometimes. The loop on my Mesa 22 doesn’t work. I’ve stopped trying to get it going after 30 years

 

[alantig]

The loop on my Mesa 22 doesn’t work. I’ve stopped trying to get it going after 30 years

Quitter.

 

[Read774]

Hi Ben,

Thankyou for your enquiry.

Unfortunately this is a very widely reported issue with these amplifiers.

I am afraid that this is a characteristic of all of these amplifiers and there is not a way to bypass it.

We are able to get this amp back for a repair & to be looked at if you wish, but it may be possible that it is an issue that might not be fully resolved.

Please let us know how you wish to proceed.
Kind regards,
Scott Lawson
Guitar Specialist
Sales & Customer Service Team

 

[Read774]

So apparently this is a well known issue with them. As it's new I'm thinking of sending it in to see if they can do anything with it, then I'm also thinking I'll be without it a while and it might not be any better, and I'm not getting rid anyway. It's manageable and not an issue at high volume.

 

[Prina]

I have the Archon 25 combo and the effects loop is, in my opinion, the worst design defect of Archons. It's noisy because because the effects return is at full volume gain and there's no way to turn it down.

So any noise, whether it's from hum or any other part of the signal chain, will be very loud relative to your signal unless, as you noted, you're running the amp master at full volume. As you noted it's a well known issue. @Black Plaid had success using a Morley volume pedal before the return to decrease the hum. I tried that without success.

Best of luck.

 

[deathworlder]

Probably best.

FX loops can be the “devils spawn” sometimes. The loop on my Mesa 22 doesn’t work. I’ve stopped trying to get it going after 30 years

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Quitter.

People’s Popular Front

“You can take our FX loops, but you’ll never take our…..”

 

[DreamTheaterRules]

It's interesting that a dealer "acknowledged" that this was an ongoing problem. The original Archon's had a loop issue, but that was addressed years ago. I haven't heard of any issue with the loops on the new versions.

So rather than accept this, I suggest you use the normal loop noise chasing methods to correct it.

 

[László]

Effects loops were invented by the dark side of The Force.

 

[S2C22]

Sounds like a poor/faulty design, to me.. I'm debating buying a 50 watt head, but reading these loop issues is a major turn-off..

 

[DreamTheaterRules]

Sounds like a poor/faulty design, to me.. I'm debating buying a 50 watt head, but reading these loop issues is a major turn-off..

Just note that despite the complaints, many of us have had no noise issues with either V1 or V2 Archons, once we traced and removed or remedied the pedals in the loop that were causing the noise. They don’t hum just because you put a pedal in there. They just amplify any hum you introduce with the loop pedal chain.

 

[Read774]

Well my hum was introduced as soon as I plugged a solitary lead into the loop without connecting a pedal so that's not true of my experience. All I would say is that if you've brought the amp to crank at a decent volume you won't notice the hum anyway, and the overdriven channel is mint so don't rule it out!

 

[MarcWink]

I don't have the MkII head, but I do have the combo version. My loop does exhibit some hum, but it's easily reigned in by a Boss NS-2 at the end of the signal chain before the effects return.

 

[S2C22]

I don't have the MkII head, but I do have the combo version. My loop does exhibit some hum, but it's easily reigned in by a Boss NS-2 at the end of the signal chain before the effects return.

I have an ISP Decimator II.

I went ahead and bought the head. I got a deal on it, well under new, and it is brand new, so we'll see.

They seem to recommend a seriously cold bias, so I'm anxious to see what the plate voltage is with a probe. I'm going to try some KT77's, and a mix of preamp tubes. If it's loaded with all JJ's in the preamp, there's your dark tone everyone speaks of. I find an all JJ preamp section quite bland as well. I'll get a Tungsol in V1, and a couple other experiments.. I dig the unique tone, but I'm willing to bet I can improve it even more!

 

[S2C22]

Well my hum was introduced as soon as I plugged a solitary lead into the loop without connecting a pedal so that's not true of my experience. All I would say is that if you've brought the amp to crank at a decent volume you won't notice the hum anyway, and the overdriven channel is mint so don't rule it out!

I put an ECC82 in the loop slot, and problem was solved. It was a JJ, and equivalent to a 12AU7. I think the gain factor of a 12AX7 is part of the problem. I only had a slight audible hum/hiss, and like you, I don't believe it was the pedal at all. I think that tube's gain factor definitely played a role.