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.