aschmidt21

Thanks again. And sorry to be redundant -- wasn't sure who read what, so just covering my bases.

"I have noticed some noise when i sit too close my computer, try move away from any electric things and see if it helps. Its also important to have a good quality cable to your guitar. I noticed big differences between good and bad cables." I got the cable when I bought my amp -- Neutrik -- per the salesman's recommendation. Is that good -- or good enough? If not, what do you suggest?

"Sounds like the compression is on and cranked to boost volume way up - when you switch patches, you're not playing, only line noise coming through so it gets boosted. You can turn the compression down (or off) and/or adjust the noise gate." Thanks. I've come across comments about the "noise gate" in several places -- where do I find it on the Spider IV 30? I've looked around back and stuck my head inside, but nothing obvious announces itself.

"I've taken people's advice on this and let the master volume do most of the work. I set all of my channels volumes to 50% or less and then adjust the master as needed. I'm my opinion there is a balance between that you need to find. If master and channel are both cranked, you'll get noise, if channel is cranked be and master isn't it sounds overpushed or forced and messy. If channel is too low and master is cranked, it sounds choked and weird. 40 -50% channel seems to be the best for me. It let's the amp channel breath and sound how it should without making master too touchy to adjust." Thanks, I'll try those various settings and see how it sounds. Appreciate the input.

"As to the noise when switching presets, that's a new one on me, but may be due to the loud channel volume setting on each preset. Are you using a guitar with single coil pickups? (Strat, Tele, etc) These can be noisier than a dual-coil (humbucking) pickup." Don't know what sort of pick-ups I've got. I'm playing an Epiphone Joe Pass, am new to amps -- my b.g.'s in classical -- and coming to realize that "playing" the amp can be almost as complicated as playing the instrument itself :-). I have been messing with the settings, though, and getting some interesting tones. Still a bit frustrating, of course.

I have the Spider IV 30 -- the old model, with just four presets. When I change from one preset channel to another, on some channels I get hum/buzz/static, which disappears when I fiddle with the channel volume/drive knobs. Is this just one of those things that everyone experiences or can I adjust something to eliminate/minimize that? I also noticed that the volume differs from preset channel to channel -- goes way up or down as I switch. Any way to standardize the volume so that it remains the same as I change channels?

I'm playing at home, so trying to keep things relatively quiet, but I'd like to get the best sound possible from the various Spider setting options (I'm all over the map, jazz, rock, blues, country). Am I going to get better sound quality if I turn the channel volume up on the amp and down on the guitar, or down on the amp and up on my guitar. I've been messing around and amp down/guitar up sometimes seems better, but I'm not sure. And if that's the way to go, how far down on the amp should I turn the volume? So, simply put: which guitar volume and amp drive, channel volume, and bass/mid-range/treble settings will give me the best sound quality at low volume?

Can I ask a related question? I'm playing at home, so trying to keep things relatively quiet, but I'd like to get the best sound possible from the various Spider setting options (I'm all over the map, jazz, rock, blues, country). Am I going to get better sound quality if I turn the volume up on the amp and down on the guitar, or down on the amp and up on my guitar. I've been messing around and amp down/guitar up sometimes seems better, but I'm not sure. And if that's the way to go, how far down on the amp should I turn the volume? So, simply put: which amp/guitar channel volume and bass/mid-range/treble settings will give me the best sound quality at low volume? Also, when I do change from one preset channel to another, I often get hum/buzz/static, sometimes with a bit of feedback, which disappears when I fiddle with the channel volume/drive knobs. Is this due to my physical set up -- ie am I sitting too close to the amp with my guitar, or too close to the TV, etc. -- or is this just one of those things that everyone experiences?

Thanks, Mike, that helps (nice tunes, btw). Another question: when I select a tone,I sometimes have a hiss, less frequently feedback. This goes away if I mess with the volume or drive, but I wonder if it has to do with my physical set-up -- how close my guitar is to my amp, how close both are to other electronics in the room (TV). Or is this just one of those things that you deal with...?

Hi, all, when I got my Spider IV 30, I messed around with the original presets -- now I'd like to get them back. I have an amp with only four presets, not the newer one with many more. Any suggestions?