bond19 Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 I have been learning as much as I can on how the outputs function on the Firehawk. I am getting frustrated with patches with overdrives/distortions. I am getting a considerable amount of excess crackling static. At first I thought it was a grounding problem, so I tried 3 different guitars, switched cables, and hooked up my power conditioner to my setup. None of this helped remove the unwanted sound. I am trying to figure out if my Firehawk is defective, and would like to ask someone if they can clear this up for me. I am plugged directly into the firehawk's "guitar in", and have headphones plugged into the phones jack. The output mode is set to "line". I am on factory patch 09D - Killer Queen. When I am not playing, there is excess crackle. I have been using a boss GT-10 for a few years and never had this kind of static on any patches. Thanks in advance for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbeddall Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 I don't have the unit so can't test but high gain stuff is always noisy, I always use the noise gate on lead patches Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bond19 Posted April 24, 2015 Author Share Posted April 24, 2015 Thanks, yes the noise gate helps on the high gain stuff, as well as the patches with alot of modulation, but as I said, there seems to be more excessive noise on the Firehawk over what I am used to seeing on similar patches for my GT-10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bond19 Posted April 24, 2015 Author Share Posted April 24, 2015 Thanks Mcbeddall for the input, I would still ask if someone can help me out by duplicating the above settings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bond19 Posted April 25, 2015 Author Share Posted April 25, 2015 Can any body check this out for me on their own Firehawk please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davebyers44 Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 Had my first gig last night with mine. Can't report any static. I'm not a high gain guy but use some overdrive in classic rock thing on some songs. Didn't have that experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverhead Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 I have tested your 9D Kiiler Queen preset. When I'm not playing it is totally silent. When playing it sounds to me like a normal high-gain tone. Not being a high gain player, that means that it sounds to me equally as noisy, fizzy and buzzy as any other high gain tone. For instance, I find it no more or less awful than its neighbour 9C Pull Me Under. I normally like the amp being used in 9D (the Vox A30 TB) but to me the combination of the Amp Drive nearly maxed, Master Vol at 100%, and the Tube Drive Gain very high all contribute to a tone that I would never use. So perhaps I am not the best judge. But by dialing down some of those settings I can get a very useable tone with no excessive noise or static. And as I said, the unmodified preset is totally silent when I'm not playing - no background noise whatsoever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bond19 Posted April 25, 2015 Author Share Posted April 25, 2015 Thanks for the input, I have been playing around with the noise gate as per mcbeddall's suggestion, and have brought down the unwanted noise down to where I can focus on songs, not noise. Still thinking there is a problem with my unit as others don't seem to have the same issues I have when using the same setup....... If anything I am getting into the tweaking of my unit more out of neccesity, which will pay off in the long run. Thanks again Silverhead, Davebyers44, and mcbeddall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbeddall Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 I sometimes run into noise issues with my Zoom pedal, and I always go through a set routine to find the culprit (if there is one) I start by rolling the guitar volume down slowly and asking myself is it better/worse Remove compression from the signal and again is it better/worse Remove other effects one by one Sometimes I'll find a particular effect is causing most of the noise and I can use a different effect or move it around the signal chain a little where it might seem less other times its just accumulative like each effect is adding a little noise and it becomes a massive hum The only other thing I can suggest is recording a clip of the noise while playing and not playing and the guys who have a firehawk could maybe compare it to what they are hearing on theirs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bond19 Posted April 25, 2015 Author Share Posted April 25, 2015 Yeah, I am continuing the trouble shooting, maybe reporting my problem via recording will shed light. Still rapping my head around the line vs. Amp setting. I get bad sound all around with the amp setting, and find that I have to crank the big knob up full to get any loud volume from my amp, so I am finding myself using the line setting for everthing I plug into, be it my amps, or direct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverhead Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 I would open a support ticket to work directly with Line 6 on this. You may have a faulty unit. I can't think of any reason that your amp output level should be that low for other than poorly designed presets. And the factory presets aren't that bad. You should also proceed with the suggestion of producing a recording. You can post it here for more feedback, and the techs responding to your support ticket would also find it diagnostically helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.