Bogner Uber Ultra 150W KT88 : Noise Issue?

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50WEST

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A few weeks ago I got a one of the new 150 Watt Uber Ultras from Sweetwater. Turned it on, and the noise squealing, hiss etc. made the amp almost unusable. I checked the preamp tubes via the old tap with a pencil method. I tried every everything I could think of but the noise wouldn’t go away.

Sweetwater sent out another amp, so I currently have 2 of them here. The replacement amp is a little quieter, but still demonstrating the same constant high pitch squeal, noise etc.

Now I’m not a stranger to high gain amps… I have a ton of them, so I’m not a stranger to a high noise floor, but this seems a little excessive.

Has anyone here tried out the 150 Watt version, and had a similar experience? I realize it’s a possibility that I’m an idiot, and not doing something right, so I’m open to any advice! Thanks guys
 
Are you on the Uber channel with too much gain?
 
If you’re standing two feet in front of the amp with your guitar knob all the way up expecting it not to squeal and go wild then it’s not the amplifier that is the problem. Even 5150’s will do that. Gotta work the guitar volume knob and use right hand muting techniques.

With that said if it’s doing it with the guitar knob turned off but the guitar plugged in, have you tried a different outlet location in the house or a power conditioner?
 
glpg80 said:
If you’re standing two feet in front of the amp with your guitar knob all the way up expecting it not to squeal and go wild then it’s not the amplifier that is the problem. Even 5150’s will do that. Gotta work the guitar volume knob and use right hand muting techniques.

With that said if it’s doing it with the guitar knob turned off but the guitar plugged in, have you tried a different outlet location in the house or a power conditioner?
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Nope. 15 - 20 feet away. I have a 5150 right here that is much, much quieter on similar settings.
 
Is there a wireless router nearby? Could possibly be the issue.
 
pipboy90 said:
Is there a wireless router nearby? Could possibly be the issue.
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Not really close by, and my other amps are not exhibiting this problem… Diezel, Mesa, Peavey, even my Twin Jet. I’m running through a Furman P-2400 AR, so I don’t think power is the issue. I’ve used multiple guitars, and cables, speaker cables, cabs.
 
It is a noisy amp. Also probably has more gain on tap than any amp I’ve heard. I just run a fortin Zuul in the loop and it’s dead quiet.
 
Did you try a noise gate in the loop and make sure the loop is activated? The KT88 that I had and now the 6L6 I currently own do not have this issue.
 
You try swapping the preamp tubes for that channel?
 
Apex1Rg7X said:
Did you try a noise gate in the loop and make sure the loop is activated? The KT88 that I had and now the 6L6 I currently own do not have this issue.
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That’s interesting. I’m going to put a Zuul in the loop here in a bit.
 
I have an Uber Ultra and can confirm it can be noisy if you set the gain high.

What are your settings? The thing about this amp is that the Gain knob's taper is huge and has to be built for every gain setting. So if you activate Channel 2 and set it to the highest gain mode, Ultra mode, and then you activate the internal boost, you're only going to be able to turn the Gain up to about 9:30 or 10:00 before there's so much compression and distortion that your noise floor is literally as loud as your guitar's signal, which is going to be noisy as hell.

Basically, when you can dial in as much gain as the UU will let you, noise is going to be unavoidable, it's just physics.

The first thing I'd recommend is to turn the Gain down and see if that fixes it while not really impacting your tone. You'd be surprised. Next, if that really just doesn't work, I'd look at getting some kind of side-chain noisegate like the ISP Decimator GString, where the noisegate itself is located in the amp's effects loop so it can truly gate the full sound of the preamp, but it's activated by the direct guitar signal itself so it has enough dynamic signal info from the guitar that the gate is still able to work without choking out your sound.
 
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I had the same issue with my kt88 one when I had it- if i used ultra mode it squealed like mad- not sure whether its an amp issue or what
 
FWIW I can use Ultra mode on mine without a noise issue as long as I don't blast up the Gain knob to unusable levels.

If any amp squeals though, that's probably more an issue with the pickups and their physical position relative to the amp, not the amp itself.
 
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TheGreatGreen said:
FWIW I can use Ultra mode on mine without a noise issue as long as I don't blast up the Gain knob.

If any amp squeals though, that's probably more an issue with the pickups, not the amp.
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I agree, but it happens with like 10 different guitars with passive & active pickups…
 
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