Diezel Herbert vs SLO-100... sometimes it’s best not to meet your heroes.

[ChurchHill]

I haven't tried the JP2C, mostly because I've got the Mark III and Mark IV. I've been thinking about the IIC+ RI but haven't for the same reason.

I've got a Bogner and a Marshall SLP that have the transformer hum. With the Marshall, when I use it with a load box, I can actually hear the notes coming from the transformer. I've never had any problems with either and, as long as I keep the heads away from a mic, it doesn't bother me.

 

[belensky]

I haven't tried the JP2C, mostly because I've got the Mark III and Mark IV. I've been thinking about the IIC+ RI but haven't for the same reason.

I've got a Bogner and a Marshall SLP that have the transformer hum. With the Marshall, when I use it with a load box, I can actually hear the notes coming from the transformer. I've never had any problems with either and, as long as I keep the heads away from a mic, it doesn't bother me.

No, that load box noise is completely normal. Actually, if you had the cab in a separate completely silent room, you’d probably hear notes coming Fro the transformer just the same . Having the speakers in the same room just masks it.

What I mean by hum is that when you turn on the Herbert — even without playing anything, or even switching off standby — it has a lot of mechanical hum, like a huge nuclear power plant is running next to you. Well, nuclear plants don’t actually hum, but you get the idea.

 

[ChurchHill]

Yeah, I get the load box noise on most amps, but this one Marshall is really loud, much more so than any other.

Both the Marshall and the Bogner I mentioned hum from the transformers before flipping the standby switch. I can feel it when I touch the transformer's bell housing, which also dampens it a bit, but doesn't reduce it. It's definitely mechanical in nature and definitely coming from the power transformer just passing current through it as soon as I flip the power switch. I made sure that the bell housing and the transformer itself were attached tightly, but they are.

I think it's just a slightly loose winding and, as long as it doesn't wear through the insulation, it shouldn't be a problem. I think all transformers do this to a certain degree just because the current passing through the coils of wire creates a magnetic field that fluctuates at the same frequency as the alternating current power source. That causes anything magnetic within the magnetic field created by the current to vibrate at the same frequency unless there's something physically preventing it from moving.

 

[belensky]

Funny thing is, even though the Herbert is 180 watts, I barely warm up the Suhr Reactive Load if I run it at moderate volumes. I also tried plugging it into 2x Suhrs to really dime the Herbert, but I didn’t really like its power amp distortion. I mean, it’s not a Plexi lol.