TM 36 combo “static” type noise

TSC says all tubes are fine. Noticeable with higher gain as a note decays naturally ... right at the tail there is a static or interference that just ruins the sound quality. Any help is appreciated. I loved the amp until this became apparent when recording with a Shure SM57 in the studio. Yeah I know use the redbox but I replaced the speaker with a WGS Reaper and it sounds badass.

Any help is appreciated. Thx.

Hi Biker. welcome here, hope we can help. I would never say use the Redbox to someone who knows they prefer a live sound, I'm the same myself. I have a TM36 and a GM36 and I can't ever remember using it on either.

Let's rule out something obvious first. Just swap the two preamp valves and see if the nature of the noise changes. If it does then you need a replacement preamp valve. Nothing exotic, just solid. There is a great thread on valve swaps on the GM36 forum. Look from about Page#5, post#122.

TSC only reports on the output valves, the preamp ones are always fixed bias and don't need any adjusting. If your amp is still under warranty and you are not aware of the correct opening procedure to keep the warranty void pads intact, let us know and we'll talk you through it.

Yeah I figured before opening the thing up and start swapping valves around I would just ask to see if it was a known issue somehow. Also I know nothing about the warranty void pads… What is the deal with that? And thanks for the help!

All you need to do is take the top cover off by unscrewing the screws on each end cap. Take the top two out completely. Take the rear silver handle screw out completely and leave the front one alone, it only holds the handle onto the end cap. Now only unscrew the bottom two screws a turn or two until the end cap can lean outwards and allow you to take off the cover. If you unscrew the bottom screws too much there is an anti-tamper tag inside which gets detached. Don't worry, there is plenty of leeway and it only takes a couple of turns to get the lid off.

While you are taking it off have a look at the fitting of the LED strip along the top of the acrylic front panel, you will have to make sure that is correctly positioned and clipped on when you put it back together. It's then easy to take out the valves and swap them. Always refit them in their original positions after testing to keep the amp as it was when it sounded good. It's ok to test the amp with the lid off too as long as you keep kids, pets and fingers away from it.

Mine is the combo not just the head, but I will YouTube it and see what the proper technique is

Of course, sorry, I just plain missed that.    As long as you can get in at the valves just start with the swap and let us know what you find.  We can take it from there then.

Well I feel like a total dweeb. I spent some time today with my set up and realize my helix with the four cable method was the culprit. Apparently the noise gate was the cause of the weird static noise. As soon as I turned that off the issue went away. Of course that was after I took the back off the amp and swapped out some tubes and tried some different things. LOL. Anyway I worked on my settings boosting the kids and gainn and I am super happy with the way it sounds. Now I just have to get a new noise gate instead of using the one in the helix that was the root cause of the problem. doh.

Well I feel like a total dweeb. I spent some time today with my set up and realize my helix with the four cable method was the culprit. Apparently the noise gate was the cause of the weird static noise. As soon as I turned that off the issue went away. Of course that was after I took the back off the amp and swapped out some tubes and tried some different things. LOL. Anyway I worked on my settings boosting the mids and gain and I am super happy with the way it sounds. Now I just have to get a new noise gate instead of using the one in the helix that was the root cause of the problem. doh.

Hahaha! Don't worry yourself, that's really good news. It's always better to find the problem is the operator not the gear, it keeps your feet on the ground with a healthy sense of your own fallibility. We've all done things just like that ourselves.

It's strange that the Helix noise gate was the culprit though, I wouldn't have thought that a noise gate could have had that effect at all. Do you think it is a fault in your own Helix or some sort of incompatibility between the two units in general? I'm pretty sure that there are other Helix users on the site. I wonder if anyone else can reproduce anything like this?