Rebel 30 owners - help with hissing?!

[Waxhead]

Same noise/hiss issue. Swapped ALL the tubes, cables, power, etc.

It's a design or component issue. Maybe Egnater addressed this issue in later runs but doesn't acknowledge it publicly anyway.

Calling Egnater was no help at all. I'm sure he's a great guy and great builder.

If anyone has a solution please share otherwise this amp is gonna go and leaving me one dissatisfied customer.

ALL tube amps have some white noise hiss / humm. Some more than others.
All gain pedals produce a hiss too.
A normally operating R30 has less hiss than most tube amps imo.... it's a pretty quiet amp.
That's why Egnater Corp are not so interested in this issue I assume.
As soon as you start playing no-one can hear it anyway but if you don't like it ................
Reducing hiss is easy -

Method 1 - swap both preamp & power tubes to quieter one's
On the R30 this will also significantly improve tones as well so I recommend it to all R30 owners.
Doug from http://www.dougstubes.com recommended the following tubes for the R30.

Preamp
Sovtek WB in V1,
Penta Labs in V2 and V3,
Ruby AC5 select in V4
Sovtek LP in V5.

Power amp
JJ EL84s
Tung-Sol 6V6's

They did exactly what Doug said they would.
These tubes will cut hiss by 60-70%, significantly improve tones thru the whole range and increase gain at the top end.
Will cost you around $110.

Method 2 - if you then want to run 100% silent with gain cranked get a Noise Suppressor pedal like an ISP Decimator or MXR Smart Gate

I tried a few different tube options. One set was almost exactly like what you suggest and the noise never went away.

hehehe - you said "almost" so......hehe....I was almost pregnant once
And the noise never went away huh.
Mine went 60%-70% away with those exact tubes.
If I'd used almost the same tubes the noise probly would have almost gone away

 

[bbrodie]

I have to say my Rebel 20 is pretty quiet on its own. My single coil pickups on my 72 Strat and P-90's introduce some hum. My Humbucker equipped guitars are pretty quiet.
The fact is if it ain't hissing, it ain't a tube amp. I don't really no any that are dead quiet. I've owned plenty of different manufacturers. I've been playing for 45 years.
They don't make tubes like they used to. They used to be built to military spec, that's why some of the old tubes could last for decades. I find NOS tubes to be quieter too.
I don't expect newer production tubes to last real long or be that quiet. Same goes for capacitors and other electronic components. Illinois Caps are not made in Illinois, I believe they're made in Taiwan. They're made cheaply as are many of today's electronic components.

 

[Len Rabinowitz]

I have a Rebel 30 combo and a Renegade head with Tourmaster 212 cab. The Rebel 30 is definitely noisier. I knew it going in to buying that, so it isn't an issue for me. It's just a noisier amp. Not an issue at gigs- you don't hear it above the background noise. Might be an issue with recording, but even there I suspect it won't be. Nothing a little noise gate couldn't solve anyway.

The Rebel has much less sophisticated volume controls then the Renegade. On the Rebel, the volume seems to be "up front" and "right there" when you turn it on, as opposed to the much more sophisticated gain staging on the Renegade. That might be pushing more noise out of it.

Tubes are noisy, that's all it is. Different tubes will reduce it but you will never eliminate it.