Try adjusting the cut knob ?Ok, mine hiss pretty loud. It's like taking an old 100 watt tube amp off of standby. It has lower lows and higher highs than my Atomic CLRs. They kind of remind me of the friedmans. I got ear fatigue pretty quick at stage volume. Must be those tweeters. It does sound pretty good but I just love my CLRs the best. I love the looks and angle with the kickback stands and the handle is great for carrying and also the controls are nice on top. I might send them back but I'm going to give them another chance tomorrow.
I am now noticing a little more hiss with the FR-12 than the PXMs. It's still slight but it's definitely noticeable. The cut knob does reduce it. But I have to be pretty close to the speaker to hear it. From about 8' away I can't hear it
Redd.. how close to the FR12 do you have to be to hear the hiss?Ok, mine hiss pretty loud. It's like taking an old 100 watt tube amp off of standby. It has lower lows and higher highs than my Atomic CLRs. They kind of remind me of the friedmans. I got ear fatigue pretty quick at stage volume. Must be those tweeters. It does sound pretty good but I just love my CLRs the best. I love the looks and angle with the kickback stands and the handle is great for carrying and also the controls are nice on top. I might send them back but I'm going to give them another chance tomorrow.
I can hear it at about 20ft away.Redd.. how close to the FR12 do you have to be to hear the hiss?
wow.. some say 1ft, some say 20 ft. sounds to me like Fender has a quality control issue with the FR12.I can hear it at about 20ft away.
Yes agreed. I’m going to hold off and see what Fender do about it.wow.. some say 1ft, some say 20 ft. sounds to me like Fender has a quality control issue with the FR12.
Probably the EV, but that could be adjusted by the eq in your patch.Between the EV PXM and the FR12, which one cuts through the mix better? Or about the same in that regard?
The hiss is really low in my office/man cave. Slightly more than the EV. It will not be noticeable at rehearsal or at gigs.Is there any hiss at all or is it so low that you don't have an issue with it?
My FR-12 just arrived yesterday and there is a slight hiss but it doesn't bother me. I am also using the high cut at around 10:00 which reduces the hiss even more. I'm been following this hiss discussion and it appears everyone is experiencing some level of hiss, I just need to make a decision on if there is a "bad batch" out there or if @WKSmith 's design findings are the real reason for the hiss. At this point the hiss is minimum for me and I will not be sending mine back to see if the next one is even better.
And yes this unit sounds really good.
I wonder if this could be nothing more than a component tolerance issue in the EQ section? Mine are relatively quiet while others say it is objectionable.There isn't a bad batch .
I believe there will be a lot of returns turned into Bstock at a discount from the returns and refunds at big box stores. Mostly because the hiss is minimal and is not an issue for most folks, but some people will return them or exchange them chasing that myth.
There is a slight chance that there is a
jfet / bias current issue or part failure... But that is looking like a very long shot after getting deep into her hissy places
I would seriously buy another FR-12 today, hiss and all... if I wasn't buying another BadCat head in about a week. But that's another story for another day.
There is a jfet at the end of the eq chain into a voltage follower . If it is a faulty component, I would look at that.I wonder if this could be nothing more than a component tolerance issue in the EQ section? Mine are relatively quiet while others say it is objectionable.
That’s what I get on my FR-10 so it’s not unusual.Wow that’s mad
It's getting enough complaints to have an "official" response.Hey all. This is what Fender say:
We understand your concern and in this instance, the level of hiss you refer to is to be expected. The amplifier creates 1000 Watts of audio output. At “idle”, the level of the background sonic output is much greater than guitarists typically hear from any conventional amplifier. The FR amplifiers also have a 1-inch, wide dispersion, high-frequency driver, something the majority of guitarists are not at all familiar with having in their amplifiers. This driver handles only the highest of frequencies, so at idle it is obviously emitting a level of pure, high frequencies.
A direct correlation is that the sound of a high-performance automobile at idle is considerably greater than the sound of a family car at idle. The same concept applies here, in that the Tone Master FR amplifiers are hugely capable and purposely designed for stage use. They will easily out-perform any challenger and to do so requires a great deal of “muscle”, which is what you hear at idle.
Yes. This is most likely what they have been told to reply with.It's getting enough complaints to have an "official" response.