[bcresci]

Doing some experimenting with the equipment I have on hand while I acquire some additional pieces. My testing config is:

Guitar -> Line 6 X3 Live (1/4" output) -> Trio -> Valverb (in the Trio's effects loop) -> line in on a Crate G60 (should be bypassing the preamp).

When I turn the drive or volume on the Valverb past 50% I get an AWFUL noise coming out of the speaker - this is even when I am not playing a note, merely adjusting the levels.

This isn't the exact setup I will use live, but wondered if anyone knows why I'm getting the noise?

[RiverRat]

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[deadguise]

I get an awful noise everytime I plug in too, but I blame it on the drummer...

[bcresci]

I have a drummer and bass player who I would be happy to blame if they were in the room.

Thanks for the suggestions, RiverRat. I will try all those. My guess is bad cables - they are both cheap and old.

[RiverRat]

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[playingdead]

You may just be introducing too much gain into the tube circuit of the Valverb. If you are sending a hot signal out of the Line 6 into the Trio, then sending a hot signal out of the Trio into the Valverb, that's a lot of gain right there. How much is the LED on the Valverb lighting when you are playing? Just on the peaks or constantly? You can also control how hot the signal out of the Trio is to the effects loop by adjusting the level control on the back panel.

(Too much gain can be a problem in the Scream channel of the Trio, as well, if you dime the gain, you can get a screeching feedback whine out of it even without a guitar plugged in.)

The Valverb owners manual says the front panel input is "primarily for guitar" and the rear input is "primarily for rack equipment." I'm not sure whether that means the front is instrument level and the back is line level, you might check and see if there is a difference, unless you are already using the rear jack.

I had a Valverb in the effects loop of my Trio before I got the Real Tube Reverb and it sounded great, very quiet.

I think if you do some experimenting with the levels out of the Trio and the gain and volume on the Valverb you will find the sweet spot where it is very quiet and the reverb sounds rich and full. I did not use it the way Groove Tubes recommends, which is to set the Valverb fully wet and then adjust the effects loop mix on the Trio; I found it better and quieter to set the Trio with the effects loop mix fully on, and then use the reverb level on the Valverb to dial in the reverb. I also liked the additional tube warmth it gave my guitar.

I think I would investigate the Valverb first by just using it in the Trio's effects loop on its own. Plug the guitar into the Trio, and the output of the Trio into your power amp and see how it sounds.

You may also have a bad tube in the Valverb, try swapping those ... lotsa screws, though!

Hope that helps!

[bcresci]

Turns out this may be another case of user error. User error seems to show up in many of my experiments but I haven't nailed down the root cause of it yet.

I took the Line 6 completely out of the mix -> same issue.
Guitar -> Valverb -> Amp...this gave me rich, luscious reverb.

So I re-read Vic's post and started tinkering.

In the original setup I had the Trio's Preamp Out jack going to the speaker amp with the Valverb in the Trio's effects loop. When I switched so that it was the Mixed Output jack on the Trio going to the speaker amp (Valverb still in Trio effects loop)....voila. Problem solved.

So....my guess is that the mixed output jack leverages the effects loop, but the pre-amp out on the Trio doesn't. Is this correct?

If that's the case, then why would tinkering with the Valverb levels have caused sound issues... wouldn't the whole effects loop have been bypassed?

Vic...you know the Trio well. Any thoughts.

[playingdead]

As I recall ... the preamp out on the Trio is just the Trio's output, with no signal from the effects loop mixed in at all.

The mixed output is the Trio with the effects loop mixed in as much as you have it dialed in with the control on the back.

I'm not sure why you would have had the problem the way you described, unless you got some really fierce feedback loop happening with the Valverb that was overwhelming the effects loop circuit in the Trio and bleeding into the outputs.

Here's a link to the Trio's manual:

http://www.groovetubes.com/assets/1719_Trio_Manual.pdf

Might shed some more light ... glad you got it sounding good, though!