Haze 15 problems?

[Larry K]

Hi, I'm thinking about picking up the Haze 15 head. Does anyone know if they have as many problems as the Haze 40 does? I hear a lot about the combo but very little about the head. Thanks for any help you can give.

Larry K

 

[BCnSTL]

I've had mine for.......4 or 5 months now? No problems, very pleased with it.

Really, really, really, wish it had an FX loop but otherwise...happy.

 

[Larry K]

Thanks, thats good to hear. I hear about all the problems with the combo but have heard nothing about the head. Maybe the problems are with the combo then.

Larry K

 

[slowhand]

not to divert the main topic, but how do you guys like the tone? I do a little guitar teaching on the side and several students want my opinion on the combo but not had chance to try one yet. Have heard that some have reliability issues, but not heard what issues.

 

[thud33]

Bought a new MHZ15 about a month ago. Love the tones, but I have noticed two things:

1. At higher amp volumes, I get significant "crackling" sounds when moving the volume pots on my guitars. Now, the guitar pots may be somewhat dirty, but I don't pick these sounds up with any of my other amps.

2. Just yesterday I noticed the pilot lamp flickering a bit (maybe not a big deal, but this shouldn't be happening this soon).

Comments?

 

[thud33]

Slowhand, I'll try not to hi-jack this thread, but you asked about the sound. It is really outstanding, for both single-coils and humbuckers. But to me, the two channels are really like two different amps (not necessarily a bad thing, but if you are looking for the drive channel to be just a juiced version of the clean channel, that's not what you get with this).

Clean Channel: very smooth, glassy, bright and warm. Will yield great-sounding natural break-up at high volumes. Maybe as good a clean sound as you can get with a Marshall???

Drive Channel: Darker (but not muddy), beautiful Marshall crunch. Sounds pretty decent at low volumes, but again really beautiful grind when output tubes driven into saturation at high volumes.

Actually a pretty versatile amp. And I haven't even messed around yet with the built-in chorus & delay effects. Digital reverb is fine if you just want to "wet" your tone a bit. You won't go surfing with it.

 

[thud33]

Sorry, above comments on sound are about the Haze 15 head (haven't heard the combo).

 

[Larry K]

Thanks thud, I like what I have been hearing about this little head. It might just have to show up one day at my door.

Larry K

 

[thud33]

Yeah, it's a fun amp. And with reasonably efficient speakers, certainly loud enough for gigging -- maybe even an ideal amount of power for gigging. (I know it is sacrilege to say so, but I think even 50w Marshall tube amps are just too loud for most bars / clubs, at least when overdriven.). I am just stepping back from playing-out right now (need to get my kids through high school with their heads on straight), and I sold two 30w 4xEL84 heads and bought this for jamming & maybe some recording. I am going to return my unit for another, hoping that I will not get a repeat of that volume-pop phenomenon. But to be honest, if the next one that I get has the same issue, it's not a huge deal to me. It really would only be a problem if you were to change volume on the guitar in the midst of recording a song.

 

[BCnSTL]

Guess what? I noticed the red power-light flickering on mine too.

I really like the tone of my MHZ15 and I'll parrot what was said - the clean is pretty nice, I "goose" it a little with a dyna-comp just to get a hint of break-up when I dig-in.

The dirty channel is darkish, but articulate and s-m-o-o-t-h. I'll hit it with a clean-boost for additional 'oomph' and/or a screamer for added gain. Using the guitar volume control, the channels and 2 pedals I can go from chimey clean to super-grind. I just started to play with an MXR EQ pedal to see if I can add a hint of 'scoop' to the tonal pallete.

 

[thud33]

BCnSTL, thanks for your post. The flickering light, really, is no big deal; I take it that you have not experienced the volume "pop" phenomenon with the guitar volume control? I've only read about one other experience like this -- some guy in Europe wrote about it on Harmony Central.

Saw on another forum that you have replaced some tubes? Preamp and/or power? Any recommendations? Thanks again.

 

[BCnSTL]

RE: Tubes - I bought 2 RCA 6V6s and 3 "off brand" telefunkens (why not?). I like them better than the stock tubes: insert the usual adjectives used when describing 'good' tone here: cleans are chimier, distortion is smoother and more articulate etc. etc.

No pops or other anomalies of any kind.

Really, my only 'complaints' about the amp are: no FX loop (but this is minor as the only thing I'd typically run in there is a delay and the built-in delay is fine), and overall the sound is the sound - It has a nice, powerful, mid-range-forward, smooth, roar - there isn't a EL84-type grind, very 6V6 is flavored overdrvie (as you'd expect in a 6v6 based amp, duh).

It's tough to get any "scoop" happening and even dimed, the distoration isn't over-the-top. Very "rock" sounding, not metal at all (which is great for me but ymmv).

 

[Dawg76]

I've had my Haze 15 head for six months w/ no problems. According to Marshall, the preamp tubes are JJ's and the power tubes are Shuguang. I put an old RCA 7025 in V1, but have no other plans to re-tube. Love the OD channel.
The only thing I've noticed is the volume control has a spot where it's either a little too soft and a very slight movement in the knob makes it a little louder than I might want. Next trip to my amp tech, I might have him ck it out. All said, I recommend giving this head a tryout.

 

[Gblev]

Slowhand, I agree completely with thud33. On my 40, when I turn on the boost, while I'm on the OD channel, it is a totally different tone and a little brighter. The only problem I've noticed with mine so far, is when the effects are engaged, it sometimes pop's when I flip the stand by switch. I don't know about the "popping" issues with the footswitch either, because I've only used the footswitch a couple of times. Amazingly, it gets great tone at barly audible volumes, like; 0.5-1 (which is what I use at night when everyone else is sleeping.) Other than that, it is a great amp.

 

[thud33]

Received my replacement Haze 15 head, and this unit doesn't seem to exhibit the volume "pop" when the guitar volume pots are turned at high volume -- this is a relief! Looking forward to playing with the effects.

 

[drummer44]

Bought a Haze 15 full stack just before holidaze. While the system generally sounded good and the 3-piece format is good for old guys (distributed weight) and modest venues...

The Reverb and Effect Depth switches both caused a 74 dB buzz (approx 23 dB above noise floor) when in any ON position. The buzz frequency was somewhere between an A# and B. The clean and overdrive channels WITHOUT either reverb or effects were fine. Volume/gain switches did not impact the volume of the buzz.

Did all the usual checks for local interference (dimmers, flourescents, ground loop, etc.), no joy. Even powered it up using a UPS battery with no connection to building power, no change.

Tried to engage Marshall via the tech support link on their website; silence.

Returned the head for replacement, new unit came with same issue. Sent the whole system back.

FWIW, the MG15HFX mini-stack we use for practice doesn't have the same issue (so far).

-D44

 

[MKB]

The Reverb and Effect Depth switches both caused a 74 dB buzz (approx 23 dB above noise floor) when in any ON position. The buzz frequency was somewhere between an A# and B. The clean and overdrive channels WITHOUT either reverb or effects were fine. Volume/gain switches did not impact the volume of the buzz.

Did all the usual checks for local interference (dimmers, flourescents, ground loop, etc.), no joy. Even powered it up using a UPS battery with no connection to building power, no change.

I'm having the same issue with my Haze 40. The noise level of the amp (with all volumes on 0 and no guitar plugged in) rises significantly if the effects or effects loop are engaged at all. It's a more significant issue with low volume use. At gig volumes the level of white noise in the overdrive channel becomes louder than the effects loop noise.

In the Haze, when the reverb and effects level pots are turned fully counterclockwise, the effects loop is completely switched out of the circuit by relays. When these relays disengage the effects, the noise goes away.

I haven't had a chance to troubleshoot the issue; in any case it shouldn't be there. If I find anything I'll post the results here.

 

[jamesm]

Drummer44: sorry you had trouble contacting Marshall. If you emailed between the 18th of Dec and the 4th of Jan, everyone was on Christmas shutdown, so that might go some way to explain why you did not get an answer. I'm glad you are now happy with your MG stack.

MKB: The loop should be pretty quiet. With all controls at min, switching in the loop at the back (nothing plugged in to loop) will make a difference - a slight increase in hiss the most noticable part, but still a very low level indeed. This is unavoidable as the effects loop has to take the 40V preamp signal, drop it to a guitar pedal level and then all the way back up again to 40V.

If you are getting more than this when trying this test, please refer it back to a service centre.

JamesM

 

[MontyMarshall]

I have the Haze 15 Watt Head and use with the 2 matching cabinets (Stack). I used this amp for a few months and loved it until yesterday. When I plugged in to play as usual in my house the distortion channel sounded very low and clean. Its the weekend now, but I am contacting Marshall since I have only had this for a few months and bought brand new from Sam Ash. I am not happy at this time and have read other posts and this may seem to be a widespread problem for Marshall. Please let me know if this has happened to you. I will keep you posted!!

 

[drummer44]

Drummer44: sorry you had trouble contacting Marshall. If you emailed between the 18th of Dec and the 4th of Jan, everyone was on Christmas shutdown, so that might go some way to explain why you did not get an answer. I'm glad you are now happy with your MG stack.

JamesM

Thanks, and at least a couple of my troubleshooting notes were indeed within that window... and I did sort of assume the holidaze period might have been affecting Marshall's response. I just heard back from one of the KorgUSA reps day before yesterday, but he hadn't at that point seen all the info at once. Ideally we'll have a conversation about it...

I suspect the blizzard you've had probably had some impact too, yes? I lived about 30-35 miles west of you back in the mid-'70s... and I know that amount of snow is unusual...

The MG stack is fine for our purposes, so far, but I still wouldn't mind a nice little step up...

Cheers, -Drummer