Madison divinity II noise problem

[Shardik]

Hello

I recently picked up a Madison Divinty II off reverb for cheap. The seller said it didnt work and I am starting to get into amp repair so I figured it was a good project. I got the amp and wouldn't you know it... it worked! All it really NEEDED was a new pre amp tube and a bias.

I absolutely love the tone of this amp. It's the closest to the tone in my head I have come. But it is very noisy. I use an ns2 noise suppressor which takes it down quite a bit but you can hear the noise in the distortion and there is a honk of the noise as the gate closes.

I replaced the filter capacitors hoping for a miracle. But that didnt really do anything for the noise. There are no schematics that I can find. And madison told me they wouldn't share one with me. So I'm hoping someone could point me in a direction to look and maybe find out how to tame the noise. Again I love the tone of this amp but the noise is almost unbearable.

 

[Shardik]

I forgot to say I use the ns2 with the 4 cable method. And I run an mini tube screamer (808 circuit) into the front and an MXR 10 band in the loop. When I had it apart all the jacks on the back board almost looked like they ha been through a fire. Like the contacts are all black. When I run it without pedals it doesnt have the noise. Could the dirty/rusty (I think) Jack's cause all the noise?

 

[Bloodrock]

If I remember correctly the Divinity amps were poorly modified JCM 2000’s basically. The Madison company is pretty much dead so you’ll probably never find any decent info since they were so short lived. Sorry. I did have a Madison prophecy SS amp for a while that was freaking killer for metal. But I sold it before it broke since I knew I’d never be able to get it repaired.

 

[South Park]

Isolate the noice witch tube is making all the noice .

 

[Chris-in-LA]

I forgot to say I use the ns2 with the 4 cable method. And I run an mini tube screamer (808 circuit) into the front and an MXR 10 band in the loop. When I had it apart all the jacks on the back board almost looked like they ha been through a fire. Like the contacts are all black. When I run it without pedals it doesnt have the noise. Could the dirty/rusty (I think) Jack's cause all the noise?

Try cleaning the jacks with a good contact cleaner, dirty jacks can cause noise.

 

[Shardik]

Try cleaning the jacks with a good contact cleaner, dirty jacks can cause noise.

Any suggestions as a "good" contact cleaner? I have a can of wd40 brand contact cleaner

 

[Guitar-Rocker]

Jack's that have oxidized black are a candidate for replacement. You'll never get quality connections again, even after cleaning, if they have went that far

 

[Chris-in-LA]

Any suggestions as a "good" contact cleaner? I have a can of wd40 brand contact cleaner

Deoxit Gold is what I use. I would try that before anything. At this point we’re only guessing it might be the jacks. I wouldn’t hurt to try cleaning them to see if that fixes your problem.

 

[Shardik]

Thank you, I know it's only a guess at this point. But I'm not a gigging musician so I'm in not immediate need to have it fixed. I just dont have any good and trustworthy techs in my area so I decided to just learn to do this stuff myself as a side hobby and something to do in my free time. For me right now just going through and trying to figure it out is half the fun for me.

 

[Shardik]

So I did some moving stuff around. I noticed that the buzz is there but very faint when I have no pedals plugged in. But as soon as I plug in my pedals it get bad even with all of them off. And I noticed when I only had my guitar plugged in the buzz changed when I touched my pickups in any guitar so I hit the input with some contact cleaner and that when away but not the noise itself. And I also noticed that I run my eq through the loop and when I turn the volume slider down the noise gets quieter. Could that mean the noise is coming from the pre amp?

 

[Chris-in-LA]

You said you have no noise without pedals. I’m unfamiliar with the 4 cable method but I would start looking for the source of the noise in that setup. Try plugging one pedal at a time into the front end to see which one is noisy. Try switching out the different cables between the pedals. Try plugging everything into the same strip. Try ground lifts. Make sure you are not in a room with fluorescent lights, low voltage lighting or lights with dimmers or computer monitors. Have you tried switching out preamp tubes?

I would expect some noise when I plug a guitar in the front and I would expect the noise to change when I touch the strings.

 

[Shardik]

So I have figured it out. It appears this amp has a parallel effects. The noise is a mix of my pedal power supply and the noise suppressor running through the loop. If I use just my tube screamer (with a standalone power supply) into the front and my mxr eq (with it's own power supply) in the loop the noise is down to a normal high gain noise. Now there is probably no way to convert a parallel effects loop to series without a schematic I'm guessing? I already reached out to madison when I bought the amp and they told me a schematic is "proprietary info". I would like to convert it because I like using a noise suppressor in the loop.

 

[Shardik]

And also, if anyone could help me find matching knobs for it. I have scoured google and cant seem to fine a match to what is on there.

 

[South Park]

The knobs are easy. chicken head knobs are kool . What you had was a ground loop

 

[Chris-in-LA]

And also, if anyone could help me find matching knobs for it. I have scoured google and cant seem to fine a match to what is on there.View attachment 76976

Madison can’t help you with knobs? Are they “proprietary” too?

 

[Shardik]

Madison can’t help you with knobs? Are they “proprietary” too?

Haha, I emailed them about it..... still waiting for that reply.

 

[Shardik]

Update: so I just got the MXR iso-brick. Got everything hooked up. Moved the NS2 to the front of the amp. I recently picked up a Pro Tone Misha Deluxe Overdrive and I have that through the loop of the NS2. And now this amp is dead quiet. And sounds amazing! I legitimately have found the "tone in my head" in this amp.