Blues Junior Buzzing

[Chuck H]

I replaced the V1 preamp and largely this seems to have fixed the problem. The buzzing has reduced dramatically, I'll proabaly go ahead and relplace all the tubes to see if it cleans it up some more but its about 90% of the way there so im happy enough.

Ah! I can't imagine why I didn't think to suggest that. Always suspect the tubes first. It's the least invasive test to run and takes a second. So, on that subject, Do try other tubes in V1. Many "new" tubes are noisier than they should be IMHE. It could really be that your 90% improvement would be 100% if the tube you installed is a little noisy compared to the original before it failed. I would probably do this before trying new tubes in the other positions.

My guitar certainly needs some attention as it is still causing a lot dirt in the sound.

The only real "dirt" your guitar could contribute would be static either while turning the knobs or a bad connection. The latter is more likely to cause intermittent signal. Nothing you do to the guitar will make it "cleaner" per se. But if you notice static/popping noises while handling the guitar then yes, clean up the wiring and/or replace pots/switches as needed.

I put two semi acoustic's trough the amp and they're coming through almost completely clean so that has me pretty satisfied that the amp itself is more or less sorted now.

Just in case it applies... Most acoustic pickups have a lower impedance than electric guitar pickups. This will be inherently less noisy. They are also often designed for lower noise. You can't really fight things like single coil electric guitar pickup noise at the amp level. Or even the guitar wiring level for that matter. It may seem obscure, but try to differentiate between what is "normal" for noise as it relates to a particular pickup and the gain environment it's being used in and what is actually abnormal noise. A lot of guys bang their head on a wall obsessing over the normal amount of noise that electric guitars make. Especially with single coil pickups in a room full of florescent lights I'm not trying to be condescending. I only hope to save you any unnecessary trouble.

[Justin Thomas]

Just running off what Chuck said about guitar-induced noises... Not necessarily the issue at hand, but static/popping while playing guitar can also be static buildup on finish or pickguards, especially when dry out... I fight it every winter, and carry dryer sheets with me for that reason.

Justin