How noisy should my Valentine be with silent circuit?

[elmoreh13]

Okay, so this is my first EBMM and I'm in love with everything about this guitar. It is truly a joy to play and the feel is amazing. Since, this is my first EBMM with the new silent circuit, I'm wondering how quiet should it actually be with the single coils engaged?

I'm running straight into my Blackstar 5 watt head and using it on the dirty channel with a bit of gain. I do get some noise, but was wondering if this normal. I'm not sure what the factory setting is for the silent circuit, but I do hear you can adjust this and go for what your ears think is good.

I wish I had another EBMM to compare it to, but this is my first, and most likely not my last.

Rock on my peeps and thanks!

 

[Astrofreq]

Take out the battery and see if you hear a difference.

 

[John C]

Take out the battery and see if you hear a difference.

He can't do that - the Valentine has the full circuit card (silent circuit and boost) and won't work without a battery - like the Cutlass, Luke III, Majesty models, and the JP models that have the boost circuit.

 

[elmoreh13]

This is true, you cannot take out the battery on the Valentine with the new circuit. The PUPS just don't work without it.

 

[RichieZ]

You can find a lot of related information here:
http://forums.ernieball.com/ernie-ball-music-man-guitars/63998-noisy-cutlass.html

But basically it cuts out 50-70% of the noise, I'm told.

I have a Valentine as well and the singles are noisier than the humbucker even with the silent circuit.

 

[elmoreh13]

You can find a lot of related information here:
http://forums.ernieball.com/ernie-ball-music-man-guitars/63998-noisy-cutlass.html

But basically it cuts out 50-70% of the noise, I'm told.

I have a Valentine as well and the singles are noisier than the humbucker even with the silent circuit.

Okay, thanks my friend. Good to hear from someone with a Valentine too. Any idea what the pickups are rated at? This is my first guitar that uses active electronics too, so that's got to be part of it. I love the guitar and the sounds I can get from it. And the playability is off the charts. Did you mess with any of the factory settings?

 

[RichieZ]

It's an amazing guitar but I'm not much of a guitarist... only a year and a half in. I have no idea on the rating but I did mess with the pots a bit(take a pic of factory settings first).. but it's not far off factory. I got my sweet spot for noise reduction about halfway in both (they're separate for bridge and split neck). I messed with the boost too but it's back to about where it was. There's a pot called COM which I'm not clear on but have seen it referenced as the combined pickup volume... so you can, I assume, balance the middle position with the other two. Mine's pretty well balanced so I haven't touched it. Congratulations and enjoy it... I'm sure you'll do it more justice than I do mine. But it is a wonderful tool on which to learn, so I'm fortunate.

Okay, thanks my friend. Good to hear from someone with a Valentine too. Any idea what the pickups are rated at? This is my first guitar that uses active electronics too, so that's got to be part of it. I love the guitar and the sounds I can get from it. And the playability is off the charts. Did you mess with any of the factory settings?