Help! Im going crazy!!

1/2-Fast Player · 04-01-2010, 02:26 PM

It's possible your bass is picking up some electrical noise in the room. Possible sources would be any motors (air conditioner, fan), flourescent lights, a computer, etc.

Try getting away from everything (take your amp and bass out into the yard if necessary) and see if it still does it. You might just need to add some shielding to the bass pup and controls cavities, which isn't too terribly difficult.

marshall gibson · 04-01-2010, 09:31 PM

Well I took it to my guitar guy today. We figured its a ground because when we touched the strings or the bridge with the guitar plugged in, the hum would stop. Let the strings open, and it would hum away. We thought it was a pickup ground, but we plugged another ax in and it did it with that one too. He didn't figure it out, so I'm still sorta lost as to whether its amp or ax related

thesteve · 04-01-2010, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marshall gibson

Well I took it to my guitar guy today. We figured its a ground because when we touched the strings or the bridge with the guitar plugged in, the hum would stop. Let the strings open, and it would hum away. We thought it was a pickup ground, but we plugged another ax in and it did it with that one too. He didn't figure it out, so I'm still sorta lost as to whether its amp or ax related

Did you do the knob checks I said you should do?

marshall gibson · 04-01-2010, 09:41 PM

Yea I did and it was worse with the bridge pickup on. Now like I said before, my tone knob at full bright makes it sound even worse

thesteve · 04-01-2010, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marshall gibson

Yea I did and it was worse with the bridge pickup on. Now like I said before, my tone knob at full bright makes it sound even worse

When you had the bridge all the way off was it back to the non-plugged in hum, or was it still louder?

That is to say, list the following from least hum to most hum.

Amp: nothing plugged in
Amp: bass plugged in
Bass neck pickup full, no bridge pickup
Bass bridge pickup full, no neck pickup

marshall gibson · 04-01-2010, 09:57 PM

I would say it went like this

Amp: unplugged- minor hum
Amp: plugged in- moderate hum
Bass: full neck, no bridge- moderate, same as above
Bass: full bridge, no neck- heavy hum

I hope I explained that good enough

thesteve · 04-01-2010, 10:03 PM

Yeah, perfect.

Now, when you touch the strings in the full neck/no bridge state, what happens to the hum?

marshall gibson · 04-01-2010, 10:09 PM

It stops, or gets very minor. Almost unhearable, if that's a word. Actually, in any state, if the strings are touched, the hum stops

thesteve · 04-01-2010, 10:11 PM

Do you remember what type of guitar your guitar guy plugged into your amp? Have you tried your bass on any other amps to see fi the problem persisted?

marshall gibson · 04-01-2010, 10:19 PM

He used a fender p-bass with the same style pickups. And no, I didn't plug into another one. I should have tried that. My bad

thesteve · 04-01-2010, 10:23 PM

More and more I get the feeling that the issue you're having is something inherent in the design of your bass (and that particular pickup configuration). It could be reduced by shielding your bass or by getting noiseless pickups.

That being said, considering that this problem goes away when you touch the strings, as long as it isn't distractingly loud at other times I wouldn't worry too much about it. After all, how often do you play your bass when you're not touching the strings?

marshall gibson · 04-01-2010, 10:29 PM

Lol your right. Thanks for your help. I appreciate it a lot. My biggest reason for going ballistic was cuz it bugged the heck outta me, the amp being new and all. But I'll still play like you said, hands on the strings

scared2mosh · 04-01-2010, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thesteve

More and more I get the feeling that the issue you're having is something inherent in the design of your bass (and that particular pickup configuration). It could be reduced by shielding your bass or by getting noiseless pickups.

That being said, considering that this problem goes away when you touch the strings, as long as it isn't distractingly loud at other times I wouldn't worry too much about it. After all, how often do you play your bass when you're not touching the strings?

Kinda seems that way. I'm not sure it'd be worth the money to put new pickups in it though. In all honesty if the problem continues I'd get rid of the bass.

If I may... I highly reccomend this bass. You could probably get it for 150-200 and if you sold your current then it would barely cost anything... in fact it'd almost definately be cheaper than new pickups.

thesteve · 04-01-2010, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scared2mosh

Kinda seems that way. I'm not sure it'd be worth the money to put new pickups in it though. In all honesty if the problem continues I'd get rid of the bass.

If I may... I highly reccomend this bass. You could probably get it for 150-200 and if you sold your current then it would barely cost anything... in fact it'd almost definately be cheaper than new pickups.

My only issue is that this isn't really a "problem". It's part of the design of how single coil instruments are made. Can it be annoying? Sure. If the OP researched shielding he could probably reduce the hum for under $20.

scared2mosh · 04-01-2010, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thesteve

My only issue is that this isn't really a "problem". It's part of the design of how single coil instruments are made. Can it be annoying? Sure. If the OP researched shielding he could probably reduce the hum for under $20.

Which is probably how much he'd spend upgrading his bass.