Does this make sense?

honeyboy · #1 10-07-2007, 04:47 PM

I was playing my G&L L2000 in church today and noticed something unusual. Normally when I am playing into an amp, I find the passive settings quieter than active. If I face the bass away from the amp I get no noise at all, no matter what pick-up choices I use. In church they have me using a DI into the board- no amp. So they turn me on and we're getting this buzzing noise. I started moving the pick-up selector and series/parallel switches because some settings are quieter than others. This didn't help at all. Finally, out of desperation, I switched from passive to active and the buzzing totally disappeared. Even on the treble boost position, which is really buzzy for me through an amp, there was no buzz. So I played the service with the active switch on and there were no problems. When I got home I was thinking maybe some wires were crossed at one time and what I thought was the passive position (all the way to the right) all this time was really active. So I took out the battery, and found out the wiring is correct.
So, someone please explain to me why my bass is quieter in passive mode through an amp, but quieter in active mode when going directly into a board.Thanks.

plankspanker13 · #2 10-07-2007, 05:55 PM

Perhaps there might have been a ground-lift switch engaged on the DI.

honeyboy · #3 10-07-2007, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plankspanker13

Perhaps there might have been a ground-lift switch engaged on the DI.

Actually, there is a ground lift switch engaged on the DI. How does that effect the active/passive issue? Does it reverse something?
If I was to disengage the ground lift, would it then cause the passive to be quieter than the active position? I would prefer to play in the passive mode.

plankspanker13 · #4 10-07-2007, 06:23 PM

Methinks that your DI had the ground lift switch in the opposite position from what would normally give you quiet operation. Without knowing all of the factors and variable involved, the only answer that can be given to your questions woul dbe to suggest employing the time-honored scientific principle of trial and error.

honeyboy · #5 10-07-2007, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plankspanker13

Methinks that your DI had the ground lift switch in the opposite position from what would normally give you quiet operation. Without knowing all of the factors and variable involved, the only answer that can be given to your questions woul dbe to suggest employing the time-honored scientific principle of trial and error.

I will certainly do that. I was just hoping for a technical explanation of the elctronics involved as well . Thanks for your help.

Maj. Lee FUBAR · #6 10-07-2007, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plankspanker13

Methinks that your DI had the ground lift switch in the opposite position from what would normally give you quiet operation. Without knowing all of the factors and variable involved, the only answer that can be given to your questions woul dbe to suggest employing the time-honored scientific principle of trial and error.

+1. The only thing that makes sense to me. Normally, you should not use the ground lift on a DI unless you are getting some sort of interference (i.e., the default should be no ground lift).

MLF

honeyboy · #7 10-07-2007, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maj. Lee FUBAR

+1. The only thing that makes sense to me. Normally, you should not use the ground lift on a DI unless you are getting some sort of interference (i.e., the default should be no ground lift).

MLF

I will discuss the reason for the ground lift being on with the other bass player and sound man. It's just kind of funny how it turned a noisy active L2000 into a dead silent one.

bradjonesbass · #8 10-12-2007, 02:12 PM

My guess would be your problem is related to the fact that G&L doesn't shield their control cavities - my one and only complaint with G&L. $5 in parts and 10 minutes in labor to do it right.

plankspanker13 · #9 10-12-2007, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bradjonesbass

My guess would be your problem is related to the fact that G&L doesn't shield their control cavities - my one and only complaint with G&L. $5 in parts and 10 minutes in labor to do it right.

My JB-2 Tribby is fully shielded and dead quiet. I literally have not been able to get any 60-cycle hum from it yet. Perhaps the complaint about no shielding might have been true in the past, but it is certainly not true of my newer G&L.

honeyboy · #10 10-12-2007, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bradjonesbass

My guess would be your problem is related to the fact that G&L doesn't shield their control cavities - my one and only complaint with G&L. $5 in parts and 10 minutes in labor to do it right.

That doesn't explain how it was dead quiet in the active mode, especially since the active mode is usually buzzier than the passive mode.I've read in a number of threads how people can't record with their G&Ls due to the noise. I dare say, if I went direct into a board with the active or treble boost on, I could record with absolutely no noise to worry about. I would like an explanation of why this happended. The ground lift mentioned above may have something to do with it but it is hard for me to tell having very little knowledge of the electronics involved.