cracking and popping noises

[Jake-ten]

Hi, finally joined up after over two years! Hope there's someone who can help with this problem..........

My Ibanez BTB405 which is something like 3years old makes intermittant popping (no it's not down to my skill!) or crackling noise. it will do it through headphones, into my amp or studio. all my cables are good and get checked regularly.

I think it's the EQ pots because very occaisionally if i move them i can make it happen. should i just put a new set in or is there somebody who has experience of this and can enlighten me??

[MarkMyWordsXx]

this happens alot to basses and guitars that arent properly shielded( i know i cant spell) either the wires are poorly covered or the cavity isnt shielded. its hard to say specifically what it is but you might just want to replace the pots and use higher quality wiresl

someone correct me if im wrong

[tonyhoff]

The Neutrik jack on the BTB405s will cause noise after some use. I popped mine out and apart, cleaned the contacts off with alcohol and bent the connections in so that they would make a better connection with the 1/4" cable. It's a pain with the Neutrik, but it can be done and cleaned up my issue, which was very similar to what you're describing.
As your pots get older, they'll begin to get scratchy also. Smoke and finger bits and blood and gore get into pots and can make them scratchy when rotated. Usually it's not a big enough issue that I have to worry about it, but you can replace the pots if it gets to the point that it's loud enough to be a serious problem.

[Magneto]

Originally Posted by tonyhoff

The Neutrik jack on the BTB405s will cause noise after some use. I popped mine out and apart, cleaned the contacts off with alcohol and bent the connections in so that they would make a better connection with the 1/4" cable. It's a pain with the Neutrik, but it can be done and cleaned up my issue, which was very similar to what you're describing.
As your pots get older, they'll begin to get scratchy also. Smoke and finger bits and blood and gore get into pots and can make them scratchy when rotated. Usually it's not a big enough issue that I have to worry about it, but you can replace the pots if it gets to the point that it's loud enough to be a serious problem.

Good points here. 4-5 snap/crackle/pop problems are with dirty input jacks (they're not worn out, just some dirt or corrosion happening in there), and can be cleaned quite easily with some denatured alcohol on something like a pipe cleaner wire or something that won't leave fibers inside.
Pots sometimes require cleaning and they aren't all that hard to clean if you can get the cleaning fluid into the tiny slots on the backside of the pots. I use a syringe to squirt a few drops into them while turning the pot back and forth..
I use WD-40 and always have. Yeah, I know, some will say this is bad, but it works, I've never had a pot go bad because of it, and it's readily available.. As a matter of fact WD cans used to say it was good for that, but others will surely disagree.

Mag...