Sudden Ground-type buzz

r05c03 · #1 12-13-2006, 02:56 PM

Hi,

So I have a Reverend Rumblefish that, this morning, was quiet, no buzz even with the tone knob all the way up. Today I changed strings, first to some Rotosound Monels. Bad buzz all of a sudden. Then tried so DR Black Beauties, with the black coating. Bad buzzing, that only went away when I touched the bridge, but was very audible even while touching the strings, you could hear it over my playing. So then I put the original DRs (non-coated) and the the buzz is still there, except it goes away when I am touching the strings. What gives? When I turn the tone down the buzzing disappears, but I would like the bass to be as quiet as it was this morning. Can anyone suggest what might be the source of this problem. Thanks

pkr2 · #2 12-13-2006, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by r05c03

Hi,

So I have a Reverend Rumblefish that, this morning, was quiet, no buzz even with the tone knob all the way up. Today I changed strings, first to some Rotosound Monels. Bad buzz all of a sudden. Then tried so DR Black Beauties, with the black coating. Bad buzzing, that only went away when I touched the bridge, but was very audible even while touching the strings, you could hear it over my playing. So then I put the original DRs (non-coated) and the the buzz is still there, except it goes away when I am touching the strings. What gives? When I turn the tone down the buzzing disappears, but I would like the bass to be as quiet as it was this morning. Can anyone suggest what might be the source of this problem. Thanks

If the bridge has a ground wire and the connection under the bridge goes bad it can cause what you're describing.

r05c03 · #3 12-13-2006, 06:49 PM

how could it have gone bad? Is it like a fuse or something, can it suddenly fry and how would it have happened. The Fish was so quiet, I need to get it back that way.

Espidog · #4 12-14-2006, 03:10 AM

I can understand the possibility of getting a buzz problem with the Black Beauties, as the coating may be insulating them from the metal of the bridge, but it seems very odd that you should also get the problem with the Roto Monels: Monel is a stainless steel alloy, so should provide perfectly good electrical contact with the bridge saddles.

As pkr2 says, it's most likely that the grounding wire which connects to your bridge has come adrift. Don't worry, it's not a fuse and nothing got fried. It's just a wire, and it probably got dislodged a bit during your string-change. Very easy to fix.

If it isn't the grounding wire that's at fault, I'm stumped!

r05c03 · #5 12-14-2006, 05:03 AM

So where should i look first for the grounding wire? Under the bridge?

202dy · #6 12-14-2006, 05:35 AM

The ground wire will run from the wiring harness to the bridge. If you remove the bridge you will see the wire. You may want to move the wire slightly from it's original position. Sometimes the wire is sitting in a deep indentation and is not making good contact with the bridge. Clean off any dirt/corrosion and reinstall the bridge and strings. If the problem is related to this wire that should fix it.

Let us know if this fixes your problem.

pkr2 · #7 12-14-2006, 05:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by r05c03

So where should i look first for the grounding wire? Under the bridge?

Yes. The wire is usually just pinched between the bridge and the body of the bass.

You might look in the control cavity and see if there is a hole going toward the bridge with, probably, a black wire going into it.

If you have a way to check for continuity, you can check it without removing the bridge. There should be continuity between the nut that holds the jack in and any part of the bridge.

bassbully43 · #8 12-14-2006, 06:59 AM

Interesting...there must be a ground monster on the loose. I have two passive MIM fender jazzes that up untill recently were very quiet but not i get massive buzz and zing thru my home anp and my practice amp at my practice space. I shelded both but no help. i had been running my home amp thru a grounded lines installed when my old band was in my basement...there was no noise. since the band left they took out the lines which were temp with gang boxes. I installed new grounded lines to my grounded fuse box but still massive noise. I just went out and bought a morley humX which cancels hum the sucker costs 60.00...it did help alot but i still have some ground issues but they are liveable..but 60.00 gez what the heck is going on!

PauperBoy · #9 12-14-2006, 02:37 PM

I had a similiar problem a few weeks ago. The soldered connection on one of my pots would touch the foil shielding on the pickguard. The pot would resonate with certain notes and touch the foil.

rezin · #10 02-16-2007, 06:24 PM

i'm having a very similar problem with my sub that i bought used so the store offered to fix it for free, but of course when they try it out at the store, no buzz.

i'm way too scared to try to fix anything myself so if i took it somewhere and it was the ground wire, roughly how much should that cost to fix?