Super noisy Essex

whoblowsthere · #1 10-24-2006, 09:57 PM

Ok, for some reason, my Essex is extremely noisy and is making a staticy like sound and is incredibly annoying. I tried different stuff and I noticed something when I was about to open up the bass. I took out the knobs then when I put my hand over the volume know, all the staticy noise goes away. What does this mean and how can I fix the noise?

labgnat · #2 10-24-2006, 10:22 PM

on my essex i have to have both the volumes turned all the way up or it makes some noise. or try and get both volumes at exactly the same level. easiest to do when both all the way up. but ur noise sounds a bit more excessive, so my solution may or may not work.

Shelly · #3 10-24-2006, 10:36 PM

Perhaps the ground and signal wires are backwards? Try reversing those and see what happens.

lowtide · #4 10-25-2006, 02:20 AM

While you're checking things out you may want to do some shielding.

Scott in Dallas · #5 10-25-2006, 02:27 AM

If I'm reading the description right it sounds like scratchy pots. You could spray the pots with contact cleaner. Otherwise there might be a cold solder joint somewhere that's not making good contact.

wpkg · #6 10-25-2006, 05:38 AM

+1 Shielding
+1 clean the noisy pots. Caigs deoxit is good for this.

whoblowsthere · #7 10-25-2006, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by labgnat

on my essex i have to have both the volumes turned all the way up or it makes some noise. or try and get both volumes at exactly the same level. easiest to do when both all the way up. but ur noise sounds a bit more excessive, so my solution may or may not work.

It's actually noisy until you turn the volume all the way down.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wpkg

+1 Shielding
+1 clean the noisy pots. Caigs deoxit is good for this.

I'll try this

Nick Ioannucci · #8 10-25-2006, 02:11 PM

shield that bad boy, and reference a wiring diagram, and clean the pots, should be all food after that.

whoblowsthere · #9 10-25-2006, 05:06 PM

Aww damn, when I was opening up my bass I noticed that the wire soldered to the input is pretty messed up. I pulled on it a little and the wire gets cut off from the input. Now I have to solder it back, but I don't have any experience in soldering stuff x:. Guess I'll have to bring it to GC

spudmaster34 · #10 10-25-2006, 05:20 PM

or you can head to radio shack and pick up a soldering iron, then find that awsome soldering tut posted a few weeks ago

whoblowsthere · #11 10-25-2006, 05:27 PM

Or I can get that ColdHeat thing haha. That thing is sweet!

joeyl · #12 10-25-2006, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whoblowsthere

Or I can get that ColdHeat thing haha. That thing is sweet!

looks good but it is totally crap when compared to a good conventional iron and some skills.
why? the thing is bulky for small places, the tip breaks, and it has to be perfectly centered on a metal surface in order to heat up.

whoblowsthere · #13 10-25-2006, 05:52 PM

Lame. Well anyway, I'll probably bring it to GC because I would rather let a Pro do it and I'll most likely learn from it. I gotta admit, I'm inexperienced when it comes to shielding and soldering.

And thanks to everyone :-)

Scott in Dallas · #14 10-25-2006, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whoblowsthere

Or I can get that ColdHeat thing haha. That thing is sweet!

I have one. It's nice for crap jobs when you don't feel like getting the real stuff out. It would be ironic to try to use it to fix a cold solder joint.

Scott in Dallas · #15 10-25-2006, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whoblowsthere

I gotta admit, I'm inexperienced when it comes to shielding and soldering.

With all due respect, taking the bass to guitar center won't make you any less inexperienced. You've already got it open, just get a soldering iron and some solder, practice on scrap wire for a half an hour until you get the feel of it, read some online tutorials and just do it.

You can do it, grasshopper.

whoblowsthere · #16 10-25-2006, 09:51 PM

I understand. I'm pretty sure it's easy to solder but I can't really get one right now. I'm only 14 years old and it's really hard to get one at the moment, but I eventually will though.

Scott in Dallas · #17 10-25-2006, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whoblowsthere

I understand. I'm pretty sure it's easy to solder but I can't really get one right now. I'm only 14 years old and it's really hard to get one at the moment, but I eventually will though.

Understood. Electronics places sometimes have soldering irons for next to nothing, so keep an eye out. The one I'm using cost about three dollars.

spudmaster34 · #18 10-26-2006, 02:57 PM

yeah, my soldering iron was like 10 bucks,

whoblowsthere · #19 10-26-2006, 05:56 PM

I told my dad about my bass and he we're just gonna get a soldering kit haha

. Like I said before, the SX has incredibly poor soldering compared to my Ibanez. Should I resolder all the ground connections?

Edit: And can someone be nice enough to explain shielding? I found a thread about shielding but it was for a J-Bass.

Scott in Dallas · #20 10-26-2006, 07:47 PM

Check the solder joints, and consider re-soldering only the ones that look dull and fuzzy. Take pictures of everything first and don't move anything while the solder is cooling. Some of those connections may be solder connections only, meaning that the second you hit them with the iron they will come loose.

The concept should be the same for shielding regardless of the body style. There's really good info all over the 'net. I'd suggest that you get the original problem solved and make sure all is well before trying to add shielding. Troubleshooting multiple problems is very frustrating if you don't have a working configuration to go back to. If this is your only bass you don't want to have it down for too long because you'll get impatient and try to rush it.