Lightbulbs in Rehearsal Space Create Buzzing Sound - How to Fix?

[98dvl]

I hope this is the right place to put this question... If not, please move it.

Basically, the title says it all. We are rehearsing in our drummer's basement, and the ceiling there is fairly low. I'm playing with a MusicMan SUB 5 with the active pre-amp. When I plug into my amp and get everything turned on, there's a pretty nasty "buzzing" sound. I'm no expert, but I think it's coming from the light bulbs. If I hold my bass close to the light bulb, it gets worse. If I turn away from the bulb, it goes away. I have to position myself between light bulbs (there are a few down there), so that I don't hear any buzzing.

Is there a way to fix this issue? I'm thinking I may need to shield my bass, but honestly, I'm not sure if that's the problem. Hopefully, someone here can help me out.

[HeavyDuty]

Are the lights on a dimmer circuit?

I'm moving this to Misc for the moment until a root cause filters out... it's probably going to end up in Pickups or Amps.

[DWBass]

I would say that the lights are sharing the same electrical circuit so the problem will not go away. This happens quite a lot at clubs and bars. Most are not setup for bands or events but most commercial spaces have separate circuits for each outlet. Homes are different. 2 or 3 rooms could literally be on the same circuit including the lights. Try a different outlet to power up from.

[IanStephenson]

Are these "proper" tungsten filament bulbs, or the new "energy saver" bulbs? The new bulbs are basically flourecent tubes, and are guarenteed to cause problems.

Ian

[98dvl]

I'm sure we're all on the same circuit. It's a small house, and there's like one or two outlets in the basement.

The light bulbs were you're standard tungsten filament bulbs. I actually turned one off at one point, but was still having some buzzing from a bulb on the other side of the room. It got stronger when I was pointed towards the other bulb, and faded away when I turned away from it.

Now that I think about it, it was really noticeable when I first plugged in and fired up my amp... but I did notice it a few other times during our rehearsal, although, not as strongly.

Interestingly, we recorded our rehearsal, and no buzzing seems to be coming through, so I guess that's good.

[newfuture]

Next step is to ferret out any dimmer switches that might be in use and run them full open or totally off.

Step after that is to check for other dodgy power supplies (especially switch mode) in the vicinity, laptops that are electrically connected to amps are common offenders.

[laboitenoire]

A few things:
Shield your bass
Run a power conditioner on your rig
Turn off the lights.