| Almost free, no-skill 90% grounding solution
Sign in to disble this ad
I have a recently-acquired SX Jazz 5 string. After setting up it is fun to play and it sounds good. However, it still had that nasty hum/buzz/sizzle that goes away when touching the strings or bridge. Clearly a grounding problem. I do my research and discover that the solution is to line all the chambers with copper foil that is properly grounded. It doesn't look too hard, although it does involve desoldering and resoldering everything. I am impatient. I want to do something today, so I take off the covers and unscrew the pickups. Then I get a roll of run-of-the-mill aluminum foil from the kitchen. I wrap all of the unexposed sides of the pickups in aluminum foil, poke the screws through, put the springs back on and reattach the pickups. I throw a little more aluminum foil in behind the pots, but keep it away from the jack. Put the covers back on, stuff the excess foil down in the crevices around the bridge pickup, put the strings back on. Amazingly, this got rid of almost all of the grounding noise. There is still just a little bit, but you really don't hear it with the tone on 5 or less. I figure I saved myself some soldering (always risky for those of us who don't do it often), $20 worth of shielding, and waiting a week for a delivery from StewMac, AllParts or GPR.
I don't recommend this for your all-original 1962 Fender Jazz Bass, but for a cheap bass that just needs a little help, give it a try. It costs an hour of your time and ten cents worth of aluminum foil. | 
