bad hum any ideas??????

Wedgezilla · #1 10-24-2011, 06:10 PM

I just bought a Deluxe Jazz Bass® IV Active (4 String) by FENDER it has a bad hum (high pitch) if i tun the right way stand in the right place it stops or if i turn the tone knob down it goes away???? i called fender they said that active pick ups doe this... what a load i have used active pick ups for over 20 years never had this problem...... i know this is a cheaper bass but im in a working band and dont take my good basses to bar gigs at all!!!! anyone have any ideas??? i did try both ebtech devices on it still made the noise???

MrGotBass · #2 10-24-2011, 06:20 PM

Could be a wiring/grounding issue. Does it stop humming when you touch the strings or bridge or other metal parts of the bass?

Wedgezilla · #3 10-24-2011, 06:29 PM

no it doesnt stop when i hold the strings fender did say it could be a cold soder

Wedgezilla · #4 10-24-2011, 06:29 PM

checked the grounds on it

SurferJoe46 · #5 10-24-2011, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wedgezilla

I just bought a Deluxe Jazz Bass® IV Active (4 String) by FENDER it has a bad hum (high pitch) if i tun the right way stand in the right place it stops or if i turn the tone knob down it goes away???? i called fender they said that active pick ups doe this... what a load i have used active pick ups for over 20 years never had this problem...... i know this is a cheaper bass but im in a working band and dont take my good basses to bar gigs at all!!!! anyone have any ideas??? i did try both ebtech devices on it still made the noise???

Used bass or new?

Of all the basses I own, the Deluxe IV Jazz is the quietest even right next to my computer tower and it's as quiet as my SR500 in the same position.

Fluorescent lights don't bother it, but a bad ground in the power supply from the wall does.

The Deluxe is no pickier than others about power supplies, grounds and electric motors on the same line.

khutch · #6 10-25-2011, 08:14 AM

I have the same bass (maybe) and mine does not do that so the claim that they all do that can be refuted. Now mine is a MIM Fender Active Deluxe Jazz bass. The name you quote, Deluxe Jazz Bass® IV Active (4 String), is the Squier model name for a similar bass, not the Fender model name for the bass I have. I'm not here to diss Squier, my next bass may very well be a Squier, but if you in fact have a Squier it may not have the conductive paint shielding in the electronics cavity that the Fender model has and that may explain our differing results. If so, you may have to look into some shielding to fix the problem.

Ken

SurferJoe46 · #7 10-25-2011, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by khutch

I have the same bass (maybe) and mine does not do that so the claim that they all do that can be refuted. Now mine is a MIM Fender Active Deluxe Jazz bass. The name you quote, Deluxe Jazz Bass® IV Active (4 String), is the Squier model name for a similar bass, not the Fender model name for the bass I have. I'm not here to diss Squier, my next bass may very well be a Squier, but if you in fact have a Squier it may not have the conductive paint shielding in the electronics cavity that the Fender model has and that may explain our differing results. If so, you may have to look into some shielding to fix the problem.

Ken

I wonder ...................

All the Squier VMs I bought new have the black shielding in them. Would Squier make a change with this model when it's so easy to apply and works as well as it does?

They are all as quiet as my Fender Deluxe Jazz is. The only bass I have that gets noisy around my 'puter tower is my AEB - but I don't think that counts, but it never makes any noise when gigged.

khutch · #8 10-25-2011, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SurferJoe46

Would Squier make a change with this model when it's so easy to apply and works as well as it does?

I honestly don't know, it is just a possibility. The Squier sells for hundreds of dollars less than the Fender so you would expect some differences between them beyond the labor rates in the countries of origin. Only the person who owns the problem bass can open it up and see what's in there.

Ken

SurferJoe46 · #9 10-25-2011, 10:34 AM

The 'painted-on' shield is so cheap that even the lowest-quality Affinity has it. My old 98 Affinity P has it, so I think it may be across the boards done to all the lower line gear.

I'd be more suspicious of a bad ground joint somewhere though inside the affected bass.

khutch · #10 10-25-2011, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SurferJoe46

The 'painted-on' shield is so cheap that ...

You are obviously not thinking like the typical bean counter! Seriously, some folks here have reported unshielded Fenders/Squiers of recent vintage. Whether this is an intentional cost cutting move or the occasional mistake that gets shipped out the door is unknown to me. I'm just saying it is a possibility based on the reports of others.

Pretend for a moment that the internet existed back in 1962 and you and I are chatting on a TV owner's forum in that year. If I had just bought a new TV and reported to the forum that I opened the box and found that it had no picture tube you would be similarly unconvinced. I mean really, how could a TV possibly be shipped without a picture tube? Well, the company I work for today actually made TVs way back then and when I was much younger and people who had worked in the TV division could still be found walking the halls here they would gladly tell you how. The TV production line supervisors got bonuses based on monthly shipping numbers. If today was the last day of the month and your supervisor needed to ship 120 sets to make his bonus and there were only 100 picture tubes in stock, you shipped 120 sets anyway!!

I am happy to report that our production quality and commitment to customer satisfaction is many orders of magnitude better that that today. But is it so at every factory, everywhere in the world? I would not bet on that!

Ken

**line6man** · #11 10-25-2011, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wedgezilla

I just bought a Deluxe Jazz Bass® IV Active (4 String) by FENDER it has a bad hum (high pitch) if i tun the right way stand in the right place it stops or if i turn the tone knob down it goes away???? i called fender they said that active pick ups doe this... what a load i have used active pick ups for over 20 years never had this problem...... i know this is a cheaper bass but im in a working band and dont take my good basses to bar gigs at all!!!! anyone have any ideas??? i did try both ebtech devices on it still made the noise???

I could swear that that bass has passive pickups. Fender actually told you it has active pickups??

SurferJoe46 · #12 10-25-2011, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by khutch

You are obviously not thinking like the typical bean counter! Seriously, some folks here have reported unshielded Fenders/Squiers of recent vintage. Whether this is an intentional cost cutting move or the occasional mistake that gets shipped out the door is unknown to me. I'm just saying it is a possibility based on the reports of others.

Pretend for a moment that the internet existed back in 1962 and you and I are chatting on a TV owner's forum in that year. If I had just bought a new TV and reported to the forum that I opened the box and found that it had no picture tube you would be similarly unconvinced. I mean really, how could a TV possibly be shipped without a picture tube? Well, the company I work for today actually made TVs way back then and when I was much younger and people who had worked in the TV division could still be found walking the halls here they would gladly tell you how. The TV production line supervisors got bonuses based on monthly shipping numbers. If today was the last day of the month and your supervisor needed to ship 120 sets to make his bonus and there were only 100 picture tubes in stock, you shipped 120 sets anyway!!

I am happy to report that our production quality and commitment to customer satisfaction is many orders of magnitude better that that today. But is it so at every factory, everywhere in the world? I would not bet on that!

Ken

I remember those days too - especially Mad Man Muntz?

Wedgezilla · #13 10-25-2011, 09:49 PM

it has avtive pick ups for sure

Wedgezilla · #14 10-25-2011, 09:51 PM

i put the shielding in it still has the hummmm

SurferJoe46 · #15 10-25-2011, 10:02 PM

Then I'd be in there with a DVM and look-see and find a partial ground or a partially-open-to-ground situation - somewhere.

Are you sure you are using an instrument grade cable and not a speaker cable instead?

**line6man** · #16 10-25-2011, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wedgezilla

it has avtive pick ups for sure

There is a connection from each pickup to the battery?

SGD Lutherie · #17 10-25-2011, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wedgezilla

i put the shielding in it still has the hummmm

It's not a hum, it's a buzz. Did you ground the shielding you put in? Does this buzz happen everywhere? Do you have light dimmers in the room where it's making the buzz?

I'm also pretty sure that bass has passive pickups and an onboard preamp. I've never seen an active Fender pickup.

Wedgezilla · #18 10-27-2011, 07:48 PM

ok you are right passive pickups onboard preamp it makes this noise everywhere on any amp...... look i know it is a cheap bass thats why i bought it its a beater i play in a working band and dont use my good basses for this i learned many years ago the hard way.....any how after many phone calls and taking it to a REAL tech basically it is just junk...... i guess?????? not gonna put emg's in a cheap ass bass what really is the point i have a couple of low end Ibanez basses that play great and sound fine just liked the jazz look to the squire but oh well back to the store it goes!!!!

walterw · #19 10-27-2011, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wedgezilla

...oh well back to the store it goes!!!!

after you've messed with it by "putting shielding in it"?

here's a question: does the noise go away if you turn up both pickups?

if so, it may just be the normal single coil hum, which shielding doesn't do anything for.

walterw · #20 10-27-2011, 08:13 PM

y'know, as i look at the picture of the thing (cool-looking bass in all-black) it looks like both pickups are the same size; they're also described as "Single-Coil Jazz Bass® Neck Pickup" and "Single-Coil Jazz Bass® Pickup (Bridge)".

note how the descriptions slightly differ?

i wonder if this bass has the old crappy "in-between" jazz pickups, which were the wrong size for neck and for bridge, and more to the point, were not RWRP, being just two of the same pickup stuffed in there?

if so, they would indeed hum no matter what you did.