hi all, small problem

seasonedfries · #1 05-03-2007, 10:43 AM

i'm sure you hate people not using the search feature, but i'm kind of pressed for time.

here's my story:

i recently bought the ibanez starter pack, you know, the one with the gsr190. i changed the pups to dimarzio's, which sound great by the way. now, when i take my fingers off of all things metal on the bass, i get this nasty sounding hum/buzz. as soon as i touch anything metal on the bass, it goes away. keep in mind it did this before AND after i changed the pups. it also does it in any amp i plug it into. i know its not the cable because i've got a dimarzio cable as well, plus i've used different cables all with the same result. i've checked and re-checked all the wiring. i messed with the body ground under the bridge, all to no avail.

has anyone had this problem and were you able to fix it? or am i just stuck untill i can buy a new/better bass?

any help is appreciated. i'm in iraq right now and my bass is my only escape. thanks in advance.

Lee

stedtale · #2 05-03-2007, 10:46 AM

Man, lots of Iraq guys this week. Thanks for the service.

It sounds like a ground issue, I'm not an expert, but one will be around shortly.

Where are you in Iraq? My brother-in-law will be in Balad with his blackhawk this summer....

stedtale · #3 05-03-2007, 10:50 AM

Pick Up Buzz, Fender Jazz

SurrenderMonkey · #4 05-03-2007, 11:44 AM

Maybe a basic grounding problem, but you said you checked. Shielding the control cavity. Possibly some incompatibility between the cheap quality pots and the high quality pickups. Maybe some impedance problem, external noise source, if you're like near generators or computers. Some pickups are very sensitive, I've heard guitars picking up BBC radio programs

Since you're military, can you get your hands on military-grade pots and capacitors and try them?

Best of luck with everything.

stedtale · #5 05-03-2007, 12:50 PM

It could be RFI too, like surrendermonkey said.

I bet ground, however.

ibnzneksrul · #6 05-03-2007, 01:13 PM

Sounds like the bridge ground is bad. Can you get your hands on a multimeter? Check the resistance from bridge/strings to the body of all 3 pots and the output jack.

seasonedfries · #7 05-04-2007, 07:50 AM

stedtale: i'm over in ramadi right now. is your brother a crew chief or a pilot? i'm planning on becoming a pilot myself.

surrendermonkey: i doubt its an incompatability because it did it before and after i chaned the pickups. i'll have to check around as far as the mil-grade pots and what not go. i doubt it though.

ibnzneksrul: i tried messing with the bridge ground, i even went as far as taking aluminum tape, folding the sticky sides together and folding the wire in the nonsticky sides of the tape and re-mounting the bridge. i can get a multimeter, but what resistance numbers and all that am i looking for?

stedtale · #8 05-04-2007, 07:52 AM

He's a crew chief, started out as a mechanic.

ibnzneksrul · #9 05-04-2007, 08:09 AM

You should see ~0 ohms between all those points.

Searcy · #10 05-04-2007, 09:08 AM

This bass is a bottom line, $99, J-bass copy. What you are hearing is normal 60-cycle hum Bro. All you can do is get some shielding tape or paint and shield the hell out of it. It’s a good bass for the money and is about all you want in the sand out there but it’s always gonna have some hum.

Thanks you for your service. Keep your head down, keep the blue side up and come home soon.

ScubaSteve · #11 05-04-2007, 09:38 AM

If they are Dimarzio Model J or Ultra Jazz pickups are he each pickup wired in series like Dimarzio recommends they should both be humbuckers and he shouldn't have any noise. I vote for checking the bridge grounding with a meter and shielding the control cavity.

ibnzneksrul · #12 05-04-2007, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Searcy

This bass is a bottom line, $99, J-bass copy. What you are hearing is normal 60-cycle hum Bro. All you can do is get some shielding tape or paint and shield the hell out of it. It’s a good bass for the money and is about all you want in the sand out there but it’s always gonna have some hum.

Disagree. The P pickup on the 190 is a split-coil humbucker which is relatively noise-free when used alone.

Searcy · #13 05-04-2007, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScubaSteve

If they are Dimarzio Model J or Ultra Jazz pickups are he each pickup wired in series like Dimarzio recommends they should both be humbuckers and he shouldn't have any noise. I vote for checking the bridge grounding with a meter and shielding the control cavity.

Well, I guess we need to ask if the replacement pickups were humbuckers or not. Since it's acting just like a pair of single coils I assumed they were single coils. But we can be sure that there is no bridge ground issue because the bass only buzzes when the hands are off the strings. So clearly the bridge ground is working properly. This is the same trait shared by all single coil pickups.

Searcy · #14 05-04-2007, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibnzneksrul

Disagree. The P pickup on the 190 is a split-coil humbucker which is relatively noise-free when used alone.

Sorry, the only version of this bass I know of is the double J bass version like this one.

Tell us more about your bass and pickups SeasonedFries.

ibnzneksrul · #15 05-04-2007, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Searcy

Sorry, the only version of this bass I know of is the double J bass version like this one.

Tell us more about your bass and pickups SeasonedFries.

C'mon dude, research is not that difficult:

http://www.ibanez.com/bass/guitar.aspx?m=IJXB190

Searcy · #16 05-05-2007, 05:46 AM

C'mon dude, research is not that difficult:

Then why are you having such trouble figuring out that this bass is available in a J J configuration and that the symptoms being described indicate no problems with the bridge ground?

What we really need is more information at this point.

seasonedfries · #17 05-05-2007, 06:23 AM

ok, well i havent had the chance to check the resistance, but it is the P+J bass. the Dimarzio DP126 are the ones i have as seen at the link below. i'll mess with it more when i get done on the net and see if what all affects the hum. thanks again guys. i really appreciate the help.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...Set?sku=302285