Not sure about THIS issue!

[Punkster]

Hi forum, i have an Aria P-Bass and here is my issue...

The bass is making a disturbing noise that goes completely off when i touch ANY metal part of the bass (tuners, bridge, strings) which i guess is a ground issue, but i've soldered everything to the pots again and nothing..

Horsing around, i touched the magnetic poles on the D-G pickup and i got this HUGE (even more disturbing) noise... then i proceeded to do the same thing on the E-A pickup and nothing happened... silent as f***

So, what do you guys think? f***** up pickup? Or.....................

To finish it up, i took the bass to the store.. hooked it up on a MarkBass Combo, cranked it up and.... NOTHING no noise.. no ground issue.. i kinda made a fool outta myself after almost yelling the store manager on the phone telling him that he gave me a faulty bass..

After i came home, i plugged my amp on EVERY SINGLE outlet of my house.. same thing.. huge noise..

What do you guys think? bad pickup? bad luck? i don't know...

[christw]

Off the top of my head:

1) Your house may have crazy wiring.
2) Check the bridge ground?
3) Did you touch them with a metal object (screwdriver) or the strings? That makes a huge sound...
4) Shake the bass around a bit. It may be a loose ground wire. They can be broken inside the casing.

[Zooberwerx]

Originally Posted by christw

Off the top of my head:

1) Your house may have crazy wiring.
2) Check the bridge ground?
3) Did you touch them with a metal object (screwdriver) or the strings? That makes a huge sound...
4) Shake the bass around a bit. It may be a loose ground wire. They can be broken inside the casing.

I'd go with option #1: household wiring. I live in a 54 y.o. house and although there have been updates / upgrades, I sometimes question the integrity. A qualified electrician could give a better explanation. As it stands, sounds like your bass is "looking" for the best ground available which, at the moment, is you. The fact the symptoms disappear in other locations pretty much clinches it. Riis's Rule of All Things Electrical / Mechanical: stuff that is truly broken does not repair itself.

Riis

[Punkster]

Originally Posted by christw

Off the top of my head:

1) Your house may have crazy wiring.
2) Check the bridge ground?
3) Did you touch them with a metal object (screwdriver) or the strings? That makes a huge sound...
4) Shake the bass around a bit. It may be a loose ground wire. They can be broken inside the casing.

1) I live in a 28 ~ 30yrs old Building... i don't know if the wiring is all weird***

2) Yes, it is correctly soldered and attached to the bridge...

3) Nope, i touched them with my fingernail.. the noise was the same as before... but way (and i mean WAAAAAY) more amplified... but only on D-G pickup... E-A pickup are dead silent when i touch them with my fingernail...

4) Tried, but nothing happened.. there's no loose wires inside.. i mean.. it's a p-bass.. it has like 4 wires hehe...


***: I connected a Guitar on the amp, cranked the volume and.... silent.. plus, i have another bass (a P/J Brazilian Bass) and it's dead silent on the amp... no noise whatsoever...

I guess i'll call an electrician to check the apartment.. but, if its a building.. then, it doesn't matter how good the wiring on my apartment is.. if the whole wiring of the building is f'ed up... then im f'ed too... am i right?

[Randall]

go to any home centre and get a cheap outlet tester. It will tell you if you outlet is not grounded or inproperly wired. Use it on gigs to check outlet before pluggin in.

[Punkster]

Ok, a little problem now.... i opened my bass.. and i think THIS is the issue...



And i guess the cable was (or used to be) attached to this blob of solder...




One last thing... was this the possible cause of my problem??

Is it fixable? (there are NO good guitar techs around here)

Can i fix it myself?? (i have NO idea how to solder)

Should i just buy another pickup?

Thanks in advance!

[Randall]

If you buy a pickup you will have to solder most (not all) pickups anyway. Can you borrow a soldering iron? Or a friend who can solder can do this repair in minutes.

[christw]

I figured... It's fixable. A $7 soldering iron, five minutes, and you can have it back together.

Strip the end of the wire about 1/8", heat it up with a soldering iron, and place the wire (and iron) on the solder until it meshes with the wire. Buy some wire and solder (~$10) and practice a couple of times first.

[Punkster]

okokokok... i guess i can do that... or... even better.. i'll tell my dad when he's off work... i'm sure he can solder three wires... hehe.. thanks you guys! i'll post if anything comes up