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60 cycle hum question

#22
bumperbass said:
There's a guy on here that posted an interesting wiring diagram where you run both pickups in series to create the humbucking effect, yet he has a volume control on the pickups...memory is failing but I think ONE pickup had a volume. It was very interesting. I had to draw his schematic on a piece of paper and analyze it, and yes, it makes sense that it can work. I think it was walterw but not sure, as there's a few pretty sharp walters on here. I'll do a search for you as soon as I post this.
Fender did some pretty sharp marketing when they introduced 'noiseless pickups'. There ARE no noiseless single coils (unless you put them in series).
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You don't need pickups in series to be humbucking. Jazz basses hum cancel when the two pickups are on in parallel.

Parallel or series wiring has nothing to do with hum cancelation.

Hum cancelation happens when you have two opposite polarity coils summed together. To stop them from sounding out of phase, the magnetic polarity is also reversed, which puts them back in phase as far as the strings are concerned, but they are still out of phase as far as the noise is concerned, because it doesn't need the magnets to be induced into the coils.

As an example, Musicman humbuckers have the two coils wired in parallel. Humbuckers are usually wired in series because the coils are small and they sound fuller in series.
 
#23
I have this same problem with my vigier passion when i play
in clubs from flourescent lights. It only does it when i use
one pickup at a time and not at all when i play at home.
i tried a hum debugger but it kills my tone and volume. Is there
any pedal that will at least cut down the hum with out changeing the tone?
 
#24
Flourescent lights and light dimmers cause a lot of noise that's hard to get rid of. I guess you have single coils in the Vigier?

It doesn't help that clubs often have terrible wiring too. I've played in some places with basses with humbuckers, and they still picked up some hum.
 
#25
The vigier does have single coil pickups and i can see that the
pickup cavities were sprayed. If I stand still in one position
it's not quite as bad but still has a low annoying hum. I have this same problem with my thunderbird but really no other
basses. My Zon is totally quiet no matter where i play. but I
love the tone of that vigier and want that to be my main bass.
 
#26
DiMarzio Area J, Nordy NJ4SV are now the top contenders. Fralin is too expensive, unfortunately.

Third option is just shielding it.
Did a gig Friday though where there was no grounding issue at all... Just lots and lots of 60 cycle hum :-(

But I am so in love with the single coil tone of my bass... The Fender CS60s sure do seem noisy tho. :-(
 
#30
I noticed on some of your statements you said you get a hum sometimes when playing your amp and no hum when you played another persons amp. Have you also thought that maybe there is a ground issue in your amp that is magnifying your pickup issue?
Just something I had dealt with in the past also.
Personally I changed amp heads and put Duncan STK-J2's in my Jazz and wow no hum or ground issues.....Just a thought...good luck
 
#31
I have this issue as well- my main practice area is up on my 2nd story, in a room with my computer, and EVERy amp I have tried gets this weird hum that is picked up through my pickups and cable. And the weird thing is it gets LOUDER at night, and whenever there is a storm. Took my bass to a good tech and he said the pickups were shielded fine (newer Fender P-bass USA)
 
#32
obimark said:
I have this issue as well- my main practice area is up on my 2nd story, in a room with my computer, and EVERy amp I have tried gets this weird hum that is picked up through my pickups and cable. And the weird thing is it gets LOUDER at night, and whenever there is a storm. Took my bass to a good tech and he said the pickups were shielded fine (newer Fender P-bass USA)
Click to expand...

Louder at night or in a storm? Now THAT is weird! I had a nasty noise that used to come and go at my house at different hours. I became convinced it was an industrial welder of some kind in the neighborhood. I tried to track it down with a transistor radio walking around the area but never found it. It's gone now.

Note that a P-bass is a humbucking pickup. So probably there is some leakage on your shielding or cable. (Not all cables shield the same) Fender shielding can be variable. Mine killed about 75% of the noise but let some through until I bit the bullet and did a complete copper foil job on it. And shielding can never be 100% effective because the pickups have to stick out. Computers can be very strong sources of hum and noise. And my combo amp is no slouch in generating single coil hum fields either!
 
#33
Some of the things that can cause noise with single coils...Light dimmers (terrible...a 60Hz AM radio), computer monitors, CRT's being the worst, televisions, anything with a compressor, like refrigerators, freezers, walk in coolers...AC units, neon signs, florescent lights including CFL's, transformers, motors, microwave ovens, and many other sources. Think of clubs/bars you might play in. Most of those things are there. Storms can play havoc with power, so it's understandable.
 
#34
Steve Dallman said:
Some of the things that can cause noise with single coils...Light dimmers (terrible...a 60Hz AM radio), computer monitors, CRT's being the worst, televisions, anything with a compressor, like refrigerators, freezers, walk in coolers...AC units, neon signs, florescent lights including CFL's, transformers, motors, microwave ovens, and many other sources. Think of clubs/bars you might play in. Most of those things are there. Storms can play havoc with power, so it's understandable.
Click to expand...

Does shielding help any of this? Or are hum cancellers the only option?
 
#35
GroovinOnFunk said:
Does shielding help any of this? Or are hum cancellers the only option?
Click to expand...

Groovin,

I was having same problems as you with a Fender Jaguar Bass that i bought second hand.

The bass was noisy as hell on active, went away when you touched strings or any earth point in the bass.

After thoroughly shielding with copper tape made a HUGE DIFFERENCE!!!

Only noise now is when on one pickup, or if i really crank the gain. On active at normal levels it is quiet as a mouse, with the standard pickups.

Was that much of a difference i did my other bass as well (spector q4pro).

One if the best upgrades you can do to an active bass IMO.
 

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