Aguilar Stingray pickup

[Jarkko Tapano]

Hi,

Recently installed Aguilar MM4 pickup in my Stingray bass.
Pickup sounds great but when I'm touching pole pieces while not touching strings, I get a loud buzz. When I touch strings the buzz disappears.
Is this normal or do I have some issues with electronics?

Jarkko

 

[bassgrackle]

Hi,

Recently installed Aguilar MM4 pickup in my Stingray bass.
Pickup sounds great but when I'm touching pole pieces while not touching strings, I get a loud buzz. When I touch strings the buzz disappears.
Is this normal or do I have some issues with electronics?

Jarkko

Sounds like you need to make sure you have a good ground.

 

[Jarkko Tapano]

Sounds like you need to make sure you have a good ground.

Everything else in Stingray is original. Tech only soldered the pickup to circuit board. Can't remember if the original pickup had the same problem. What I can see, all the wires are OK.

 

[Jarkko Tapano]

All wires are now checked twice and problem still exists. Does Stingray pickups have grounded polepieces?
There is also electrical "click" every time I touch strings and buzz goes away. Is Stingray preamp naturally noisy?

 

[rufus.K]

Sounds like you should switch which lead us grounded a which is "hot".
The pickup shouldnt care.

Its the same thing that happens when you touch the tip of your amplifier input cable?

 

[Jarkko Tapano]

Sounds like you should switch which lead us grounded a which is "hot".
The pickup shouldnt care.

Its the same thing that happens when you touch the tip of your amplifier input cable?

Yes, same kind of sound.
So it could help if the leads are switched other way around?

 

[rufus.K]

Yes

 

[Jarkko Tapano]

Yes

Thanks.Didn’t know that it could be possible. Strange if tech missed that.

 

[rufus.K]

At the output jack, the white wire lands where the tip of your 1/4" cable is, the part that makes a racket it you touch it with your finger.

Im suggesting you switch the pickup wires around if the pole pieces buzz when you touch them. I assume its the same buzz/noise the cable makes when your finger touches it.

Similarly, if your two fingers touch both tip and sleeve of the cable the noise subsides a bunch, its the same if you touch the pole piece and the strings/ bridge...

Assuming your preamp hasnt been otherwise molested.

 

[Jarkko Tapano]

Thanks. The bass is currently at tech and he is pretty sure that the wires is in right places. I'll ask him to reverse them. I can't remember if the old pickup did the same thing.
Does Stingray pickups normally have grounded polepieces?
It is also strange that the hum/hiss fades away when strings are touched. It doesn't stop immediately.

 

[rufus.K]

No clue

 

[Yahboy]

Thanks. The bass is currently at tech and he is pretty sure that the wires is in right places. I'll ask him to reverse them. I can't remember if the old pickup did the same thing.
Does Stingray pickups normally have grounded polepieces?
It is also strange that the hum/hiss fades away when strings are touched. It doesn't stop immediately.

Try contact Aguilar service team. Tq

 

[Jarkko Tapano]

Contacted already. Got grounding instructions. We'll check it once again.

 

[Jarkko Tapano]

We switched the pickup wires and it didn't help with the problem. Got wiring diagram from Ernie Ball and try to troubleshoot with it. The buzz still exists and bass makes electric "crackle" when open strings are played.
Can't remember if the original pickup made same kind of noises.

 

[rufus.K]

Bummer.
Wire up the old pickup.

 

[Funkinthetrunk]

If poles make noise when touching them, they need to be grounded.

 

[SuperFunkyPete]

I bought an Aguilar 4M as well and have exactly the same problem. Hum which improves when I touch something metal.

Reversing the leads around does not fix the hum. The hum goes away when I touch strings, bridge, or tuners. I think it’s a shielding issue, as clearly my electrical path to ground is ok. (I’m going to crack out my multimeter and double check that though.)

On the plus side, the pole pieces of the pickup do not buzz when touched, even though they are not grounded.

 

[SuperFunkyPete]

I shielded the pickup cavity and grounded the pole pieces for good measure. No appreciable change in the hum for me. Looks like I may go Bartolini after all...shame, as the pickup sounds excellent.

 

[BassLife77]

had this problem with PJ pickups and grounding the pole pieces worked. I put insulation stripped silver plated copper wire across the poles and held it down with copper foil tape

 

[SuperFunkyPete]

Turns out some of my control cavity shielding wasn’t right. When I fixed that, the noise issues I had with the pickup went away. Sounds fab now!