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American Performer Mustang Bass Noise

SethD

SethD

Jul 8, 2003
1,500
527
South Deerfield, Massachusetts
#1
This model caught my eye online a while back, and I finally got a chance to play one tonight. Beautiful sunburst finish, good fit and finish, solid feeling hardware and pots. However, both pickups were unreasonably noisy. I could dial the hum back a bit by balancing the two volume knobs just so, but it was still pretty much unusable. A Mexican PJ Mustang through the same rig was fine; a bit of noise on the bridge pickup when soloed, but night and day from the American Performer.

Has anyone else noticed excessive noise with this model? Fluke maybe? I always thought the split coil Mustang pickup was meant to cancel hum like a Precision pickup.
 
#2
I recently had some hum issues with a new Fender P pickup. After I got frustrated trying to track it down and eliminate it, I finally took it into my trusty repair guy.

He concluded the hum was due a poor solder connection right at the pickup, where one of the output leads was connected. (Though that didn't make sense to me.)

After resoldering, it became perfectly quiet.

Good luck!
 
#7
so what is the real deal with this bass? I have read so much conflicting information about the hum and the way the pickups are wired. How are the pickups actually wired? Is it true that you have to be using both pickups in order to get hum cancelation but with only the neck pickups on, there will be no hum cancelation?

if that is true, then different ambient situations could bring in more hum the other situations...which might explain why some people get hum and other people don't get hum...but still also indicated a design flaw in this bass if true. I would really like to know the true answer before considering to purchase one.

I recently bought a JMJ. It doesn't have any hum problem and sounds great. I don't like the worn look though, have considered trading it in for an AP...but the hum cancelation issue is what bothers me..no way for me to try one in advance.... so that is the actual current pickup wiring of this bass today in 2022?

Shielding problems, bad soldering, all can be fixed, but if the bass is designed to only cancel hum when both pickups are used together...well I consider that a design flaw...for me it would be reason to never buy one. But I can't seem to find definitive answer on this point.
 
#8
Well I bought the American Performer bass. The noise is definitely there, but the noise seems particularly related to interference from the room, such as computer screen, lights in the room, etc. In this particular room there is no place I can sit/stand to lose the noise.

As others have noted you can turn up both pickups all the way and then they seem to cancel each other out beautifully. Only thing is; that is not the desired tone most of the time!

So what I would like to know is what can be done to correct this, aside from send back to Sweetwater in a disgruntled fashion. I paid extra for them to set this up with LaBella's too.

From what I can gather around the net this is somehow related to how they wired the pickups so that each one individually is not hum canceling, they are only hum canceling when both pickups are basically turned up all the way?

The JJ is still here a few more days. It is dead quiet, no noise...and the pickups are definitely special sounding in a fuzzy old school kind of way. Very rock and roll. But I don't like the distressed finish, and definitely I prefer the Modern C satin finish neck on the Performer.

what have you guys done to avoid that buzz in conditions with interference in the American Performer as is?
 
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