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Bass returning my voice when speaking

L

Lau Rent

Mar 20, 2016
17
4
44
Hamburg
#1
Hello there,

I discovered an issue today, in the band room.
I was talking to the drummer, and I realized I heard my voice from another direction.

I suspected this to come from my bass pick up, so I started to speak directly in it. and the drummer told me he could hear my voice from the amp.
While plugging the bass to the recording device, from the jack output of the bass of course, I also could hear my voice saying "Test Test Test This is my voice which is not the bass but my voice through it if you can hear that on the record". Yes, I heard it on the record file 0.o

Why is that?
I tried other basses, it's the same but not as loud.
Can I get rid of this? I can also hear very loud any noise while touch the bass, such as my fingers on the volumes/sound settings knobs... It's annoying.

BH2 Bartolini with 3Band Eq and 3way MID switch made by Ibanez.
Thanks a lot for you help

EDIT: the other bass where its not that loud is DX5 with Ibanez 3band EQ from 2000 (produced in 1997 I believe)
 
#4
Lau Rent said:
thanks for your quick feedback bholder

I don't quite get the point:
is it one of the spec of those pickup which are by default microphonic?
or is this an issue that should not be and should get repaired?
Click to expand...
Shouldn't be like that, probably not repairable other than replacing it.
 
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#8
Do you think I could place a piece of clothe between the bass body and the pick up (well cut so that it is not visible from outside) to fix that issue?
I mean on the 1k$ 2017 bass it’s louder than on the 600$ 1997 Bass ... how could Ibanez make such a regression?!?
 
#9
If there is no foam under the pickup or the foam isn’t very stiff, you could try putting some foam under them. In the states I’d say go to the hardware store and get some weatherstripping foam. Not sure what you’d have that’s similar in Germany. Anything to help stop extraneous vibration in the pickup. That may or may not help, however. It’s a cheap DIY and worth a try but the ultimate answer might be to wax or epoxy pot the pickups or install new ones.
 
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#10
:rollno:
Matt Liebenau said:
If there is no foam under the pickup or the foam isn’t very stiff, you could try putting some foam under them. In the states I’d say go to the hardware store and get some weatherstripping foam. Not sure what you’d have that’s similar in Germany. Anything to help stop extraneous vibration in the pickup. That may or may not help, however. It’s a cheap DIY and worth a try but the ultimate answer might be to wax or epoxy pot the pickups or install new ones.
Click to expand...

Thanks Matt for your support

I found another thread where It reads that the screws are actually creating the microphonic
I will try to do test with or without screw aw aw (sing it like U2 would:bassist::laugh:) and will see next.

where I’m a bit annoyed is that the bass is brand new and I own it since less than a month :rollno::dead:
 
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#13
Lau Rent said:
Do you think I could place a piece of clothe between the bass body and the pick up (well cut so that it is not visible from outside) to fix that issue?
I mean on the 1k$ 2017 bass it’s louder than on the 600$ 1997 Bass ... how could Ibanez make such a regression?!?
Click to expand...
Technically they are roughly the same price. $600 from 1997 is worth $955 from 2019
 
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#16
bholder said:
oh yeah, forgot about that trick.
Click to expand...

It does seem like a "trick", but it's the way people have been making good (non-microphonic) pickups since the 40's - the kind of wax might vary a bit, but the basic technique is the same.

Some people actually like microphonic pickups, so the "fix" isn't always "progress" - beauty being in the ear of the beholder.
 
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#17
If youre saying you hear it on all your basses there is something else going on.

Actually I’ve seen it caused by metal pickup springs too, the voice vibrates the string which is picked up by the pickup. If you have metal Springs can try replacing with surgical tubing. Unfortunately that might not fix it, but I’d start there since you have multiple instruments exhibiting this.
 
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#19
bholder said:
Shouldn't be like that, probably not repairable other than replacing it.
Click to expand...

Not that its not repairable, it would most likely require being re-wound which at that point you spend so much that you'd be better off buying a replacement. Possible the pickup could be potted to try to remedy the issue (submerging the pickup in hot wax of some sort).

Most things are repairable, the question is it worth repairing? A 1962 Jazz pickup... yes, a newer Bartolini...no so much
 
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