If G&L or any other basses are known to need shielding to cut down on noise levels why don't they come with it from the factory?
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Basses Without Shielding
- Thread starter dpaulb
- Start date
I think some do. I have more than one (Fender) bass that came with the grounding paint in the routes.
Before I started playing Mike Lull basses, I had two Fender Jazz basses on different occasions that were pretty nice basses. But both had woefully inadequate shielding, at least in the environments I worked in.
But using copper shielding foil, I was able to fully shield both basses (control cavity, pickup cavities, underneath the pickguard, even the little wire tunnel from the control cavity to the bridge pup) to be acceptable in nearly all environments. I prefer single-coil pups and the acid test is to use only one of the pups (I do occasionally use the bridge pup solo for “that” tone). It’s my feeling that Fender could do a more thorough shielding job with their basses, but lots of people report no noise problems with their Fenders, so there ya go.
All of the Mike Lulls I’ve owned and now own show no noise issues at all. I use single-coil pups in those basses as well.
And with all the Stingrays I’ve owned, I’ve not had any noise issues with them, either.
But using copper shielding foil, I was able to fully shield both basses (control cavity, pickup cavities, underneath the pickguard, even the little wire tunnel from the control cavity to the bridge pup) to be acceptable in nearly all environments. I prefer single-coil pups and the acid test is to use only one of the pups (I do occasionally use the bridge pup solo for “that” tone). It’s my feeling that Fender could do a more thorough shielding job with their basses, but lots of people report no noise problems with their Fenders, so there ya go.
All of the Mike Lulls I’ve owned and now own show no noise issues at all. I use single-coil pups in those basses as well.
And with all the Stingrays I’ve owned, I’ve not had any noise issues with them, either.
So I have some basses that are picking up EM interference. I have tried shielding the first with copper tape to no avail. What’s the secret to getting this right? And how are you getting shielding into the tunnels where the wires go between pickup cavities and control cavities? Is there a good tutorial someplace?
I picked up an awesome vintage bass today with a single single coil pickup and as I move around the EM interference becomes quite loud in some directions/positions. This thing sounds amazing, and I want to record with it, I just need some help getting it there.
I picked up an awesome vintage bass today with a single single coil pickup and as I move around the EM interference becomes quite loud in some directions/positions. This thing sounds amazing, and I want to record with it, I just need some help getting it there.
It's a cost decision: Complete shielding costs more (and then sells for more) than Good Enough.
That's stone-tablet worthy.
(it's also the answer to about a dozen threads a week titled some variation of "Why doesn't ____ come out with ____?")
(it's also the answer to about a dozen threads a week titled some variation of "Why doesn't ____ come out with ____?")
1971 Guild JS-1 with a bisonic pickup. Short scale that sounds as big as a house. Unfortunately a EMI plagued noisy house.
The important part of shielding is to make sure everything is connected (e.g., the shielding in the neck pickup cavity is connected to the rest of the shielding).
In some basses, between the neck and bridge pickup cavities, there is a tunnel through the wood for the pickup lead. For these basses, I run a bit of wire through the tunnel and tack it down on both sides using copper foil. This technique only works if the copper foil adhesive is conductive. If it’s not, you can solder each end of the wire to the copper foil.
For the “wire,” you can use anything conductive. As it turns out the B string from a pack of Ernie Ball Regular Slinky Nickel Wound Electric Guitar Strings (.010-.046) has the same diameter as 20 AWG solid wire.
Because the wire (aka, a bit of B string) is so small and sturdy, I can easily replace pickups without breaking or resetting the wire.
Thanks. The 2 bases I have that need this the most both have a single pickup. But it’s helpful to know I’ll need to ground the copper tape in the pickup cavity to the control cavity tape.
Just because this is TB, here’s some vintage deliciousness.
Good stuff from Corrington.
Make sure to cover the control cavity cover completely with the copper shielding tape and that the tape comes up over the edge of the control cavity where the screw holes are so that it is in full contact with the tape on the cover. the wire from the pickup cavity to the control cavity can be secured at each end with a small piece of tape. A scrap piece of wire about 22awg is all you need. Spread the wire out at each end like a thread.
Make sure to cover the control cavity cover completely with the copper shielding tape and that the tape comes up over the edge of the control cavity where the screw holes are so that it is in full contact with the tape on the cover. the wire from the pickup cavity to the control cavity can be secured at each end with a small piece of tape. A scrap piece of wire about 22awg is all you need. Spread the wire out at each end like a thread.
With luck you might get by without shielding most of the time
The problem gets very real as soon as you find yourself playing a dive where you share an outlet with an ice machine or neon beer logo lights.
The problem gets very real as soon as you find yourself playing a dive where you share an outlet with an ice machine or neon beer logo lights.
And to be fair: Nobody can ever 'armor proof' shielding that works everywhere, every time. Even the best foil-lined, carefully assembled and soldered layouts can eventually find SOMEPLACE it's going to buzz. So all the builders make the assumption to do what they think is best, and cost is a part of it. I used to joke that there were dead people that made more noise than a full EMG setup, but find the right wrong place, and you just may hear a little something, but not often.
I mean, why do you think every single coil you can think of has a look-alike humbucking replacement. When I worked at Gibson, EVERYBODY thought they had to have P90's for that tone . . . . until they lived with listening to AM radio for the first time in a long time . . . . thru their amps. Believe me, there are LOTS of P100 look-alike humbucking replacements out there than they'll admit to, like side by side Jazz humbuckers, original PBass humbuckers to replace the single coils, etc.
To this day, Ron Wickersham tests the installed Series electronics in each newly-built Alembic with that setup, including RF test in a Faraday cage ! And believe me, they cut NO corners in shielding.
I don't care what you got, but you will find that bandstand on the same circuit as the dimmers and the neon signs, next door to an electric utility substation. It's the rest of the time you hope it's good enough, and often, it is.
I don’t need bullet proof for worst case stages. I need better than I have for my own home studio.
My Bordwell with single coil Nordstrand’s is dead quiet, so I know it can be done. My Squier Mustang is quiet, so I know it doesn’t need to be a boutique build with high end pups. I just want to quiet down my guild and Wattplower to record with. I’m never taking that guild or Ampeg to a gig. They’re way too fragile. I have solid gig worthy gear for that. Just need to get them working at my house.
My Bordwell with single coil Nordstrand’s is dead quiet, so I know it can be done. My Squier Mustang is quiet, so I know it doesn’t need to be a boutique build with high end pups. I just want to quiet down my guild and Wattplower to record with. I’m never taking that guild or Ampeg to a gig. They’re way too fragile. I have solid gig worthy gear for that. Just need to get them working at my house.
Most of us high-end builders put a lot of work into making our basses quiet and minimizing hum as much as we can. Our customers expect $3K+ basses to be quiet.
I have a nasty old flourescent lamp hanging right over my final assembly/setup bench. Every bass gets held right up under that lamp as part of the testing. Plus I have several other electrical transformer-based power supplies which I can turn on for even more EMI.
Making a bass quiet takes work, in the pickup design, the pickup shielding, and the overall shielding of the wiring harness. It's not mystical voodoo. It just takes some understanding of the engineering, and attention to detail in the design and fabrication.
I have a nasty old flourescent lamp hanging right over my final assembly/setup bench. Every bass gets held right up under that lamp as part of the testing. Plus I have several other electrical transformer-based power supplies which I can turn on for even more EMI.
Making a bass quiet takes work, in the pickup design, the pickup shielding, and the overall shielding of the wiring harness. It's not mystical voodoo. It just takes some understanding of the engineering, and attention to detail in the design and fabrication.
I used some short lengths of 1/4" copper tubing (the kind used for connecting the ice makers on refrigerators to a water source).
