Did I ruin a pickup doing this?

[suddenlysane]

Noob question. Can you negatively affect a pickup by raising/lowering it while it's plugged into an amp and the amp is on?

I had my Ibanez SR300 restrung with Dunlop "Trujillo" strings and set up while I wait for my new Fender to get here. The Trujillo strings were just to see what it is like to use a thicker gauge, etc. Massive fret buzz is what I got. I restrung it with the DHS wound black strings I had on it previously. Much better but the G string sounded too quiet so I used a philips head Screwdriver to raise the pickup a little while I strummed it. What I got was a bad hissing/breaking up sound. Now, regardless of how low I lower both pickups, it's still there under anything more than light fingering. Did I screw something up?

 

[line6man]

Where did you get the idea that changing the physical position of a pickup while the bass was hooked up to your rig would affect anything at all?

It's fine.
That would be the best way to fine tune the pickup height, so you can play it while you're doing it.

 

[aproud1]

What he said^^^

The only thing you might mess up would be your speaker cab?

 

[ahbassman]

If I read correctly, he says that the hissing and breaking up sound is still occurring, no matter how he repositions the pickup. I wouldn't call that fine.

 

[suddenlysane]

Nothing was wrong with it before I began raising it and the second I put the screwdriver down after raising it the noise began. Now I can't get it to go away. I have no experience with musical instruments and I'm clumsily trying to learn. Excuse my ignorant questions but I can assure you there will probably be many many more.

Now I need to figure out what happened.

 

[suddenlysane]

I removed the Zoom B9.1 pedal and connected directly to the amp (Hartke B300 30 watt combo) via a brand new Monster bass cable. Everything is tight. A light strum on the A string is fine but a slightly heavier strum causes the 10" driver to fuzz/break apart/rattle/insert your own word for "sound like ****".

 

[SnakeKappele]

My turn to sound dumb.

Where are the gain and volume set on your amp? Sounds like your overdriving something.

What kind of pickups are they? I can't think of anything you could do to a pickup to do this.

Is it both pickups?

Where is the volume on the bass set?

 

[suddenlysane]

My turn to sound dumb.

Where are the gain and volume set on your amp? Sounds like your overdriving something.

What kind of pickups are they? I can't think of anything you could do to a pickup to do this.

Is it both pickups?

Where is the volume on the bass set?

On the amp everything is set at 12 O'clock with the exception of the volume which is at setting 3. The pickups are EXF-4-F and EXF-4-R, both stock from Ibanez. Bass guitar volume is maxed. It seems the noise is with both pickups so it might not be the guitar?

 

[suddenlysane]

Treble/Bass Boost/Cut is set mid as well.

I've had the amp for 10 months with no problems and this started immediately after raising the bridge pickup. Coincidence?

 

[walterw]

What I got was a bad hissing/breaking up sound. Now, regardless of how low I lower both pickups, it's still there under anything more than light fingering. Did I screw something up?

not the pickups.

so it's OK when you play really light, but craps out when you hit it harder?

how old is the battery in the bass?

 

[suddenlysane]

Correct. Playing light it's fine but craps out with anything above a normal strum/pluck/etc.

I changed the battery after a good /facepalm (for not thinking of that) but nothing changed. It seems more and more likely to be the amp but the timing is so suspect.

 

[walterw]

time to troubleshoot: play the bass into a different amp, and play a different bass into that amp.

you'll have your answer right away.

 

[pnut166]

It is slightly possible that you had a loose solder connection, and when the pup moved, it pulled it a little.

 

[suddenlysane]

@walterw - I plugged my Ibanez guitar into the amp and it sounded fine. I then plugged my bass into my Line 6 guitar amp and the buzz/rattle was there. Gotta be the bass.

@pnut166 - Looks like i have an excuse to dissect my first bass! Woohoo!!

 

[SnakeKappele]

@walterw - I plugged my Ibanez guitar into the amp and it sounded fine. I then plugged my bass into my Line 6 guitar amp and the buzz/rattle was there. Gotta be the bass.

@pnut166 - Looks like i have an excuse to dissect my first bass! Woohoo!!

OK, what do you mean by "buzz/rattle" ? To me, this is a physical type of sound, not electronic. Are all of the strings seated in the bridge saddles OK? Are they in the nut slots OK? Is this buzz/rattle amplified by the amp?

 

[desertsolace]

It is slightly possible that you had a loose solder connection, and when the pup moved, it pulled it a little.

This was my first thought... loose ground perhaps?

 

[YYZDMV46&2]

I think it might be the neck, not the pups. Was the bass set up properly before you put the dunlop strings on? and how low is the action as of now?

 

[suddenlysane]

The action was higher when I got it back from Sam Ash after having the Trujillo strings put on it and supposedly properly set up (i paid $48 for it). It played but with lots of fret buzz. I personally put the DHS coated wound rounds on it with no other adjustments and it played fine until I noticed the G string volume sounded low. I began to raise the bridge pickup and after the first adjustment i noticed the noise. It was buzzy/raspy sounding. It hasn't stopped since the initial adjustment.

I now have the neck off and am in the process of pulling everything out of it slowly and intend to inspect every connection carefully. The two grounds under the pickups themselves seemed secure, although they were screwed down into the body under the pups themselves? I can only assume that if something is loose, i'll be able to find it.

 

[SnakeKappele]

Why did you take the neck off ????

The wires screwed into the wood under the pickups are shield grounds. The cavities are painted with conductive paint.

 

[spaz21387]

why did you pull the neck? all you had to do is remove the screws in the plate in the back of the bass and poke around in there and look for a loose wire or disconnected wire. Also you should learn to do a proper set up on your bass. A shop wont be able to set it up exactly how you like it.