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Electronic buzzing sound

skullbass

skullbass

Jan 17, 2019
70
45
Province of Quebec
#1
Hi !

I recently bought an used Ibanez. Everything’s fine except for an electronic buzz (hummmm) that I hear everytime the pickup balancer button isn’t in the middle position (when I try to emphasize just one pickup). I have no buzz when put in the balanced position. The position of the power tap switch doesn’t affect the situation.

I have another bass and another amp handy and the problem isn’t the amp (Fender Rumble 25). I changed the battery, it’s not that either…

What could be the cause and what should I do ?
 
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#2
The hum only present on Tap and power Tap while the blend knob not at the middle.

It is normal single coil hum.

No hum on solo neck / bridge pup in series mode .

I sold mine few months ago because unstable neck issue even minor temperature change.
 
#3
Yahboy said:
The hum only present on Tap and power Tap while the blend knob not at the middle.

It is normal single coil hum.

No hum on solo neck / bridge pup in series mode .

I sold mine few months ago because unstable neck issue even minor temperature change.
Click to expand...

Well, from the specs...
  • neck pickup: PowerSpan Dual Coil neck pickupPassive
  • bridge pickup: PowerSpan Dual Coil bridge pickupPassive
  • equaliser: Ibanez Custom Electronics 3-band EQ w/3-way Power Tap switch
 
#4
skullbass said:
Well, from the specs...
  • neck pickup: PowerSpan Dual Coil neck pickupPassive
  • bridge pickup: PowerSpan Dual Coil bridge pickupPassive
  • equaliser: Ibanez Custom Electronics 3-band EQ w/3-way Power Tap switch
Click to expand...


You are right, it is dual coil in each pickup. But in Tap and power tap mode, only one coil in use.
 
#5
All the coils are active in "Power Tap", but they're doing a trick with capacitors to make it more boomy, which makes the coils unmatched volume-wise & can allow more noise to be perceptible.

However, in "tap", which is really coil-splitting, only half the humbuckers are active & blending will definitely make it more noisy.
 
#6
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#9
skullbass said:
Ok thanks. The problem is directional, when I turn 360, in some position the problem almost goes away...
What are my options: I see three, what do you think ?

1. https://www.amazon.com/Ebtech-Hum-X...?ie=UTF8&qid=1547909815&sr=8-1&keywords=hum-x

2. https://www.amazon.com/Pyle-Elimina...=B00BARTW3I&psc=1&refRID=35VBDHY29M77TA0QB27D

3. A noise suppressor pedal
Click to expand...

All of those will have a negative impact on your tone. They "eliminate" hum by rolling off all the high-end frequencies. If you really cannot live with the hum, drop in some humbuckers or do not run it in single coil mode. Your bass is working properly.
 
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#10
DiabolusInMusic said:
All of those will have a negative impact on your tone. They "eliminate" hum by rolling off all the high-end frequencies. If you really cannot live with the hum, drop in some humbuckers or do not run it in single coil mode. Your bass is working properly.
Click to expand...

Thanks !
UPDATE: I brought the bass to a pro for a tune-up and for him to check the hum issue.
By replacing the black nylon strings with plain nickel he says that the problem is almost totally gone!
So I read your thread (in your signature) and it points that I have a shield issue, but apparently not so noticeable anymore, so he suggested not to invest in shielding. Will have it back in a few days to check by myself....

The issue was/is fully directional, when I face north and south it went/goes away, almost totally.
 
#11
I have the same thing here at home, only North/South are the noisiest & East/West are quiet.
Unfortunately my new computer is noisier than my old one, so if I sit in front of my computer to play, which is often, there's the noise! (if I'm blending)

The tapewound strings weren't allowing the bridge ground to quiet it down when you touch the strings.
When you get it back, try it w/o touching the strings & then while touching the strings.
If the noise gets quieter when touching the strings, shielding would help.
 
#12
Killed_by_Death said:
I have the same thing here at home, only North/South are the noisiest & East/West are quiet.
Unfortunately my new computer is noisier than my old one, so if I sit in front of my computer to play, which is often, there's the noise! (if I'm blending)

The tapewound strings weren't allowing the bridge ground to quiet it down when you touch the strings.
When you get it back, try it w/o touching the strings & then while touching the strings.
If the noise gets quieter when touching the strings, shielding would help.
Click to expand...

Will indeed test it thoroughly !!! I agreed to his suggestion to invest in a bone nut instead of shielding the bass. To invest in the tone, 'cause bone=tone.... ;)
 
#13
Got it with the nickel strings: way better. I can live with that for a while. But when he changed the input (from passive to active on his SWR Workingman’s 12 amp) : total silence and absence of noise!!! This seems to be a great feature on an amp...I don't have it on my Rumble 25....What do you think?
 
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#14
Input pad on an amp sucks tone. Usually you would be better off just using the gain knob to throttle a hot signal. It’s not realistic to expect a gain control on a little practice amp like yours.

Tape strings are the culprit, as was said. If you want old school thump, rounds aren’t what you want. Your tech should have put some steel flats on there. Fender flats are cheap and good. La Bella and D’addario Chromes are a little more expensive; LaBella really thumpy and Chromes being quite bright sounding. Then you can get into big bucks with Pyramid and Tomastik-Infeld.
 
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#15
96tbird said:
Input pad on an amp sucks tone. Usually you would be better off just using the gain knob to throttle a hot signal. It’s not realistic to expect a gain control on a little practice amp like yours.

Tape strings are the culprit, as was said. If you want old school thump, rounds aren’t what you want. Your tech should have put some steel flats on there. Fender flats are cheap and good. La Bella and D’addario Chromes are a little more expensive; LaBella really thumpy and Chromes being quite bright sounding. Then you can get into big bucks with Pyramid and Tomastik-Infeld.
Click to expand...

So with a Rumble 40 v3, I could put the Gain low and boost the Master volume to tame the hum ?
 
#18
96tbird said:
Yes. Thats all a pad does, but uses more electronics to do it which suck tone.
Click to expand...

Apparently you were right, or My Rumble 25 had a problem...

I tested my Rumble 25 and my sr300e at the music shop with their sr300e : same thing, very directional loud hum with frills... But once I tried my bass in a Rumble 40 : pure silence!! Only with gain and master volume at max the sound was annoying! So my Rumble 25 seems to be the culprit! They didn't have a R25 handy at the shop to test.

Tonight I'll go rent the R40 amp to play it in my environment to see how much it (my home) plays a part in degrading the sound...
 
#19
End of story : it wasn't the amp, both the Rumbles 25 and 40 were humming like beast in my basement...Even the identical bass they lent me....So this is my house, full of EMI......

BUT, I took a EHX Hum Debugger pedal to test at home : BULL'S EYE! It's THE solution that allows me to use the Tap or Powertap modes with just one active pickup without hearing the hum!!! And it doesn't suck tone at all to my ears. I'm a happy camper! Single coil mode: check !
 
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