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Ground wire from bridge needed?

The answer is yes and no. If you have passive pickups, then YES! Otherwise you will get a buzz when you let go of the strings.

If you have active pickups (no, an onboard preamp doesnt make them active, were talking EMG's) then no, you dont need it.
 
hey i have a wire going to the bridge but i still get the anoying buzz when i let go of the strings? i do not mean to hi-jack the thread but could i get a few pointers on what to check out now for?

Actually, the bridge ground wire is what stops the buzzing when you are touching the strings.
If you're experiencing excessive buzz, either your bass isn't shielded well or your A/C power source isn't grounded properly.

Single coil pickups are more prone to buzz by nature.
 
hey i have a wire going to the bridge but i still get the anoying buzz when i let go of the strings? i do not mean to hi-jack the thread but could i get a few pointers on what to check out now for?

If you have a buzz when you have fingers on the strings, then your bass is probably not well grounded, if at all, but when fingers let go of strings/hardware and buzz starts, is not possible to fix, that's the evil ghost in the room ...

D.Don
 
hey i have a wire going to the bridge but i still get the anoying buzz when i let go of the strings? i do not mean to hi-jack the thread but could i get a few pointers on what to check out now for?

You have a jazz bass, it is normal for your pickups to hum when they are soloed or both are not full on at the same time. When both volume are full, the hum should be cancelled.
 
Dimmers can be the culprit. Bad dimmers generate a lot of electro-magnetic interference, particularly when not on max.

I just played a gig like this. The amp buzzed a little at the rehearsal house, but they had dimmers in their ceiling. They turned them off, the buzz went away. They turned on the usual fluorescents, and the buzz came back, but not as bad.

Get to the gig the next night, and we go through sound check - buzzing like crazy. Sound guy (for the club) tells me to reverse my ground. Did (I put my amp's powercord into a 3 to 2 prong adapter and flipped it around since the amp (Ashdown) doesn't have a polarity reverse switch), and the buzz was still there. I told him, "I'll bet your lights are on dimmers" -they were. Told him I can't do anything about it. Turns out the lighting was running on the same circuit that my amp was plugged into.

You might want to consider getting a polarity reverse direct box - [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]. That's on my list to get at some point in the future.

Z
 
Since you're in New Delhi - thought you'd like to know that our fiddle player (a Celtic Rock group) is a guy named Bob Banerjee - born in Punjab and emigrated here when he was a child. Most awesome fiddle player I know...toured with Gaelic Storm for a year and half.

His joke is that he plays a lot with country bands, so he's the only Indian among the Cowboys.

Hope the ground reverse helps. Shiedling/grounding is a pain in the rear - really depends on the workmanship, so sometimes a luthier (or someone really good with electronics) is the only solution.

Z
 
I have fully active EMG's with no ground wire from the bridge. I play on large stages with loads of lamps and wireless connections, and electromagnetic interference.

I never get any buzzing in any way.