My Peavey Grind has always had a little buzzing problem ever since I bought it. But it seems like its getting more and more noticeable lately. I'm pretty confident that its a problem with the ground since the buzzing stops when I touch anything metal on the bass, except for the pickups, which make the buzzing louder. Anyone know an easy fix?
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Grounding Issue?
- Thread starter Purj
- Start date
What you have is pretty common. It's caused by your body not being grounded. The human body is a good antenna for radio frequencies or electrostatic interference and your proximity to the pickups will inject the interference into them or the other signal paths in the guitar. When you touch a grounded part of the guitar you're grounded through the cable, amp and wall socket and the noise you pick up is shunted to ground.
Common items that generate this type of noise are fluorescent lights, anything with a microprocessor, light dimmers, some amplifiers or effects, etc.
Fully shielding the electronics in the bass will probably help, if they aren't already. I'm not saying that you may not have a bad ground but that normally causes hummmm rather than buzzzz. Try a different cable too. Ya never know, it may be providing a less than good ground from the amp.
mech
Common items that generate this type of noise are fluorescent lights, anything with a microprocessor, light dimmers, some amplifiers or effects, etc.
Fully shielding the electronics in the bass will probably help, if they aren't already. I'm not saying that you may not have a bad ground but that normally causes hummmm rather than buzzzz. Try a different cable too. Ya never know, it may be providing a less than good ground from the amp.
mech
Investigate your bridge ground. That may be all the problem right there.
Easiest fix is running a wire (or an old string) from the bridge to your skin (maybe tucked behind the elastic of your underwear).
The fix you should ACTUALLY pursue involves learning the use of a soldering iron and electric guitar wiring 101. I promise you it will be some of the best time and money you ever spent.
Easiest fix is running a wire (or an old string) from the bridge to your skin (maybe tucked behind the elastic of your underwear).
The fix you should ACTUALLY pursue involves learning the use of a soldering iron and electric guitar wiring 101. I promise you it will be some of the best time and money you ever spent.
The bridge ground can be easily checked with an ohmmeter connected between the bridge and the output jack ground. Some paint on the bridge may need to be removed on the bridge for the probe to make contact with the metal of the bridge.
If you touch the strings and the noise goes away I believe this indicates the bridge is grounded.
If you touch the strings and the noise goes away I believe this indicates the bridge is grounded.
Turnaround
Commercial User
If the noise is reduced when you touch the strings, there's no point checking the bridge ground. The noise is reduce because the bridge is grounded.
