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Help reducing hum?

L

Lautrec

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Aug 22, 2015
9
1
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#1
I play in a punk/garage band, so in almost all my songs I play with a load of treble and drive to get a really dirty and aggressive sound. However, the downside to this is that I get an absolute ton of hum that annoys me no end. Any suggestions on how to keep my sound but reduce the hum?
Just in case it matters I use a Squier Mike Dirnt P-Bass with a Bare Knuckle '58 split single coil pickup, a Hartke A70 kickback amp and an Ashdown NM2 drive pedal.
 
#3
I know for certain that the pickup is installed correctly, but is there any other way besides breaking out the copper tape? I don't have the kit to go taking everything apart. I'll do it if it's the only solution though.
 
#5
Shielding is how to fix the problem IF the problem is due to lack of shielding.

Does the hum & buzz decrease if you unplug the bass where it goes into the pedal (plugging a very short cord into the pedal to turn it in)? If the noise remains, than the noise is not in your bass. Then, try a known good bass cable. Be systematic.
 
#7
Does the noise go away if you unplug your bass, or even if you turn down the bass's volume, or the input volume of the pedal?

If it is in fact your bass, then you need to shield wherever the noise is entering. So, the answer is "it depends"
 
#8
It goes away almost entirely if unplugged, but also decreases if I turn down volume, treble or drive. So I get no hum when on a clean tone with no treble boost, boosting the bass doesn't seem to effect it as much.
 
#9
Ok, so the additional gain in the overdrive signal path is amplifying hum from your bass and/or cable. Before doing anything to your bass, try a different cable (to eliminate possible poor shielding of the cable).

the next thing to double-check is that the bridge is bonded to the signal ground by using a small wire between the shell of your cable's plug and your bridge. If this eliminates the hum/buzz, then you are missing this bonding wire inside your bass, and your strings are acting to couple environmental noise into the pickup system.

If these things don't help, you might want to see a guitar tech with experience in shielding, and also possible diagnosing defective pickups/installation. These are humbuckers right?
 
#10
No, it's a single split single coil, Bare Knuckle '58 on passive circuitry, so some hum is expected. The pickup is obviously not standard and although I didn't do it myself I got my friend to since he's an experienced guitar tech. I also know that it's not a faulty cable. Before I take my bass apart what's the likelihood of the fault lying with the amp?
 
#11
Lautrec said:
No, it's a single split single coil, Bare Knuckle '58 on passive circuitry, so some hum is expected. The pickup is obviously not standard and although I didn't do it myself I got my friend to since he's an experienced guitar tech. I also know that it's not a faulty cable. Before I take my bass apart what's the likelihood of the fault lying with the amp?
Click to expand...
I would try another amp & eliminate that being the problem. Split P pickups are essentially 2 single coil pickups wired in reverse polarity creating 1 humbucking pickup. I would make sure it's wired correctly. Any decent bass should have shielding. I think I would get a different pickup. Plenty of quiet ones out there..
 
#13
Lautrec said:
Haven't checked yet, but I doubt it's shielded, it's only a mid price Squier. The pickups are very good quality however, so I doubt it's that.
Click to expand...
If there's no shielding then that's probably your problem. That pickup has a high output so it's going to exaggerate any noise problems. I would get shielding paint and give several coats to every routed surface of the bass. You could also add foil on top of that You can't over-shield. You might want to check with the pickup manufacturer to see if you need different pots with a different impedance rating.
 
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#15
You continue to make assumptions without checking and verifying. I can't help you without good, verified information. Assumptions don't work when troubleshooting a noise problem.

Carry on then.
 
#16
Sorry if I sound presumptuous, I'm simply busy currently so haven't had time to fix it yet, and don't have much time available generally, so I'll start with the most likely causes, amp and shielding. I'm sure it's frustrating trying to explain things to a relative novice in these situations however.
 
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#17
Heck of an echo in the thread today!! :D

If I may suggest that you work closely with Agedhorse as he is one of the best thought of engineers in the music business. Just do exactly what he asks you to do and report the results. Between you you'll be able to sort this problem out!

As for being busy, you're 15!! You're supposed to be busy! It's why you young folk have so much damn energy!!! :D
 
#18
Lautrec said:
Just in case it matters I use a Squier Mike Dirnt P-Bass with a Bare Knuckle '58 split single coil pickup
Click to expand...

That pickup should be wound as RWRP and so be humbucking. You hardly can find a split coil P pickup that is not RWRP. (I happen to own one. It sounds great, but is a pain in the neck.)

Says the Bare Knuckle Pickups website:

“The '58 Split Coil P is based on the slightly later split coil design with flat profile, hand bevelled, Alnico V magnets arranged across two coils with opposing wind direction and magnetic polarity to cancel out hum.”​
Lautrec said:
Sorry if I sound presumptuous, I'm simply busy currently so haven't had time to fix it yet, and don't have much time available generally, so I'll start with the most likely causes, amp and shielding. I'm sure it's frustrating trying to explain things to a relative novice in these situations however.
Click to expand...

There are many shielding tutorials and guides online. Here are two on TB:

So your bass has a hum

Jazz Shielding Pictorial (Big Images Warning)
 
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