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hum from Fender basses

c2thej2theizzo said:
What do you live sound guys do or have in your arsenal as far as bass DI's or other tools for removing or reducing the hum from fender's (and others) basses and their big noisy coil pickups.

Keep your fingers on the strings or turn down your volume between songs. Shielding your bass helps, but if you're touching the strings, it shouldn't buzz.
 
Your all fools....

Yes, if I'm on stage with a noisy Fender, I just shield it. (Between songs is best, but if you're quick you can just sit out the first verse. As long as you finish soldering the ground to the copper before the chorus, you're just building the song's dynamics while you McGuyver your bass.)

Thanks, bro. If I have any other questions, should I just PM you directly for the single correct answer? ;)
 
Yes, if I'm on stage with a noisy Fender, I just shield it. (Between songs is best, but if you're quick you can just sit out the first verse. As long as you finish soldering the ground to the copper before the chorus, you're just building the song's dynamics while you McGuyver your bass.)

Thanks, bro. If I have any other questions, should I just PM you directly for the single correct answer? ;)


For. The. Win.

Don't take breaks during sets, take an outage instead. :D :D :D
 
Not too many things you can do. Shielding helps, but doesn't always completely kill it. Running both pickups full up should cancel the noise out provided the bass is wired correctly and the pickups are matched. Of course that's not everyone's ideal tone.

Electro-Harmonix makes a pedal called the Hum Debugger. It's essentially a notch filter at 60Hz and it's harmonics. It works, but kind of kills the tone IMO. You could also invest in a noise gate. The ISP Decimator and MXR Smart Gate are both pretty decent. Nobody will hear the hum while you're playing, it's the space in between where it's obvious.
 
Sleeping Giant said:
The way the amp is set up can accentuate certain problems by boosting the frequency where the problem lies. I had a Stingray with a slight noise problem, when I cut that area it helped alot.

+1 to that and +1 to getting a 60hz filter.

Also if its an older amp check the polarity of the plug.

FYI, my Fender MIJ Jazz is pretty noisy if I don't have both volume pots at the same level; I thinks that's pretty common with J basses.