Hum mystery: I don't find the solution. Can anyone help me please?

Hi guys,

I need your help on something that's a real mystery to me:

I've recently bought a new bass which I'm totally satisfied with. I really dig this instrument. It's a 2006 Fender Victor Bailey Jazz Bass V in mint condition.

But I have a problem with it: I get a lot (really a lot!) of hum (not sure it's called hum but I think so) when I plug my bass to my amp.

I made some research and I'm aware it's perfectly normal for single coils to produce some hum. But here it's a clearly abnormal and strong noise.

The hum disappears as soon as I touch any metallic part of my bass (strings, pots, tuning machines etc...). According to my research this is typical of a shielding problem with the bass.

As far as troubleshooting is concerned, here is what has been done so far:

At home:

-I tried my amp and cab with my other bass (2nd gen Sire V7 vintage 5) and don't get any abnormally high amount of hum at all.

With the V Bailey Jazz:
- I tried different brand new jack cables
- A new power supply cable with my amp (brand new Markbass Little Ninja + Ninja 212 cab)
- New high quality 9-volts batteries in my active bass.

... and still get that same abnormally high amount of hum.

After that I brought the bass to a local guitar tech who put some new shielding to it. We tried the bass at his place with his amp and cab and it was perfectly fine. No abnormal hum at all.

I got back home and tried it again and got the exact same hum issue.

I then suspected grounding issues in my home (even though I have no problem at all with my other bass) so I took the V Bailey Jazz bass, my amp and cab to another location and tried them. I still get the same hum problem.

Right after that I tried the bass again with another amp and cab that was present in the room and didn't get any hum at all.

To sum it up: I get extremely high hum from my bass only with my (brand new) amp and cab (not with my other bass though).


What should I do, guys? I'm hopeless.

Thanks for your help in advance.

 

Hey,
Thanks for the quick reply, man.
No dimmer switches or florescent lights in the room.

I thought the outlet might be the cause but then why is the extreme hum persisting even at another location. And why don't I get excessive hum with my other bass?
I'm really lost.
Feel like I tried everything...

 

Thanks for the insight.
The bass has just been re-shielded by a renowned luthier living in my area so I presumed it's one of the first things he checked.
I'm still wondering why this abnormal hum only occurs with the combination of that specific bass and amp + cab.
That same bass doesn't make any such hum with other amps and cabs.
And the amp + cab in question work just fine with any other basses.
Still a mystery...

 

Hey, Thanks everyone for the great insight. I feel I'm moving forward.

At the moment, after reading all your precious tips, I think the cause of the problem lies most probably in the amp or cab. I spoke again with the luthier who worked on my VB Jazz V and he confirmed to me that the electrical connection between the bridge and the output jack canal was verified.

So at the moment I don't believe there is anything wrong with my bass.

I will ride this afternoon to a music instruments shop that sells the same head (Little Ninja) as mine. I'll bring my bass, amp head and cab.
I'll try all possible combinations until I get to know who's the culprit.

Sending my amp back head back is at the moment an option I'm seriously considering.

I keep you posted, guys.

Thanks everyone!

 

The hum stays the same no matter what direction I point the bass at or as I move in a room. I've just made the test again to the be sure.

 

Yes, indeed.

 

As I said in my initial post, I brought my bass, amp and cab to another location yesterday and I got the exact same problem there.
Today I'm going to a music instruments shop with my gear to test different combinations there, including with another exemplary of my amp head.

 

Tried it with and without the my pedalboard. Same negative result.
I'll be able to run multiple tests with various amps here in the shop in the Netherlands in about an hour.

Keep you posted.