Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Hum when not touching the strings
- Thread starter LVannerson
- Start date
-
- Tags
- bass hum
Normal 60 cycle hum of a single coil. Noise gate pedal may help.
Yes. 60 cycle noise is common with a single coil pickup.
Is your Nash shielded?
My Rickenbacker when it had single coil pickups. And it had the same type of buzzing/noise you’re describing. Especially around neon beer signs in the dive bars that I was playing.
I had my bass shielded, and it really helped. It didn’t completely eliminate the buzzing, but it reduced it.
Good call. Dirty power definitely makes it worse but I took a year off from playing out and now that I’m back I’m shocked at the hum. Any advice in the type of shielding? Thanks!
Any shielding tape will do the job, but you want the kind that is conductive on both sides to make installation easy. Check some videos on YouTube for specifics - the general plan is to shield the control and pickup cavities, as long as you make sure the shielding is connected to the ground on your pickups or bridge or pots you should be fine
The Lindy Fralin stacked ‘51 pickup is what you want. All the scream and no hum. Split 51 P-Bass by Lindy Fralin: Noiseless 51 P-Bass tone
If I am reading your post correctly, the hum goes away when you touch the strings?
If it is going away when you touch the strings, that doesn't sound like the usual 60 cycle hum from a single coil, that sounds like a bad ground from the bridge to the electronics. I recently had that issue after I rewired my bass kit build. I forgot to resolder the bridge wire to the rest of the ground circuit. The hum was there, but when I touched the strings, it went away (pickups are humbuckers). I realized immediately what my problem was, opened it back up, found the unsoldered bridge wire and soldered it where it belonged. Closed it all back up and the hum was gone.
Just my 2 pence.
If it is going away when you touch the strings, that doesn't sound like the usual 60 cycle hum from a single coil, that sounds like a bad ground from the bridge to the electronics. I recently had that issue after I rewired my bass kit build. I forgot to resolder the bridge wire to the rest of the ground circuit. The hum was there, but when I touched the strings, it went away (pickups are humbuckers). I realized immediately what my problem was, opened it back up, found the unsoldered bridge wire and soldered it where it belonged. Closed it all back up and the hum was gone.
Just my 2 pence.
I paid a local tech to shield my Ricky. He used some kind of shielding “paint” for the control cavity and then he used a foil on the bottom side of the pickguard.
I’ve also seen a copper colored foil used on the inside of the control cavity on a couple of my other basses.
Yep, this is the thread ender right here, and previous posts which said the same thing.
1. Shield your pickup cavities and the electronics cavity.
2. Make sure they are both connected and have continuity.
3. Ground the shielding to the jack.
Optional step -
When that is done and WORKS well, and you are still annoyed by the 60s single coil hum, swap the pickup for a noiseless one.
I had the same problem on my Telecaster when I installed a different bridge. Turns out the new bridge wasn’t making proper contact with the grounding wire. I used duct tape to attach the wire to the bridge and that fixed the issue.
Duct tape is pretty punk but make sure to solder the wire for a lasting connection.
So far it’s holding, that tape is pretty sticky, but at some point I may have to use solder.
Having a multimeter to test continuity of the grounding is incredibly helpful in these situations.
Everything that should be grounded, needs to be properly grounded. This includes pickup pole pieces (or if it has a chrome cover, that too), which some people don't properly do.
It also includes shielding. All shielded cavities must be in contact with ground or they don't do their job.
If you have an instrument where all of the proper grounds are connected and you're still getting noise, then you know you have other issues. But having a multimeter to test grounds is a cheap and easy way to diagnose that.
I was recently working on a 73 P bass with a similar issue. The bridge ground was not great and the pickup poles weren't grounded at all. I fixed the issue by correcting those problems.
Everything that should be grounded, needs to be properly grounded. This includes pickup pole pieces (or if it has a chrome cover, that too), which some people don't properly do.
It also includes shielding. All shielded cavities must be in contact with ground or they don't do their job.
If you have an instrument where all of the proper grounds are connected and you're still getting noise, then you know you have other issues. But having a multimeter to test grounds is a cheap and easy way to diagnose that.
I was recently working on a 73 P bass with a similar issue. The bridge ground was not great and the pickup poles weren't grounded at all. I fixed the issue by correcting those problems.
This. If the hum goes away when you touch the strings, you have a bad ground. Shielding has zilch to do with it.
This makes no sense to me. If the bridge and strings are not grounded, touching the strings isn't really changing there electrical situation that is causing the hum. My experience has always been that when the bridge ground is missing touching the strings does NOTHING.
Bridge Ground and Mystery Ground Issues — Haze Guitars
Solving Bass Hum Problems (Grounding vs. Shielding)
Last edited:
Shielding needs to be grounded, which should be the ring of the jack.
If things aren't grounded, the shielding does nothing. When you touch the strings, you become the ground connection.
That the hum stops when the strings are touched means its not a shielding problem at all, as others have suggested.
It's funny to me that people try and fight the concept of testing ground connections. Like it's a bad thing or something!
There is no harm in verifying that what should be grounded, is properly grounded.
If you have a multimeter (and if you do ANY bass electronics work, you need one), test that the bridge and ring of the jack have continuity. Then attach one probe to the bridge and touch the other probe to EVERYTHING ELSE THAT NEEDS TO BE GROUNDED.
If you have continuity at any of these points, you have a good ground.
If you don't and it needs to be grounded, ground it.
Shielding is good to have. 60 cycle hum isn't a ground issue. But both of those facts don't negate the fact that what should be properly grounded, needs to be properly grounded.
There is no harm in verifying that what should be grounded, is properly grounded.
If you have a multimeter (and if you do ANY bass electronics work, you need one), test that the bridge and ring of the jack have continuity. Then attach one probe to the bridge and touch the other probe to EVERYTHING ELSE THAT NEEDS TO BE GROUNDED.
If you have continuity at any of these points, you have a good ground.
If you don't and it needs to be grounded, ground it.
Shielding is good to have. 60 cycle hum isn't a ground issue. But both of those facts don't negate the fact that what should be properly grounded, needs to be properly grounded.
