• 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.

jazz bass hum...?

#21
plangentmusic said:
A lot of people say this, but keeping the pu blend the same negates much of the J's appeal.

And rolling off highs..well, that's just hiding. If you need highs, you need highs.

I've never heard a cable making a difference unless you're used to using total crap cables.
Click to expand...
As far as running the pickup the same take that up with Leo Fender, he made it that way. Didn't say you had to, just stating how it was designed to work.

I wound't call it hiding, I have never needed all the highs that my J basses allow with the control rolled on full. Still have plenty of highs and rolling off the tone makes the bass sound a bit thicker. Again Leo put it on there for a reason and there is no shame in using it, as far as I'm concerned it's what makes the Jazz Bass so awesome. Jaco ran primarily his rear pickup and he used the heck out of his tone control. If you listen to his first album it sounds like he got it backed way off for most of it as it thickens up the tone of the bridge soloed. Never understand why people freak out about using the tone control.

Poorly shielded cables make cables make noise, don't know what to say about that one. If you are already using an instrument that's prone to 60cycle hum it doesn't help any using a bad cable that accentuates 60 cycle hum.

Not sure why you want to argue these points, I was just pointing some stuff that helps me out to the OP.
 
#22
Running both pickups up 100% should get rid of the hum. If that's not the sound you like, you can get 90% of the bridge sound by moving the blend 5% towards the bridge (and the same for the neck).

This way you can get pretty much the bridge or neck soloed tone, but almost none of the hum.
 
#23
In my opinion, shielding can help a lot if done properly. It will never get rid of the 60's hum, but I've grown so used to it that I barely notice it. What I do notice and absolutely hate is all the noise from fluorescent lights, CRT's etc. And that's where a proper, well done shielding can truly help. There's a huge topic about shielding in the pickups and electronics forum.

Of course balancing the pups is work around but then again, for my ears the both pickups on full is absolutely worst sounding pickup setting in a jazz bass.
 
#24
rmars said:
As far as running the pickup the same take that up with Leo Fender, he made it that way. Didn't say you had to, just stating how it was designed to work.

I wound't call it hiding, I have never needed all the highs that my J basses allow with the control rolled on full. Still have plenty of highs and rolling off the tone makes the bass sound a bit thicker. Again Leo put it on there for a reason and there is no shame in using it, as far as I'm concerned it's what makes the Jazz Bass so awesome. Jaco ran primarily his rear pickup and he used the heck out of his tone control. If you listen to his first album it sounds like he got it backed way off for most of it as it thickens up the tone of the bridge soloed. Never understand why people freak out about using the tone control.

Poorly shielded cables make cables make noise, don't know what to say about that one. If you are already using an instrument that's prone to 60cycle hum it doesn't help any using a bad cable that accentuates 60 cycle hum.

Not sure why you want to argue these points, I was just pointing some stuff that helps me out to the OP.
Click to expand...

No argument -- just pointing out that there's no "solution" per se.
 
#25
Unfortunately, shielding will have verry little if any effect on single coil hum, doesn't matter if you use paint or foil shielding.

If having the pickups at exactly the same volume isn't an option, (I turn both of mine all the way up and love it 80% of the time) about the only thing you can do is change the pickups. Lindy Fralin makes a hum cancelling single coil for Jass bass that is sensational!
 
#26
Once more I say, the best practice is to turn both pickups up all the way, then if you don't like the scooped sound, turn down the volume on either one of them just a little (5%-10%), and it will sound almost exactly like the soloed pickup, but with very little hum.

Don't get hum-canceling pickups unless you have already heard and liked them. Most of them will sound a bit scooped and modern, and the highs won't be quite as lively and rich as a good true single-coil.
 
#29
I've done many recording with my Rickenbackers and can not hear the single coil hum they produce at all in the recordings. Nor does it bother me or anyone else in gigging situations, either. In real world settings the hum should not be an issue for you from your Jazz Bass.
 
#30
line6man said:
Why would a noise gate suck the tone?:confused:

It might affect the dynamics, but the frequency response should be unaffected.
Click to expand...

I personally have no experience with them, both of my basses with J pups have stacked pickups. I've only read other peoples reviews of them.

My guitar player has a few noisy pedals on his board and he uses one in his effects chain. The only difference I hear is the lack of hum.
 
#32
pacojas said:
correct me if i'm wrong, but won't the hum come through each time the gate is opened? it should only cancel hum between songs/notes, true? :help:
Click to expand...

Yes, that's what a gate does.
The signal is only audible above the threshold. Any time you dip below the threshold, the signal mutes. The idea is that when you play, your playing covers up the hum. When you stop playing, the output is muted so you hear nothing.
 
#33
My amp has a noise gate and it's saved me a lot of headache but until I swap out my pickups for noiseless single coils, stacked hums, or something else I'll still have a nagging feeling that my rig isn't perfect.

Which is fine with me since I'm broke.

I hate noise and playing my gear alone brings out the worst in me.

Here's to New Years' gigs, folks!

Yet another reason to play with a bunch of friends for booze and cash!

No offence to the OP, but it's easy to live with SC noise.
 
#34
line6man said:
Yes, that's what a gate does.
The signal is only audible above the threshold. Any time you dip below the threshold, the signal mutes. The idea is that when you play, your playing covers up the hum. When you stop playing, the output is muted so you hear nothing.
Click to expand...

Ahh thanks for the info :D I guess I shouldn't believe everything I read.

So yeah just get a noise gate, problem solved;)
 
#40
plangentmusic said:
I can't see how anyone can use a noise gate on a bass. If you hold a note the sustain won't naturally lessen. It'll get to a certain point and then just shut off. Not acceptable.
Click to expand...

a really good one doesn't necessarily do that. the one in my Focusrite ISA 430 MKII has an 'expand' feature, and the owner's manual helps explain it's function:


"Expand
Pressing Expand causes the gate to function as an expander,
which has a similar effect to gating, but instead of cutting off
any signal below the threshold, it proportionately decreases
it .This gives a more natural sound
when recording non-percussive sources. Pressing Expand a
second time causes the switch to revert to being unlit, and
causes the section to act as a gate once more. The adjacent
LED meter indicates in dB the amount of gain reduction
applied by the expander/gate, and provides additional visual
indication of the effect of the Range control (see below)."
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back