LB-100 Tribute Problem

[Bassdoggydogg]

First off I'm sorry if this is the wrong forum for this so mods feel free to move.

Ok, on to the problem. I have a beautiful LB-100 tribute bass, but it has the worst buzz of any bass I've ever played. The buzz goes away when I touch the strings, for the most part. However, when I play there's this crackling/light popping sound that occasionally happens. Plus the buzz seems to get worse (once again only when I let go of the strings). So I called a couple of local techs and got no where, one said it could be lack of shielding the other one said that's nonsense because wires are already shielded. It happens on both my amps, with and without pedals. If I could get some advice I'd appreciate it, because my online research has also yielded some contradicting information.

 

[Yahboy]

Shield the cavity and connect a wire from volume pot to cavity.

My Vintera P has crazy buzz, now problem solved .

 

[One Way]

I once had a bass with a buzz issue and upon disassembly I discovered the ground wire for the bridge was in the bridge cavity but not connected to the bridge. Might check that in addition to what’s mentioned above.
FWIW, I applied copper tape to the control cavity while I was at it.

 

[rok51]

First off I'm sorry if this is the wrong forum for this so mods feel free to move.

Ok, on to the problem. I have a beautiful LB-100 tribute bass, but it has the worst buzz of any bass I've ever played. The buzz goes away when I touch the strings, for the most part. However, when I play there's this crackling/light popping sound that occasionally happens. Plus the buzz seems to get worse (once again only when I let go of the strings). So I called a couple of local techs and got no where, one said it could be lack of shielding the other one said that's nonsense because wires are already shielded. It happens on both my amps, with and without pedals. If I could get some advice I'd appreciate it, because my online research has also yielded some contradicting information.

You are not alone! I had the same problem with my Tribute LB100. The buzzing is easily fixed with completely shielding the pickup/control cavity—I used copper tape. Buzzing is totally gone.
Now to the other problem: the crack/pop, which to me sounded like a discharge of static electricity. I changed the input jack, which felt somewhat loose…still had the problem.
I wrote about it on the G&L forum:
<br> <br> BassesByLeo <br> Est. 2009 • View topic - Tribute LB100 Static discharge??

A few suggestions but it was a head scratcher as I had already done what had been suggested. Oddly enough, I had stumbled on the cause of the cracking/pop that I heard when I inadvertently jiggled the tone control and I got the “pop” which I hadn’t been able to replicate otherwise. G&L sent me another tone control potentiometer which fixed the problem.

Good luck!
Kim

 

[Bassdoggydogg]

You are not alone! I had the same problem with my Tribute LB100. The buzzing is easily fixed with completely shielding the pickup/control cavity—I used copper tape. Buzzing is totally gone.
Now to the other problem: the crack/pop, which to me sounded like a discharge of static electricity. I changed the input jack, which felt somewhat loose…still had the problem.
I wrote about it on the G&L forum:
<br> <br> BassesByLeo <br> Est. 2009 • View topic - Tribute LB100 Static discharge??

A few suggestions but it was a head scratcher as I had already done what had been suggested. Oddly enough, I had stumbled on the cause of the cracking/pop that I heard when I inadvertently jiggled the tone control and I got the “pop” which I hadn’t been able to replicate otherwise. G&L sent me another tone control potentiometer which fixed the problem.

Good luck!
Kim

I think this might solve my problem, thank you! I'm not really trying to change a whole pot though, so I think I'm going to attempt that quick fix you initially did. Perhaps I can put shielding on top the pick guard under the tone pot nob, in your opinion would that help the quick fix hold up longer?

 

[rok51]

To be honest, the shielding was necessary to alleviate the buzzing. However, the sharp crack/pop—which drove me crazy—was related to the tone potentiometer on my LB100. It was random, almost as if something was building up a charge and then discharging. After the jack replacement and shielding, each time I thought I had it fixed the problem only to be disappointed after playing for a while it would let off a sharp crack—which of course came through the amp!
Putting shielding tape under the tone pot knob, I don’t think will have any effect, as the pot itself is already grounded.
Replacing the tone pot has fixed the problem on my LB100.
Evidently this is not a common problem as I hadn’t come across anyone else on the G&L side that had heard of it before…I just wanted to let you know that you are not imagining things and there is a solution. Consider adding to my thread on the G&L forum…maybe Ken or Memo (G&L tech) will chime in and help you solve the issue.

Good luck!

Kim