Well I re-wired and shielded my Bass...less noisy from the J pickup..still quite a bit a noise when the the tone knob is rolled up. That said, when I plug it into my effects with any kind of gain...it gets really, really noisy. My question is...should I get a noise supressor? Right now all I do is practice, but the noise drives me nuts. I looked at all the older posts and some say things about tone suck. I really don't want to spend major $$$$.
I love my NS-2, and can give several reasons why it's an excellent noise supressor. But don't use that; fix the bass! There must be something wrong with it. Good, proper shielding should go very-far toward elliminating this BUZZ (I'm assuming you have 60Hz-related buzz, being that it diminishes when you roll-off the tone). Maybe ask the Setup Forum guys? ..THEN get an NS-2! you'll be able to run incredible amounts of high-gain distortion, with no noise. Joe
Single coil pickups are noisy, increasing gain and treble increases the noise. Shielding can only reduce it but not eliminate it. There's not necessarily anything wrong with the bass. Do you run your amp with lots of treble? A noise suppressor might be worth a try.
There IS a pedal solution for single-coil hum, but it's not a noise suppressor: Noise suppressors don't do what this does. The EHX Hum Debugger was built specifically for these hum issues, and from the two reviews on TB I've seen so far for them, it seems like it works great. The only drawback is its 7.5V wall wart. Without a pedal, better shielding or different (less noisy) pickups are your best bets, as a noise suppressor will not solve the problem.
Shielding...check! Rewired...check! The hum is better than when I first got the Bass. After rewiring it and using the Fender diagram to do so...the Bass is much queiter and smoother. I replaced the pots too. I'll see who has a hum debugger around here and give it a try.
What sort of pickups are you using, out of curiosity? I know you've got a modded Squier P-Bass Special, but I was just curious what kind of P and J pickup you've got on it. IMO, you're trying to perform an "extreme makeover" on ugly duckling of the Fender family
it has the same pickups it came with. Boo, I hear ya...picked it up for a song...just making it usable. Once I get any kind of good...I get to buy another Bass. Found a video of the Hum Debugger...Holy Crap!!!! Seems to me that this would do the trick. http://www.gearwire.com/media/electro-harmonix-humdebugger.wmv
Ah, I forgot about that video! Since your pickups are stock, you might want to seriously consider getting new ones... not only would it fix most of your hum problems, but it'd also give you a better P/J tone overall. It's a $120 pedal... you could get some great new or used pickups for that much. Heck, a pair of Seymour Duncan Basslines pickups usually runs around $120. Active EMG pickups are even quieter (I've used their PJ set before), and that'll run you about $160. And that's not even considering other brands, other tonal options... The Hum Debugger is something I'd recommend for vintage pickups or expensive-but-noisy pickups.
Way ahead of you...shielded the cavities. Boo I might go for the different pickups. I agree that for a $120 or less I could get something sweet. At least the thing is wired correctly now...it was a mess when I got it. Swapping out pickups now would be a 15 minute fix.
would pickup covers help that issue? I have a fretless Jazz copy which I sometimes want to play using only the neck pickup, which produces that hum... + I find PUp covers looking great of course, that bass would sound better with new pickups anyway, but still, do the covers do the trick?
So will the Debugger work out the 60hz hum that Joe P mentioned earlier? I just assumed that my Fralin P pickup was going to have noise with the treble up. Thoughts Boo?
I'm actually not sure what it actually solves, or really, how it even works, but EHX claims it can deal with any pickup hum. So far, the only two people I know of on TB who own one have nothing but good things to say about it. Here's the opinion of one of them: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=306701
Talked to my Dad (he's a bit of a Ham radio nut). The power pack that needs only 7.5V as opposed to the 9V is "phasing" the signal...so we think. he's dropping by next week, we're going to build something and see if it works. I'll just practice with the P Pup for the time being.
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