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MIM Fender Jazz Bass Buzzing

Ashtray666

Ashtray666

Sep 9, 2018
39
23
Orange County
#1
Hello hello,

I have a Fender Jazz bass MIM, year of 2000. The darned thing wont stop buzzing. (when I am plugged in but not playing). I have redone the wiring so I know that it’s grounded properly. I read online that the neck & bridge have the exact same pickup in them. Could that be the reason why the buzzing is always there?

I do intend on changing the pickups eventually, once I get more cash. As for milling out the cavity for the bridge that’s no problem.

I just want the buzzing to be gone

Thanks,
Ashtray
 
#2
Ashtray666 said:
I read online that the neck & bridge have the exact same pickup in them. Could that be the reason why the buzzing is always there?
Click to expand...
The original pickups in a 2000 MIM Fender Jazz Bass would be identical in width, but they would not be identical in structure. The pickups in a Jazz are installed as a pair, each of which is reverse-wound and reverse-polarity from the other. The traditional "hum" associated with these single-coil pickups is cancelled out when the volumes of each pickup are set equally. I own a terrific 2000 MIM Jazz which I've modded over the years in different ways, but the pickups are still original. If somewhere along the way, the pickups in your 2000 MIM were swapped out with, say two neck pickups or two bridge pickups, then yes, that could certainly cause an unpleasant buzz. If that's not the case, and you're certain that everything is grounded properly, then there's something else going on.
 
#5
Ashtray666 said:
could it be a bad potentiometer ?
Click to expand...
It's certainly possible, though with a buzzing problem, I wouldn't consider replacing pots until I had ruled out all of the other usual suspects. FWIW, all three of my MIMs – including the 2000 Jazz – still have their original pots.

You mentioned milling out the cavity for the bridge. Is that because you intend to replace the stock bridge? Or is it because the stock bridge has already been improperly replaced with an aftermarket bridge that requires milling? Bear in mind that any bridge needs to be properly grounded.

Following are a couple of older threads from the Pickups & Electronics forum that might be of some assistance for additional troubleshooting:
Lastly, here's the PDF schematic/control assembly diagram for the MIM Standard Jazz Bass® (scroll down to Part No. 013-6500, Rev. Date 11/08/99):
Fender Bass Service Diagrams

Good luck!
 
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#7
If it were me, I would go down the troubleshooting path:
  • Location: Does it buzz only at one location (ie. At home), or everywhere?
  • Orientation: Does the buzz get louder or quieter as you physically face the bass in different directions (ie. Move the bass from North to West)?
  • Signal Path: Has the amplifier, cabinet, pedals, cables, etc. been verified to be without any issues?
  • History: Has it always had a buzz? If not, then has anything changed on the bass or it's signal path?
These should get you pretty far with getting a general idea of what's going on.
 
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#8
My bad on the lateness. Been busy

I bought this bass used, It’s always buzzed/hummed since Ive owned.

It would quiet down as I touched anything metal, so I assumed grounding issue. I opened up the control plate and when I saw the insides I just replaced all wires.

I now learned this can be due to lack of shielding, and or the coils being wrapped the same direction.

Also yes, if I spin on axis the hum goes away (if I am touching metal). Barely gets quieter if I spin without touching the bass.
 
#10
Jazz basses hum a little, even when the two mirror pickups are set to the same volume.

The closer you are to the amplifier, and the closer to parallel the strings are to the speaker, the more hum there is.

In addition to the instrument cable and output jack, certain AC power conditions come into play--everything from the quality of your house ground and the outlet itself, to the big ceramic insulators out on the power lines. Those insulators can, with age or weathering, introduce significant noise into AC transmission.

Move your amp to a different building with up to code wiring. Stay away from neon and fluorescent lights, use a good long instrument cable, and stand where the hum is least. Then evaluate your hum. Repeat that with a different amp, if needed.

Split coil pickups are quieter, but don't sound the same, IME.
 
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#11
I have intentions to put in a set of dimarzio DP149 as replacements. (I found a good deal on em) Can’t quite drop the big bucks at the moment.

But while I have everything open, it’s still a good idea to line with copper tape or some conductive material for shielding?
 
#12
Hmmm... my 1999 MIM Jazz had hum all the time and I didn't really care for the sound of the pickups. So I replaced them. I suspect that this is the same for you.

I just checked the original pickups because they're still on my workbench. The pickups are identical in size and construction. They are both wound the same way and both are north up. That would explain why my bass had hum (not being reverse wound reverse poles).

I made the pup cavity bigger, and it doesn't need to be made a lot bigger. I also used copper foil to shield the pup cavities. The new pickups and shielding did make a huge difference. I went with Alnico 5 Fender pups.

As mentioned above, split coil pups will also make a big difference, but they will not sound quite the same IMHO.
 
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#13
Malak the Mad said:
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought they were identical as a cost-cutting measure imposed upon that era of MIM Standards.
Click to expand...
I, too, had read that claim here many years ago, but never verified it, as I've never disassembled my '00 MIM pickups. But @Low Commotion's observation above concerning the '99 MIM pickups would seem to indicate that they are identical. Interestingly enough, I don't get perceptible hum all of the time...maybe my shielding alleviated most of it...or perhaps it's because I've almost always got both volume pots set equally.
 
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#14
Ashtray666 said:
Hello hello,

I have a Fender Jazz bass MIM, year of 2000. The darned thing wont stop buzzing. (when I am plugged in but not playing). I have redone the wiring so I know that it’s grounded properly. I read online that the neck & bridge have the exact same pickup in them. Could that be the reason why the buzzing is always there?

I do intend on changing the pickups eventually, once I get more cash. As for milling out the cavity for the bridge that’s no problem.

I just want the buzzing to be gone

Thanks,
Ashtray
Click to expand...
Have the same problem on my 95 Jazz Squier series. However, I think mine has something to do with a bad pot or two. Adjusting the volume on the neck pickup isn't as smooth as it should be. I know they used some pretty crappy mini pots on the MIM Fender Squier series- so I have full size 250K pots on their way to me later this week. While I'm in there, I have enough copper tape to shield the interior cavities and such, so will do that too.
 
#15
You may want to check what pots are in your bass. Ideally, a passive jazz with stock pickups should use 250K not 500K. You'll get less hum.
I just got done shielding the bass, still have to wait for the replacement pots in the mail but discovered my MIM Fender Jazz bass Squier series had 500K pots on it and the soldering job on it was terrible, with one pot probably bad.
 
#19
Do you hear the buzz under any other conditions? Practicing at home, any other gigs with different amplification?

Is your bridge properly grounded?

Again, when did you first start noticing the problem?
 
#20
Sorry I’ve really started noticing it a few weeks ago it was always there but it’s getting really noticeable. At first it seemed it was only present when one volume knob was on and the other off, it would kind of go away when both knobs were wide open. Now it seems more tied to the tone knob. It’s only a few years old.
 
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