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Noisy Pups/Venue?

DieselKTM

DieselKTM

Apr 22, 2011
47
14
Hollywood Florida
#1
I have 3 basses that contain J Pups (two are PJ and one is a Stu Hamm UrgeII).

All of these basses make noise at some (not all) venues. the two PJs are EMG PUPs.

Of course my trusty Musicman basses are always clean regardless. I'd like to get more use out of the others as the have amazing tone (except for the buzz).

The noise clearly gets louder depending on my orientation to my rig and the PA.

Is this just nasty power or is it possible to quiet the instruments? The Urge II has had copper shielding and grounding checked.

Great tone but the Buzz is miserable.

I'm hoping someone has some helpful words of wisdom for me.

Thanks
 
#2
DieselKTM said:
I have 3 basses that contain J Pups (two are PJ and one is a Stu Hamm UrgeII).

All of these basses make noise at some (not all) venues. the two PJs are EMG PUPs.

Of course my trusty Musicman basses are always clean regardless. I'd like to get more use out of the others as the have amazing tone (except for the buzz).

The noise clearly gets louder depending on my orientation to my rig and the PA.

Is this just nasty power or is it possible to quiet the instruments? The Urge II has had copper shielding and grounding checked.

Great tone but the Buzz is miserable.

I'm hoping someone has some helpful words of wisdom for me.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Put a dual coil noiseless j pickup in it
 
#3
Yes, single-coil pickups, like the classic J-bass pickup, are prone to humming. Shielding can help reduce it, but it never seems to go away completely. Other solutions include double-coil J-type pickups, there are side-by-side as well as stacked coil pickups from different manufacturers. There are systems that use a dummy coil to purposely pick up the hum and then electronically 'subtract' from the output, but they're fairly expensive and require a battery. Electro-Harmonix makes an effect pedal that uses digital signal processing to remove hum from a signal.
 
#4
Do your basses all use single coils? Do you favour one pickup? Was the hum affected by you touching metal/strings/bridge?

If the hum was stopped by touching strings/metal/bridge then it is RF interference and shielding will help. If you have single coils, you prefer to favour one pickup, and the hum was constant, then it is 60hz hum and shielding will do nothing for this. This is expected operation for single coils, you'd need to swap in some humbuckers.
 
#5
DiabolusInMusic said:
Do your basses all use single coils? Do you favour one pickup? Was the hum affected by you touching metal/strings/bridge?

If the hum was stopped by touching strings/metal/bridge then it is RF interference and shielding will help. If you have single coils, you prefer to favour one pickup, and the hum was constant, then it is 60hz hum and shielding will do nothing for this. This is expected operation for single coils, you'd need to swap in some humbuckers.
Click to expand...
Yep... the Urge II bass comes with 2 Noiseless Jazz Bass pickups, plus a Custom P Bass pickup. Even the split coil is noisy. It has a very hot preamp. (as are the basses with EMGs). Can it be that they are just too hot? I dunno... some venues are quiet as a mouse. Very frustrating.
 
#6
DiabolusInMusic said:
Do your basses all use single coils? Do you favour one pickup? Was the hum affected by you touching metal/strings/bridge?

If the hum was stopped by touching strings/metal/bridge then it is RF interference and shielding will help. If you have single coils, you prefer to favour one pickup, and the hum was constant, then it is 60hz hum and shielding will do nothing for this. This is expected operation for single coils, you'd need to swap in some humbuckers.
Click to expand...
Touching the strings doesnt affect it.
 
#7
DieselKTM said:
Yep... the Urge II bass comes with 2 Noiseless Jazz Bass pickups, plus a Custom P Bass pickup. Even the split coil is noisy. It has a very hot preamp. (as are the basses with EMGs). Can it be that they are just too hot? I dunno... some venues are quiet as a mouse. Very frustrating.
Click to expand...

DieselKTM said:
Touching the strings doesnt affect it.
Click to expand...

Two noiseless J pickups and a P pickup, right? The bass has humbuckers and the noise remains constant if you touch metal. I would double-check the ground wire under the bridge, ensure it makes good contact. I am not too certain what is going on but that bass should be silent in every venue with that electronic setup.
 

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