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Please help me!!! Bass problem

FletcherML

FletcherML

Jul 13, 2010
176
3
Idaho Falls, ID
myspace.com
#1
Hey there,
I have a problem with one of my basses.
It's a MIM fender precision with a seymour Duncan spb 3 pup and Leo quan badass ii bridge. It makes a ton of noise unless I have my hand on a string, knob, bridge, or tuning key. I don't have any problems with it in most buildings but my current practice space is ridiculous. I opened it up and it looks like the wiring is right according to the SD website. And the ground wire is attached to the bridge. My other bass is set up identically. Also, if I touch one of the posts on the half of the pupthat is under the E and A strings the noise gets way intense. What is wrong?
 
#3
Plays_For_Dog said:
Sounds like a grounding issue. Maybe there is some sloppy soldering work and a tiny piece is touching some place it's not supposed to.
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Yuck. That's what I was afraid of. I had the work done about two years ago but its never been bad enough to make me care until now that I have this space that I play at for at least two hours a day. Maybe the luthier who did the pup install will fix it for me
 
#4
This explains it very well:
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When you took the pickguard off, did you check out the shielding? My Fender Jaguar just had some conductive paint which was pretty useless. I put copper shielding tape with conductive adhesive in all the cavities (even under the pickups) and made sure the copper tape contacted the control plates and pickguard (in your case - just the pickguard. The pickguard should have a foil backing which should contact the pots to complete the ground. Basically, you are building a cage around the electronics to protect them from RF energy and send it to ground.

IMAG0027.jpg


I also made a grounding strap that plugs into my bass to ground me through the bass. I only need it when I am cranking everything on my bass to 11 with the pre-amp on and I'm recording. I use a GFI to avoid electrocution. :hyper:

IMAG0038.jpg
 
#5
You know what? I just switched pickguards. The old one had the foil tape on back and the new one doesn't, I spaced that out. I'll have to put some on and see if it helps. Could I use tin foil to test it or does it need to be copper? I don't know what metals will work in what ways. Both responses sound like legitimately reasons for my problem. Thanks a lot for the advice so far guys
 
#6
Tin foil should work. That is what they usually put on the backs of pickguards. I think I've seen a metal plate shaped like the P Bass pickguard that you just put under the pickguard.

Found it. It says '62 P Bass so I don't know if it would work.
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#7
FletcherML said:
You know what? I just switched pickguards. The old one had the foil tape on back and the new one doesn't, I spaced that out. I'll have to put some on and see if it helps. Could I use tin foil to test it or does it need to be copper? I don't know what metals will work in what ways. Both responses sound like legitimately reasons for my problem. Thanks a lot for the advice so far guys
Click to expand...

Whenever you have a bunch of hum/noise that goes away when you touch ground (strings/bridge/metal knobs, jack body etc.) that means you have a shielding/grounding problem.

Make sure that your shielding is grounded with a wire to the ground side of your bass jack. All shielding sections If it's not one continuous piece) need to be hooked together. And the foil on the back of the pick guard must be hooked to ground a well.

And that is the problem. "Tin foil" actually would work! But that of course is not what you mean since foil actually made out of tin is hard to find these days. You are talking about aluminum foil. As a conductive metal, aluminum will shield just as well as copper. The problem is that when aluminum sits in the air it oxidizes and forms a coating. Aluminum oxide is an excellent insulator. Hence, aluminum foil, or just aluminum in general is hard to make a good contact to that will last. Copper (or tin for that matter) form oxides that are conductive. So even if they corrode after a while they are still making some contact. And even better, you can easily solder a ground wire to copper foil that will make a connection that will last just about forever!

So yeah, you can put some aluminum foil on the back of the pickguard just to see if that is the problem. But long term you'd want some copper foil on there to keep it working.
 
#10
Alright so I used aluminum foil and completely shielded the inside of the bass. Under the pickup and where the wiring runs through to where the pots are. If the aluminum touches the jack the bass stops working. So I made it so the foil doesn't touch any part of the jack, but I'm still getting some crazy hum out of it. I'm thinking I have a wiring problem because of the fact that if I touch on of the posts on one part of the pup it gets way loud
 
#11
I think the problem is just the pickup. The duncan spb3 is a very hot sounding pickup so its probably picking up things in the room try taking your phone out of your pocket and make sure you are away from tvs or anything transmitting a wireless signal. I would reccomend a better pickup. nordstrands or delanos are great
 
#12
Have you done any wiring/soldering on this bass? I ask because I just briefly scanned this thread and may have missed the answer to that question. If you have, and this hum is new to this bass, you may have soldered the wires that go to the output jack to the wrong terminals on the jack. Check the wires soldered to the output jack. Desolder them and switch them around. This happens often and can cause a very nasty hum.
 
#14
FletcherML said:
I know its not just the pickup. I have an identically set up second p bass that has no noise. That pup was installed by a really good luthier. The one I'm having problems with was installed by some long hair at a local guitar shop, he probably did it wrong
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So, guys with long hair don't know what they are doing? I resemble that remark, or at least I did before a great deal of it fell out...:D

What it sounds like to me is that the wires somewhere in the circuit have gotten reversed, so that instead of shielding you've got a big antenna.
 
#15
Could very well be the building, as well. If the ground in the building is inadequate (or non-existing) then your amp will not be able to ground the signal you are sending it. Is it a problem in other buildings as well with the new pickguard?
 
#16
ggunn said:
What it sounds like to me is that the wires somewhere in the circuit have gotten reversed, so that instead of shielding you've got a big antenna.
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See my prior post. If the guy who did the wiring moved one single wire to the wrong place, hot and ground could easily have been reversed. Switch the wires on the output jack and see if that makes a difference.
 
#17
Warrior_Bass said:
Could very well be the building, as well. If the ground in the building is inadequate (or non-existing) then your amp will not be able to ground the signal you are sending it. Is it a problem in other buildings as well with the new pickguard?
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I'm sorry, but this makes no sense. An amp will work perfectly fine with no ground at all, only a hot and neutral. The ground pin is a safety measure.
 

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