Hi,
I have an Epiphone Thunderbird IV Bolt-On, it’s actually a decent bass but seems to have a fairly loud and noticeable buzzing noise.
The buzzing goes away when you touch the strings or bridge or any metal part, I am not great when it comes to bass electronics but I’ve read that if the buzz goes away when you touch the strings it is grounded properly so I suspect this is more of shielding /RF Interference issue but would like some advice.
I have opened it up and resoldered all the wires that didn’t look like they were making a good connection to the pots and output jack but the buzz remains.
The thing I don’t understand is that this issue wasn’t always apparent and I’ve had the bass nearly a year, at one point the output jack was loose so when I tightened the nut in that the buzz went away (I think), but maybe I was playing it at lower volume and didn’t notice it at the time.
Is it possible for a bad output Jack to cause buzzing or is it most likely a case of needing to shield it fully? There is currently no shielding in the electronics cavity.
I actually had the bass up for sale as I am trying to downsize my collection, this was before even noticing this issue so then had to withdraw the ad as I need to fix this before selling as I don’t want to pass the issue to someone else, but I still want to get rid of it afterwards eventually so I don’t want to pay a luthier for it to get professionally shielded, it is also quite a hassle getting the bass to a repair shop as I don’t drive currently, I’m looking for the cheapest and easiest solution or tips to try myself.
I have bought some copper tape but now i’m not sure if the adhesive is conductive….it’s a slug repellent copper tape, I probably should have done more research before buying the tape….I know.
Any help or advice would be appreciated, thank you.
I have an Epiphone Thunderbird IV Bolt-On, it’s actually a decent bass but seems to have a fairly loud and noticeable buzzing noise.
The buzzing goes away when you touch the strings or bridge or any metal part, I am not great when it comes to bass electronics but I’ve read that if the buzz goes away when you touch the strings it is grounded properly so I suspect this is more of shielding /RF Interference issue but would like some advice.
I have opened it up and resoldered all the wires that didn’t look like they were making a good connection to the pots and output jack but the buzz remains.
The thing I don’t understand is that this issue wasn’t always apparent and I’ve had the bass nearly a year, at one point the output jack was loose so when I tightened the nut in that the buzz went away (I think), but maybe I was playing it at lower volume and didn’t notice it at the time.
Is it possible for a bad output Jack to cause buzzing or is it most likely a case of needing to shield it fully? There is currently no shielding in the electronics cavity.
I actually had the bass up for sale as I am trying to downsize my collection, this was before even noticing this issue so then had to withdraw the ad as I need to fix this before selling as I don’t want to pass the issue to someone else, but I still want to get rid of it afterwards eventually so I don’t want to pay a luthier for it to get professionally shielded, it is also quite a hassle getting the bass to a repair shop as I don’t drive currently, I’m looking for the cheapest and easiest solution or tips to try myself.
I have bought some copper tape but now i’m not sure if the adhesive is conductive….it’s a slug repellent copper tape, I probably should have done more research before buying the tape….I know.
Any help or advice would be appreciated, thank you.
