Hi Everybody,
Just got my new P bass back from the guitar shop where I replaced the stock pickups for passive EMGs (Geezer P EMGs)…
Plugged in and when I toggled the tone knob I got a ton of static hiss/pop…
Thought it was my cable, but still did it after I switched cables and fiddled with my amp…
I was really frustrated by this, but I’m wondering if I just have really “hot” (sensitive/powerful) pickups now???…
I feel like the two times I played with stock pickups on the Fender stock pickups I didn’t notice the hiss/static/hum on the line and my cable wasn’t hissing or static like when I was playing my active bass last night…
When I roll the tone knob all the way back it almost completely goes away…
I can’t discern if the guitar shop didn’t properly check the pots (I think they replaced them when they did the pickups) or if something is loose in there…
I wanted EMGs bc I feel like they sound more “aggressive”-Maybe they are just hot/sensitive by comparison so you don’t need the tone knob rolled more than a hair or two???
And while I’m on that subject…
What exactly does the tone knob do???
Does it open the signal of your pickup magnets more or or does it allow more of the vibration go to the amp???…
Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I don’t really understand how the tone knobs work from a technical standpoint…
This is my first analog bass so maybe it’s just the nature of not having active pickups like I’m used to and it’s just part of the deal or do you think they did something wrong???…
I don’t wanna open the pick guard and look either bc I would know what I would be looking at much less how to fix it (laugh at me if you want but idk how to change my own strings bc I only had one set put on a year ago and I never replaced them (I thought this was “preferred” with flats??? (Strings I’m using are the Steve Harris strings-Will they sound less “sensitive’ with playing time???-I thought??? people liked to leave flats on their P indefinitely which is my plan…
A bit disheartened at the moment, but maybe I just need to spend some more time playing it to figure out it’s quirks???
I also have never used flats-Does this factor into getting an overdriven sounding signal equation or not???…
I wouldn’t think strings really have anything to do with making static-like noises in the signal chain, but maybe???
Or maybe just leave one tone knob alone and only fiddle w the volume knob???
Then again-Maybe I just need to play lighter bc I usually attack pretty hard???
Is it a frequency thing since I thought P basses were more midrange heavy than other basses (my other active bass it a PJ combo w/ active EMGs)…
Just trying to understand what’s going on which is why I’m throwing out so many random questions here since I don’t even know if something is “wrong” or not…
I think maybe it’s fine (???), bc maybe I just don’t need touch the tone knob to get the signal to the amp bc the signal is already really powerful???
Thanks for reading…
Hopefully those symptoms made sense the way I described them…
Thanks! \m/
Just got my new P bass back from the guitar shop where I replaced the stock pickups for passive EMGs (Geezer P EMGs)…
Plugged in and when I toggled the tone knob I got a ton of static hiss/pop…
Thought it was my cable, but still did it after I switched cables and fiddled with my amp…
I was really frustrated by this, but I’m wondering if I just have really “hot” (sensitive/powerful) pickups now???…
I feel like the two times I played with stock pickups on the Fender stock pickups I didn’t notice the hiss/static/hum on the line and my cable wasn’t hissing or static like when I was playing my active bass last night…
When I roll the tone knob all the way back it almost completely goes away…
I can’t discern if the guitar shop didn’t properly check the pots (I think they replaced them when they did the pickups) or if something is loose in there…
I wanted EMGs bc I feel like they sound more “aggressive”-Maybe they are just hot/sensitive by comparison so you don’t need the tone knob rolled more than a hair or two???
And while I’m on that subject…
What exactly does the tone knob do???
Does it open the signal of your pickup magnets more or or does it allow more of the vibration go to the amp???…
Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I don’t really understand how the tone knobs work from a technical standpoint…
This is my first analog bass so maybe it’s just the nature of not having active pickups like I’m used to and it’s just part of the deal or do you think they did something wrong???…
I don’t wanna open the pick guard and look either bc I would know what I would be looking at much less how to fix it (laugh at me if you want but idk how to change my own strings bc I only had one set put on a year ago and I never replaced them (I thought this was “preferred” with flats??? (Strings I’m using are the Steve Harris strings-Will they sound less “sensitive’ with playing time???-I thought??? people liked to leave flats on their P indefinitely which is my plan…
A bit disheartened at the moment, but maybe I just need to spend some more time playing it to figure out it’s quirks???
I also have never used flats-Does this factor into getting an overdriven sounding signal equation or not???…
I wouldn’t think strings really have anything to do with making static-like noises in the signal chain, but maybe???
Or maybe just leave one tone knob alone and only fiddle w the volume knob???
Then again-Maybe I just need to play lighter bc I usually attack pretty hard???
Is it a frequency thing since I thought P basses were more midrange heavy than other basses (my other active bass it a PJ combo w/ active EMGs)…
Just trying to understand what’s going on which is why I’m throwing out so many random questions here since I don’t even know if something is “wrong” or not…
I think maybe it’s fine (???), bc maybe I just don’t need touch the tone knob to get the signal to the amp bc the signal is already really powerful???
Thanks for reading…
Hopefully those symptoms made sense the way I described them…
Thanks! \m/
Definitely something wrong with your bass and/or the wiring.
