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Too close, humming

N

nsmar4211

Nov 11, 2007
1,016
8
#1
Equipment:
Ibanez 5 string active bass
20 foot bayou audio cable
Ampeg 4x10 cabinet
Ampeg B2R head

If I stand right next to my rig, it picks up a high pitched buzz...... the sound of electrical interference (eq doesn't help). I've always chalked it up to playing an active bass (and it also does it with my Peavey active 4 string). Up until now it's never been an issue because I usually stand far enough away from my rig... however at the last gig I was directly against my rig (three feet of moving room) and it was annoying. I had to stand on the edge of the stage to not hear it, and the rest of the band could hear it too... although off stage you couldn't.

I'm wondering if there's something I can do to stop it when I get stuck that close to my rig again...... would putting a pedal in the signal chain help? (I have a chorus, delay, and/or synth wah I could put in the chain). I thought maybe my bass wasn't shielded right, but two basses by two different companies do it. I tried different/shorter cables, the cheap cables only added to it.
Is there something with that particular head maybe? Any ideas?
 
#2
If you have jazz style pickups and have the volume of one higher(or panned to one more than the other if you have a blend) they act as single coils and tend to pickup sixty-cycle hum from electronics. Because they are reversed wired and have opposite polarity they will act as a humbucker when the volumes are the same (or the blend is at the middle). Try to adjust this setting and see if it helps.
 
#3
bassmanrocke said:
If you have jazz style pickups and have the volume of one higher(or panned to one more than the other if you have a blend) they act as single coils and tend to pickup sixty-cycle hum from electronics. Because they are reversed wired and have opposite polarity they will act as a humbucker when the volumes are the same (or the blend is at the middle). Try to adjust this setting and see if it helps.
Click to expand...

He's running active, so it's not the passive single-coil hum that us Jazz owners know all too well.

I'd check the shielding to start...neither Ibanez or Peavey is known for their QC on some of their lower lines (not sure which models you have).

-Mark
 
#5
It's a 300$ bass Ibanez so not the highest quality...... and yea they are soapbar pickups :).

How exactly does one "check the shielding"? It is foiled lined on the control cavity cover...... is that the shielding?

Humming is much worse if I have treble any higher than the dent at 0..... (I have treble/bass, pickup selector, and volume controls).

Normally it's not a huge problem......but the trend seems to be towards small stages at gigs soooooo if it's something I can reduce or eliminate that'd be good :).
 

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