I finally bought a MIJ Fender P Bass, and it’s great.
(thank you @howard for your great tutorial)
However, I have a hum/buzz/hiss noise at home when I’m using it.
I read a loooot of topics about this kind of issues, I know this is really common with single coil pickup BUT the fact is : home is the only place I have this behaviour, I tried at 2 other places with my amp at the maximum level and I have no noise at all.
I’m renting, and we are still waiting for minor electrical works to be made for years, and they probably will never made (communication with rental agency is sometimes complicated …), so calling an electrician to fix this is not an option …
So, here is a description of the situation :
The buzz disappears when I touch strings/knobs or bridge with my hands
I tried different Jack cables, power cables
I tried on all my appartment power outlet and it behave the same
I unplugged all the electric equipment and cut the lights line and still have the noise
It occurs when I’m using my amp AND when I’m using my focusrite (8i6, so also connected to a power outlet)
I tried with a DI Box in the focuriste that I borrowed to a friend and It’s not better (I tried with the ground lift button on, then I realized that the power cable of the audio interface doesn’t have ground prong so probablly useless)
The noise is not varying when I’m moving the bass around in the room, it’s constant
When I’m connecting the bridge with the jack input using an electric wire, the noise is still there
I don’t have the same issue with another bass on the same amp/Audio Interface
I asked friends, collegues (working into electric engeneering), and they are running out of ideas.
The things I’m gonna try soon :
Using a USB powered focusrite with a laptop NOT connected to a power outlet but running on battery to see if the noise is there
Borrow an inverter with a battery to see if it’s better, at least test the amp with battery without being connected to a power outlet
The next potential improvement path :
Shielding the bass cavities : Is it relevant, as I don’t have the noise at other places ?
Trying with a power conditioner : How can I know If it will get rid of the noise ?
I would be careful with the inverter with the battery. Most of those devices put out a sawtooth waveform instead of a sine wave waveform that the power company provides. This can cause a lot of weird harmonics in the amp. It really depends on the amps power supply filter how the sawtooth waveform would cause problems. Now going back to your problem. I had a Fender Strat the had a noise problem just like you are describing, and it turned out to be a poor solder joint on the ground wire connected to the bridge. On some amps I had the problem and others I did not. When changing the strings and cleaning the guitar I found the bad solder joint, repaired it and the problem went away.
@jclay Thank you for your answer.
That what some collegues told me also about the inverter, so I will avoid it.
Ok good to know it could be a poor solder joint. I completely excluded this track is I don’t have the issue somewhere else, but as you had it on some amps, and not on some others, it could be the issue.
Assuming it’s a split coil P bass, that’s actually hum canceling. It’s more common with J bass models, when the volume for the two single coils isn’t at the same level.
I tried with a power conditioner/inverter and it’s not helping.
I tried yesterday with a focusrite 2i2 USB and a laptop running on battery : no noise at all. The buzz started as soon as I plugged the computer in a power outlet.
If the bass is dead quiet everywhere else then your problem is in the wiring in your place not the bass. Split coil PBass pickups are essentially a noiseless dual coil humbucker. I suspect your place is not properly grounded. Have an electrician check that first.
He says that he has. IMHO the issue is being caused by a poor ground in his house and it’s the amp making noise more so than the bass but stuff like this is always difficult to troubleshoot long distance.
Hi,
It’s been a long time, sorry for the late answer.
In the meantime I’ve been able to find a workaround, as it’s something related to the place i’m living in, I can’t really cure the root cause.
I’ve found this video on another forum, posted by someone who created a post similar to this one, having the same problems etc … : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiK4HIAyh8w.
It actually works very well.
I think the guy who made the video posted on reddit asking why it’s working, trying to understand technically, but there was only few answers.
