Hi all,
Just bought a Squier P-Bass and a secondhand Donner D-BA2 amp. When I turn the tone knob up from 0, a buzzing sound starts which grows louder as a turn the knob up. I am currently playing with the tone knob all the way down because the buzzing is so irritating. What might this be and how can I troubleshoot it?
I have an electric guitar and electric guitar amp set up next to the bass and don’t have any issues with that (not sure if that is at all related).
It’s pretty common. Check your grounding under the pick guard. Most of your lighting and electrical interference usually cause this.
Yeah, common.
It may vary with where you stand or what is on nearby or occasionally if Saturn is ascending into Virgo.
I assume that you are talking about the tone knob on the bass, rather than the amp? If yes, then as others have said, it’s a grounding issue. I’ve had this problem on my Squier CV 50s p-bass. I got a guitar tech to to fully shield the control cavity and make sure the ground wires are appropriately attached. This calmed things down, but on that bass, I am also aware that the pick-up itself is a traditional single coil. It isn’t ‘humbucking’, so the bass will never be 100% quiet, unless I change the pick-up for one that’s humm cancelling - which I’m not really minded to do…
Firstly:
Assuming you aren’t using tape wounds, or coated strings: Does the buzzing diminish when you touch the strings? If not, the bridge is NOT grounded.
P bass wiring is dead simple.
The bridge ground wire runs through a hole in the body, and appears under the bridge.
This wire MUST make contact with the bridge, this is achieved by clamping force, the wire (not the insulation)lays on the surface of the body, and is clamped by the screws mounting the bridge.
Any success?
You need to take the bridge off and look at the other end.
That bare wire there is the other end of the grounding wire for the bridge and looks like it is making ok contact.
Hello all - thanks for your help and suggestions. I bought some copper shielding tape and applied to the cavity and now there is no more buzzing! It was definitely an educational experience taking off the pickups and bridge - feels much less intimidating now.
