Jackson JS3

Hey all,

I am having an issue with my Jackson JS3 Concert bass. I bought it as a floor model since I am just getting started in bass. I have been playing it with a small practice amp at home with no issue to my knowledge. I was able to play with our church worship team a few times, and when I did our sound guy says my bass had a constant hiss coming through. When I got home, I checked and was able to hear the hiss through my practice amp. I got my guitar from Sweetwater. I got in contact with them, and they offered my a brand new replacement guitar. I picked up the new guitar and plugged it in at home, AND the hiss is still there. The volume of the hiss adjusts when I adjust the treble on my amp at home. Not sure what to do, if I can do anything at all. Any help would be appreicated.

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Sounds like electrical interference which can be rectified by shielding the pickup and pots cavity with copper shielding tape or paint.

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This sounds like normal preamp noise in an active EQ. This is super common with (how should I put this) less expensive preamps. There’s a few things you can do. You can probably just EQ it away with the EQ on the bass, so try that first:

  • Simply roll the treble knob on the bass off a bit, maybe boost the bass knob a bit, should eliminate it
  • Try checking shielding like Mac suggested; this will have a worse hiss in rooms with fluorescent lights, while running a microwave near it, etc
  • If those fail, upgrade the preamp to something like an Aguilar or a Darkglass

Note that all preamps, regardless of cost/quality, have the potential to add some noise. If I turn things way up on my board, I can get some with either my Yamaha or Warwick, and the Yamaha’s electronics are quite good.

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In most active basses you can both cut and boost frequencies. Think of the center position (you probably have a center detent) of your treble knob being the equivalent of the fully open (10) position of the tone knob on a passive bass. When you turn your treble knob past 5 you are boosting the treble frequencies higher than “normal” and you’re also increasing the amount of noise produced by the preamp. I think if you stay between 0 and 5 on your treble knob for normal playing and just go above 5 when you want to “cut through the mix” for certain parts of songs the sound guy will probably get off your back. :slight_smile:

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