Static when I dig in after setup

Hey gurus…

So I recently changed my strings, then after a few days of practice, I followed some of the videos in the bass setup thread to do my own setup.

I lowered my action a bit via bridge adjustment - as far as I can tell, truss rod is fine as is…

Now, if I dig in on the E string, my amp emits a loud static-y buzz (it is NOT fret buzz). It’s not hitting the pickup, but it seems to be an issue if the string gets too close to the pickup. I’ve lowered the pup as much as possible, and there’s a good gap between the string and pup, but I’m still getting it. It seems to happen unless I play the string super-light.

I changed the battery - no effect. And it seems to just be neck pup - I can play over the bridge pup and don’t get the effect (and the bridge pup is closer than the neck pup). And it’s just the E string (4 string bass), and the A/D/G are closer to the pup than the E.

I haven’t raised the action, but I lowered the pup more than I raised the action, so I have a hard time believing raising the action would help.

I didn’t notice any issues during the practices following the string change, so I don’t think it’s the new strings.

Appreciate any thoughts… Thanks! And best wishes for 2021…

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Wow. That I don’t know. Does it happen if you turn down the bass volume? Are you overdriving the amp?

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That was it! Thank you sir…

I didn’t think that would be the issue since it was only one string, but turning the volume down helped. I’m using the updated Vox Bass headphone amp (with multiple “gain” settings). The problem was happening on high gain - once I tried a lower gain setting, the problem went away, even with the bass at full volume.

Glad it was simple - thanks for your input! (I was really wondering how I managed to break something doing a setup… :slight_smile:)

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Glad it was so easy!

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