please remove

[Skezza]

I gig two 5 string active jazz basses. They are identical (apart from colour) Bass Collection basses from 1990 and 1991.

The single coils on both hum to some degree or other under a variety of pub lights.
Because of this I keep both pickups on all the time which is on most occasions hum cancelling.


Is there something I can do to stop these guitars humming.

are there single coil sized humbuckers

or is it also likely to be the pre amps causing the noise

any advice appreciated

skezza

Edited September 2, 2017 by Skezza

[ikay]

Lots of hum-cancelling J pickups out there to choose from - Seymour Duncan, Nordstrand, Fralin and others. I've got SD Area Js in my JB-62M and they sound very close to vintage single coils. Adding shielding to the pickup and control cavities can help to reduce hum (I use graphite paint which is easier to apply than copper foil). Preamp may add hiss but unlikely to add hum unless something is wrong with it (eg. a grounding issue).

Edited April 1, 2017 by ikay

[Skezza]

thanks for that may go for a pickup change

[MoonBassAlpha]

Some basses have a dummy coil fitted under the scratchplate to do that. It has no pole pieces, I believe, so is set up to just cancel the hum.

[thenamelessbook]

Further to all the good suggestions above, one other thing might help without changing actually. When the hum is present try turning around in a circle. If it's the mains electrical system in the room inducing hum in your bass, there will be two places where the hum will be least - stand at these angles and the bass will hum less.

There's more about in this article: [url="http://www.prosoundweb.com/topics/studio/eliminating_troublesom_hum_buzz_created_by_electric_guitars/"]http://www.prosoundweb.com/topics/studio/eliminating_troublesom_hum_buzz_created_by_electric_guitars/[/url]