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Noisy Bass


Gazm
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After suggestions to cure this problem.

I recently purchased a (passive) Warwick Streamer Mk1 fretless bass and it is very susceptible to picking up electrical noise. Setting the tone to anywhere above full treble cut, there is a buzz present and very noticeable. When the volume is turned completely down, there is a quite loud hum - this gets louder when touching the strings. The bass is fitted with MEC pickups if this makes any difference?

I'm guessing the problem is a bad earth somewhere and think I might try replacing all of the controls with an active preamp and see if that cures it. Then again I suppose it could be a break in the earth connection to the bridge, so might check that out first.

Any other suggestions?

Pete.

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The simple one is check all the earth connections. Ideally you'd want to check the earth leads are properly connected to the pot casings (or sometimes collars), the jack socket, the pickups and there's nothing live touching the shielding on the control cavity.

Are there any crackles when you shake the bass? That might indicate a broken or dry solder joint somewhere.

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Thanks for the suggestions, will give it a good shake and try playing with the amp off :)

Seriously though, I'll go over the internal cabling with a multimeter and resolder the ground connections.

Pete.

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Well after having a closer look at the wiring, I spotted what was wrong :)
[attachment=287:Before.jpg]

Now re-soldered correctly and guess what, the noise has gone :huh:
[attachment=288:After.jpg]

In case you can't spot the difference, the signal and ground connections were transposed.
Most unusual! I've never come across anything like this before. I can only suspect that it's been modded by someone incorrectly, can't imagine it left the factory like that six years ago. Mind you, that would explain why it's changed hands a few times.

Pete.

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