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P-Bass hum that goes away when you touch the strings?


Moos3h
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Hi all,

I have a P-Bass which I have just gutted and stupidly (I know) replaced the electrics in, without taking careful note of how it was wired before.

Before all this began, there was a quiet hum when not touching the strings, now the pickup and electrics are in there, there's a slightly louder hum again which goes away if you touch the strings.

Any ideas? There is a grounding wire from the bridge connected to the back of the volume pot, and the ground is connected to the jack okay, but still the hum persists. Is it only shielding that would fix this?

Cheers,
James

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strip off all the earth wiring
take off the bridge and make sure the wire is actually touching it
re wire the earths from the pups pots etc to the jack by wiring them to a common..daisy..pot

pup earth to tone pot
vol pot earth to tone pot
bridge to tone pot
tone pot to jack

crank her up and then check out the hum...if its still there then it could be...as it was for my P hum from central heating pump, fluorescent lighting and multiple earths into a single socket

i have never used shielding and have had quiet basses...erm..i did get a french radio station on my combo without the bass attached

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I had the same with my 20yr old P-bass. The bridge was actually rusty underneath from when I used to play with a pick in my punk days and rest my hand on the bridge. Some sweaty gigs and as a result the bridge was pretty knackered. Copper tape was the answer again. The bass wasn't earthed properly as it needed a clean up.

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I used to have this problem with an old P-bass (wish I still had her...early 80's jap) and to get around the problem I used to use a spare instrument cable,one end tucked into my trousers so it was touching my skin with the other end touching the metal on my amp (held down with some gaffa) sorted!!

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[quote name='Zombywoof' post='606989' date='Sep 23 2009, 07:21 PM']I used to have this problem with an old P-bass (wish I still had her...early 80's jap) and to get around the problem I used to use a spare instrument cable,one end tucked into my trousers so it was touching my skin with the other end touching the metal on my amp (held down with some gaffa) sorted!![/quote]

This is a fantastic solution to a really common problem! Not very practical, But very to the point! :)

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You get this problem a lot with 60-cycle hum in badly earthed older properties. The electrics in our house are ancient, so I get a little hum with the high end on the Status preamps and a slight touch/non touch hum on the Fender and other single coil instruments. Worst nightmare is playing a venue with dimmer switches for the lights when you're plugged into the same circuit. That usually produces a truly nasty buzz!

Rich.

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[quote name='Zombywoof' post='606989' date='Sep 23 2009, 07:21 PM']I used to have this problem with an old P-bass (wish I still had her...early 80's jap) and to get around the problem I used to use a spare instrument cable,one end tucked into my trousers so it was touching my skin with the other end touching the metal on my amp (held down with some gaffa) sorted!![/quote]

I'd be terrified of blowing my nads off, mid-set.

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regarding the electrical supply hum

i would advise checking out the hum problem when plugged into various sockets in a venue..various venues
its my thinking that most of that hum is airborne as well as coming from radio... and god knows what else is going through our brains..waves
and finally the effects of fluorescent tube lighting

the scratchplate on a P should have a foil strip where the pots fix..on the underside...and any body earthing points suitably attached...certain paints act as a shield and are designed to do so...my amxn P/J had that paint

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[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='607998' date='Sep 24 2009, 06:42 PM']My house is terrible for this, dimmers all over the place, my old Stingray would hum like a tramp's trousers whenever the lights came on.

Current Jazz is a bit bad for it too. Strangely it doesn't affect my Warwick at all - suggestions as to why my Warwick's immune would be welcome.[/quote]

Humbucking pickups? Soapbars? Anything that isnt single coil? :)

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[quote name='Zombywoof' post='606989' date='Sep 23 2009, 07:21 PM']I used to have this problem with an old P-bass (wish I still had her...early 80's jap) and to get around the problem I used to use a spare instrument cable,one end tucked into my trousers so it was touching my skin with the other end touching the metal on my amp (held down with some gaffa) sorted!![/quote]

I heard a studio had a crocodile clip wired to a spoon for that purpose, clip it to the bridge, and other end tucked into your trousers for humming basses.

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[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='609653' date='Sep 26 2009, 09:53 PM']I heard a studio had a crocodile clip wired to a spoon for that purpose, clip it to the bridge, and other end tucked into your trousers for humming basses.[/quote]

i take it the trousers end was suitably positioned so as not to cause premature ejaculation near the coda

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  • 7 years later...

just to resurrect an old thread, just bought an early 70's MIJ Columbus P off ebay and I get a lot of hum/buzzing when using a cable but it nearly disappears when using a wireless system, I've checked the earthing to the bridge and pots with a multimeter everything seems to be earthed, knackered pickups?

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[quote name='Telebass' timestamp='1491597324' post='3274269']
One thing to check on any p that hums slightly is that one pickup half is not rotated. Fixed a couple like that...
[/quote]checked on that Telebass thanks, everything seems ok, it's impossible to get them the wrong way round the wires aren't long enough! it seems to be wired up in the classic P bass way, I'm still intrigued as to why there's no noise when I use a wireless system, I've tried several cables so it's not that.

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