rmorris

[quote name='Lord Sausage' timestamp='1387747691' post='2315230'] Is it absolutely neccessary? [/quote] It's not absolutely necessary in the sense that the bass will work without it but the shielding will reduce noise rf noise pickup - in practice this means noise from computers, radio transmissions etc. It won't do much at all for mains hum pickup. If you can use copper tape then that would be better than the spray paint. Can use Aluminium foil too though Copper is better. If using Aluminium then 'Turkey' foil is better than normal stuff and this is the time of year when you can get it ! ( It's a bit thicker ) . Copper is best though. Could use both spray and copper . Bas(s)ically need to connect all shields together and enclose the electronics as much as practicable.

How much does the spray primer mentioned by the OP cost to make it unjustifiable? Seems you can get some oil based primer for reasonable cost ? Could use brush on oil based primer. Don't use emulsion paint as not good to combine water and oil based paints and in any case it doesn't do the job of priming the wood as outlined above. I'd suggest primer then undercoat then top coats.with plenty of rubbing down between a few coats of each.

[quote name='hamfist' timestamp='1384842955' post='2281292'] Logic suggests to use a limiter last in the chain if you have other effects that could generate there own volume or low-frequency spikes. Basically, stick your limiter after anything that could cause a volume or low-frequency spike, whether it be your bass playing or a filter effect or whatever. [/quote] +1 - stick the limiter right in front of the amp if the main object is to protect the amp. On the Thumpinator - you may not need it depending on the frequency response of the amp + cab combined with the limiter ???

just to add that I've never experienced this issue - although without actual experience I would have thought it would happen - so something odd seems to be going on here ? Just one bass or several ? What wood types ?

High Pass Filtering isn't useful here - hum frequencies are usually the fundamental and harmonics of mains frequencies - so 50, 100, 200 Hz .. where mains is 50Hz. You can use Signal Processors to notch filter steeply at the specific frequencies but then you're getting specialised and expensive - pro audio / broadcast type kit. And probably digital which brings propogation delays etc with it which may be an issue for live work. But if recording you can notch it out with a suitable plug in ( or maybe on a digital desk if going through one ). Practically it's good to try moving the bass - It will be quietest in one orientation depending on where the noise sources are.

As a solo thing then 1,3,2 - best first ie 1. But in a band / mix 1 + 2 probably on a par. 2 seems rather dull / muffled for the style of playing. Fingerstyle and Plectrum comparisons would be good. So...what are the basses ( and recording chain ) ?

[quote name='dudewheresmybass' timestamp='1380566062' post='2227217'] Ok. Thanks for the suggestions. I've looked at rs and Cpc. They have them, but to order 2 would cost me something in the region of £17! And all for less than £2.50 worth of parts!! Is there somewhere I could order two without ridiculous postage costs? [/quote] afaik CPC are offering free delivery on ONLINE orders atm with no minimum order value ( I just got a low value order the other day ) See their website.

Thanks people. I'll probably get some Status strings and maybe the half rounds. Thanks for your input.

[size=6][font=tahoma,geneva,sans-serif][sup]A pleasure to deal with. Cheers.[/sup][/font][/size]

Hi. I'd like to try some flats on at least one of my basses without spending a lot of cash as it's more of an experiment atm. Any suggestions for inexpensive flatwounds. Or 'pressure wound' or halfwound / groundwound etc ground wound etc..?

[quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1380708530' post='2229183'] A 1meg resistor aught to do it [/quote] That will reduce 'switch noise' although it means some very small current might be constantly drawn from the battery. But isn't the issue here likely to be a pop caused by the electronics 'turning on' rather than switch noise or bounce ?

If you're going to use an op amp buffer then you might as well build your own op amp mixer as the parts list will be virtually the same and you'll avoid all the issues that arise out of passive mixing - output loading etc. On op amps do be aware that as good as NE5534s are they do run quite hot. Might want to look at alternatives like OPA134(Texas Instruments) amongst many. Good Luck.

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1379718748' post='2216263'] If not, my best guess would have to be that 63v caps were used because they couldn't fit 100V ones in the space and they were relying on the fan to keep the caps cool and raise their resistance to allow for the underrated component that had been selected. [/quote] I don't get that idea - increasing the resistance of a capacitor by cooling ?

yeah - I had it with a particular watch. Never noticed it on a bass but did on a single coil pickups Strat type Ibanez guitar. Maybe higher Z pickups ?

And I meant to suggest something about possible source of the noise since general hum and buzz is 50Hz and multiples of that (well where the mains frequency is 50 Hz anyway). I've had a similar interference at 1Hz which turned out to be the second hand movement on my quartz wristwatch ( you'd think that might have been easier to spot !) and also with a guitarist where we had a noise burst maybe once every 5 to 10 seconds - turned out to be caused by a DVD player in a downstairs room in the house where we were practicing upstairs. God knows if the DVD player actually met EMC standards but don't forget that walls and floors are generally transparent to rf interference.

[quote name='gelfin' timestamp='1379880151' post='2217792'] 5Hz seems a bit low to hear for me. [/quote] I'm guessing that the OP means there's some sort of audible tick or noise burst that happems a few times a second. As you say 5Hz itself would be inaudible ( though possibly 'feelable' with the subbest of sub bass set ups :-) Anyway - yes, string / bridge earthing issue makes sense. Basically you are the source of the interference - as when you touch the lead itself it happens. With 'earthed' strings / bridge you're 'earthing' yourself and eliminating ( to a large extent - nothing is perfect ) the noise but if the bass earthing is faulty then you aren't doing that and the strings and your body are a source of noise that can be picked up by the bass pickups and wiring / electronics. The detail depends on the specific pickup and shielding. So, test for continuity between strings and 'earth' pin of the amp mains connector. If it doesn't indicate continuity then that's very probably the issue. If it does indicate continuity then measure the actual resistance in Ohms. See what he meter reads when leads touched together. Anything more than half a ohm above that is suspect. Let us know how you get on.

Assuming you want it to be a permanent thing then for gluing best result would be: remove any finish from where it will be placed (easier said than done accurately), clean any residue with white spirit or similar (and from the thumb rest too) use a good wood glue and clamp for much longer than you think you need to. Personally I'd opt for a couple of woodscrews as commonly used.

Take a look here for 'old' HH service info [url="http://www.majelectronic.co.uk/"]http://www.majelectronic.co.uk/[/url] Interestingly I note that the HH brand seems to have been resurrected now in West Midlands ( have a google )

[quote name='garuf' timestamp='1379169277' post='2209430'] Was looking around in the loft today and decided to pull out my Dad's old Bass guitars I have sort of inherited. I just wondered if anyone could give me a little bit of info on them as googling hasn't really been much help. Two of them are Aria Pro II Magna series (one is a 4 string and the other is a 5 string) One is an Aria Pro II ZZB Deluxe bass. And the final one is a Washburn B-20-8. Got a pic of the 5 string ? Think it might be similar to one of mine. Anyway, nice basses. I'd say hold on to at least the 4 String Magna and the 8 string. Cheers [/quote]

[quote name='afterimage' timestamp='1379276224' post='2210794'] Don't. Forget mains filter tooi had a dimmer switch that caused similar problems. At home [/quote] yeah - lighting dimmers can be evil noise generators. And mains filters won't necessarily help as noise is radiated (as well as conducted back through the mains wiring ). Shielding can be fairly ineffective too due to the frequency. Only real solution is low impedance and/or hum cancelling pickups together with low impedance balanced electronics. 'Starquad' cable might be useful too in extreme or critical cases but this is more typically an issue for the PA soundpeople...

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1379266413' post='2210595'] I have had this on lots of basses especially new ones, the earth behind the bridge sinks into the soft paint, peel it out clean it and move it to a fresh area before screwing the bridge on tightly and its gone. Why and how it hums I will leave to the experts but all I know is I have had that exact problem 3 times at least! [/quote] if the ground connection to the bridge strings becomes disconnected then you can expect noise regardless of whether you are touching the strings or not. In fact might be worse when you touch strings as they are connected to your body and close to the pickups. It can get complicated though as a connection might be made but have a significant impedance. Even if there's no dc continuity ( meter doesn't buzz ) there may still be some continuity at ac due to capacitance. Anyway - you really do need to make sure that everything that should be connected to ground is connected solidly.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1378982066' post='2207259'] Not this again. Noise goes away when you touch the strings because you're grounding *yourself* not because you are grounding the strings. The human body is a massive antenna for unwanted electrical noise. This noise is picked up by poorly shielded pickups and so you can hear it. When you touch the strings you ground yourself and the noise goes away. [/quote] +1 That's basically the way it works. The strings / bridge / metal on the bass is connected to mains earth / ground all the time. But your body isn't until you touch the strings / bridge. Your body acts as an antennae for electrical noise and if you are near the bass but not 'earthed' then that noise can be picked up by the pickup. When you touch the strings or bridge you 'earth' yourself and the noise is shorted to earth ( slightly dodgy technical explanation but you get the gist or textbooks are available :-) To illustrate - if you weren't near the bass it wouldn't pick up noise from you. If you moved toward it then noise pickup would increase but then (more or less) disappear when you touched the strings. In fact - you get the same effect whether you touch the strings / bridge / or anything else that is 'earthed' - jack plug shell / earthed rack unit chassis etc. Worth bearing in mind that degree of noise pickup is basically related to the impedance of the pickup. Higher Impedance = More noise pickup. Hence why low impedance pickups ( active EMGs for instance) can get away without string / bridge ground /earth connection. wrt the OP's question here I'd suggest taking it back to the shop environment to try ; think about any electrical changes at home esp broadband over mains ; bear in mind that problems can come from floors above/below and neighbouring properties ( brick and plasterboard etc are fairly transparent to electrical noise interference !) Hope you get it sorted or have done already.