Kev Posted February 17, 2008 Posted February 17, 2008 i seem to have a lot of threads in here lately the e/drop d string on my p bass now causes a nasty buzzing sound to come though the amp when i attack it hard. it does it with no other string, and sound worse if i boost the volume/bass with my aguilar preamp. iv checked connections and changed battery n that, n everything seems fine, so im thinking rather than the preamp, it is my emg pickup?? this has suddenly started happening. iv tried adjusting the height of the p pickup, the lower it is, the less the buzz but even when its pretty much as low as it can go, it can still be heard, any ideas what the hell this is?? seems little things keep goin wrong with my guitars at the moment, pissing me off Quote
The Burpster Posted February 17, 2008 Posted February 17, 2008 Is this on the open string and have you checked the obvious... fret rattle, loose fret, loose saddle etc? have you tried your bass thru another amp to check its not a speaker cone or similar? Quote
BOD2 Posted February 17, 2008 Posted February 17, 2008 Do you hear any buzz when you play the bass acoustically (i.e. with the amp switched off) ? Quote
The Burpster Posted February 18, 2008 Posted February 18, 2008 He doesnt seem to want to let us know?????? Quote
Kev Posted February 18, 2008 Author Posted February 18, 2008 yes iv checked the obvious no i cant hear the noise unplugged, its very obviousy an electricaly buzzy sound no i havnt tried it through a different amp, however i di'd it to some other speakers, and it still made the noise Quote
The Burpster Posted February 19, 2008 Posted February 19, 2008 Kev, I'm struggling with this one without examining the bass.. I cant see it being the pup as its not somting that they normallt do. it could have a loose pole piece but arent the EMGs sealed? Im wondering if its a pre amp problem.... Or an amp problem. You need to try the bass thru another amp to eliminate the amp, and then start looking into the pre amp onboard. Quote
BOD2 Posted February 19, 2008 Posted February 19, 2008 It's a strange problem. Do you have another E-string you could swap in (even an old one) ? It would be worth trying that just to eliminate the string itself from the problem. Does it happen all all notes played hard on the E-string or just some notes. I'm wondering if there's some resonance problem somewhere ? Quote
Kev Posted February 19, 2008 Author Posted February 19, 2008 its any note on e string, at extreme boosts on the preamp, in can happen on all string as i said, the fact it still happened when i ran it through recording and speakers shows its not the amp Quote
Hamster Posted February 19, 2008 Posted February 19, 2008 What value are the tone and volume pots? Hamster Quote
Stewart Posted February 19, 2008 Posted February 19, 2008 [quote name='BOD2' post='142945' date='Feb 19 2008, 11:04 AM']Do you have another E-string you could swap in (even an old one) ? It would be worth trying that just to eliminate the string itself from the problem.[/quote] Definitely the next step... Quote
Lfalex v1.1 Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 [quote name='Stewart' post='143450' date='Feb 19 2008, 10:59 PM']Definitely the next step...[/quote] Busted Core or Dodgy Windings! A swap is worth a try! Quote
Hamster Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 [quote name='BassManKev' post='143444' date='Feb 19 2008, 10:51 PM']no idea, why?[/quote] They should be 50k pots - recommended by Aguilar. Just trying to get a better picture of how the guitar's wired. Hamster Quote
Merton Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 [quote name='BassManKev' post='143417' date='Feb 19 2008, 10:08 PM']its any note on e string, at extreme boosts on the preamp, in can happen on all string as i said, the fact it still happened when i ran it through recording and speakers shows its not the amp[/quote] Is the key here "at extreme boosts on the preamp"??? Just a thought, maybe you're clipping the preamp, nothing more exciting than that. Quote
alexclaber Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 I'm 99% sure you're overdriving either your onboard preamp or your amp's input stage. Alex Quote
BOD2 Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 What kind of onboard preamp is it ? What controls are on it (e.g. bass/mid/treble) ? Do the controls have a centre detent (a notch) as you sweep them fully ? What positions do you have the preamp controls in ? Quote
Kev Posted February 21, 2008 Author Posted February 21, 2008 changed string, no effect preamp is the aguilar obp-2 model, bass/treble stack knob, and a volume for each pickup bass is flat, treble half boosted, volume of precision about 3oclock, jazz about 9oclock if i boost the bass at all, the buzzing greatly greatly increases Quote
Kev Posted February 21, 2008 Author Posted February 21, 2008 [quote name='BassManKev' post='142671' date='Feb 18 2008, 07:13 PM']yes iv checked the obvious[/quote] Quote
BOD2 Posted February 21, 2008 Posted February 21, 2008 Really difficult to debug this problem without hands on. You're settings on the bass seem ok - not at all excessive. What happens if you turn down the input gain and volume on the amp so that the amp is set very low. Can you still hear the noise now ? (trying to rule out the amp being overdriven here). If you can still hear it with the input gain on the amp set low, then I'd be looking at either the E-string itself (still a possibility) or a problem with the preamp. I assume you're plugging directly into the amp with no FX in the signal chain ? And I know you've replaced the battery but are you happy the battery is a good one ? (have to be sure on this one) Quote
Kev Posted February 21, 2008 Author Posted February 21, 2008 battery is a procell at the moment, full, and iv tried with others to be sure sound is always audibly, no matter how low the amp settings are, and, again, iv said that it happens when i record too, so its not the amp and yes i changed the string, to no effect i still really get the feelin its the p pickup, as i said when i llower the pickup, the buzzing significantly reduces, but even lowered as far as it will go, its still there Quote
BOD2 Posted February 21, 2008 Posted February 21, 2008 When you lower the pickup you get a weaker signal. If the preamp is somehow being overdriven then the weaker signal would reduce this effect. So we're down the the preamp or the pickup, neither of which are easy to test I'm afraid. Quote
Kev Posted March 1, 2008 Author Posted March 1, 2008 im still convinced its the pickup rather than the preamp, i just get the feelin, cant think what would be causing it... Quote
Kev Posted March 1, 2008 Author Posted March 1, 2008 (edited) nah there isnt one reason i dont think its the preamp is that i aint askin much of it at all, i have the treble/bass practically flat, and the p pickup volume 3/4 and the jazz 1/3, that shouldnt overload any preamp Edited March 1, 2008 by BassManKev Quote
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