sykilz Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 So, I have this great Warwick Corvette Standard,German made,bought second hand,and through my main rig ( peavey tour 450 into Warwick 4x10 ) it`s just fine. However,last night used the rehearsal rooms Warwick sweet amp,and got a real bad buzzing when near the amp with volume on guitar up. also swapped for their other amp ( Hughes & Kettener), same buzzing. Tried my little Laney practice amp at home just now, same buzzing,always when near the amp,if I move away and from side to side it fades or goes. Touching the strings has no effect,and just tried my main rig downstairs, NO buzzing here at all!!! So I think that it isn`t earth problem,it`s not the houses electricals,not the rehearsal rooms electrics( my main rig,used there is fine), so what???? I guess it`s not a major problem,as long as I use my main rig or stay away from the amp with volume up!!!! Any ideas??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Poor (or non existant) body cavity shielding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Single coil pickups? If so they could be picking up interference from something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sykilz Posted April 28, 2012 Author Share Posted April 28, 2012 The bass is "as new",so guessing not cavity shielding,looking in the back of the bass it all looks original and unmodified. The pickups are the single coil "jazz" type ones,perhaps it`s just them picking up something. Will try the laney combo in a different room later!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 I'm not familiar with the MEC pickups fitted to these, but single coils are prone to picking up interference - and mains transformers will produce a LOT of interference at close quarters. You'll probably find the buzzing will lessen as you turn the bass within the transformers magnetic field. Some amps are better at suppressing the interference than others, and some transformers inherently produce less interference (toroidal transformers, for instance). Your main amp seems to be better in that respect. But get close enough and I suspect you could coax some buzz out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sykilz Posted April 28, 2012 Author Share Posted April 28, 2012 [quote name='Musky' timestamp='1335639027' post='1634186'] I'm not familiar with the MEC pickups fitted to these, but single coils are prone to picking up interference - and mains transformers will produce a LOT of interference at close quarters. You'll probably find the buzzing will lessen as you turn the bass within the transformers magnetic field. Some amps are better at suppressing the interference than others, and some transformers inherently produce less interference (toroidal transformers, for instance). Your main amp seems to be better in that respect. But get close enough and I suspect you could coax some buzz out of it. [/quote] This makes a lot of sense,and yes,if I`m still near the amp and turn the bass round,the buzzing lessens when I`m at 90degrees to the front of amp,whereas it`s bad when I`m square on to it. Hopefully won`t be an issue live,as I`ll be further from the amp,and it`ll be my big rig anyway. Just hope it won`t buzz through the DI. Thanks for all ideas!! Playing this Friday at Chinnerys in Southend.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 (edited) Live, you shouldn't really have problem unless it's a really small stage and you're standing on top of you amp. A small amount of hum is fine and people tend to just dial it out. If you're in a situation where the noise is really objectionable and you can't move away from the source of it, turning to reduce the buzz is the only practical option. As the noise from the transformer is induced in your pickups, it will be going through the DI. Changing your pickups to noiseless ones is a solution but it's likely to change your tone. Most people just live with it - Strat and Tele players put up with the noise to get the tone they want. Edited April 29, 2012 by Musky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sykilz Posted April 29, 2012 Author Share Posted April 29, 2012 Thanks for that, I`ve done 1 gig with this set up and it was fine,no Di, just sound from the amp,it just worried me a bit that through those smaller amps I was getting such a racket!!! Will see how it goes friday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sykilz Posted May 2, 2012 Author Share Posted May 2, 2012 For anyone else with similar problem,the amp in my house only causes the bass to buzz when the router/computer is switched on,I have deduced!!!! It`s in the same room, and when off,not a whisper from the bass /amp.As far as the studio goes, I`m guessing maybe a lighting thing maybe happening? Anyway,happily, not a fault with the bass,fingers crossed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Yep, it's a switching thing. Anything that is switched on and off rapidly can cause interference, which includes anything running off AC and particularly inductive loads. So lighting can be a real problem if you're using fluorescent lighting or dimmer switches (although newer dimmers are much better in this regard). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sykilz Posted May 3, 2012 Author Share Posted May 3, 2012 Cheers, Musky,think the rehearsal room did have a dimmer and those little halogen bulbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brensabre79 Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 My 70s Jazz does this, its not well shielded, most basses aren't unless they have been modified. Your Warwick is probably no exception. The thing to do is get some copper tape off eBay and line the pickup and control cavities with it, then solder the edges together and solder a wire between the copper and the earth. This forms a faraday cage around the pickups and controls which deflects interference. I did this on my Musicman (even with humbuckers it picks up all sorts) and it is dead quiet now (except when I play it obviously), same for my MIM Jazz. I'm going to do the same on my 70s Jazz when I get a weekend without gigs! It works very well. I don't know why manufacturers don't do this. Just be careful to make sure that none of the bare metal of the controls/wires touches the copper or it might short it out, there should be enough clearance though unless you've stuffed an aftermarket preamp in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 Copper shielding is great for protecting the wiring and controls but of limited use for pickups, as you probably don't want to competely cover them with copper. Not such a problem if you're using humbuckers, but single coils are going to hum anyway, as effectively they act like the secondary coil in a transformer. Which probably begs the question of why don't manufacturers seem to offer metal cases for bass pickups? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brensabre79 Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 Yes they will still hum, but they won't buzz if you shield them properly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 Humming and buzzing are just different artefacts of interference related to switching. The 50Hz hum we're so used to is a result of our mains frequency - dimmers and other sources of noise typically introduce buzz by adding distortion at the switching point or by cutting off part of the wave. Essentially hum and buzz are symptoms of the same problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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