Pre-amp buzz ;-(

[Bloc Riff Nut]

Hi guys,

I just finished installing a J-Retro preamp and Wizard 84's in my Fender Jazz '75 reissue (Japan). I connected the earth shielding from the pickups, bridge and control-cavity to one point (star), but I still get a buzz that only disappears when I earth the strings/bridge/controls with my hand.
I've connected the pups as shown in the instructions, I even tried it the other way around but it didn't help.

I've read quite a few shielding threads but can't seem to find an answer.
I'm gonna send a similar mail to this with photo to John East, maybe he can help.
Do any of you guys have any ideas?

[IMG]http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/9336/fenderjazzbadassbridgej.jpg[/IMG]
By [URL=http://profile.imageshack.us/user/blocriffnut]blocriffnut[/URL] at 2012-06-21

Thank you in advance,

Phil.

[Bloc Riff Nut]

Wrong photo, I meant this one!

[IMG]http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/9947/wiringjretro.jpg[/IMG]
By [URL=http://profile.imageshack.us/user/blocriffnut]blocriffnut[/URL] at 2012-06-21

[gjones]

I had the same problem when I installed mine. I ended up shielding all the cavities with tonetech shielding paint which helped a lot

[url="http://www.tonetechluthiersupplies.co.uk/guitar-paint-and-lacquer/conductive-paint.html"]http://www.tonetechl...tive-paint.html[/url]

Edited June 21, 2012 by gjones

[chrisd24]

I had the same problem,oddly I was getting a hum but when I switched to passive mode it stopped! did the same as gjones and shielded the whole cavity and it sorted it out.

[Monckyman]

Copper slug tape for the shielding!

[Bloc Riff Nut]

Knowing that 3 others sorted a similar problem by completely shielding cavities gives me hope.
I've already ordered the copper tape.
Cool,can't wait, I feel better already.

Cheers, I'll let you know how I get on.

Phil.

[brensabre79]

I had the same problem with mine, shielded the cavities, helped a bit.
Reversed the polarity of the pickups, helped a lot!

[brensabre79]

Nice setup by the way. Almost the same as mine except I have Wiz 74's not 84s in my '75 Jazz

[Bloc Riff Nut]

Hi again.
I eventually got time to shield my jazz, and it worked
The buzz was so bad I wasn't really convinced simply shielding the control and pup cavities would completely silence the buzz, but it did.
I'm amazed at what a bit of copper tape can do. Thank you very much Mr. Faraday, you're a genius (and my fellow BC'ers).

It was a nice sunny day so I took my bass, amp and the ironing board into the back garden and got to work. Before starting I cranked the amp up to listen for the buzz, but it wasn't there. So I tried it in the house and hey presto, there it was again. From this i deduced that it wasn't something that was badly earthed but interference of some kind.

After a few euro's of copper tape it's as quiet as a mouse.


[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/191/001qyz.jpg/][IMG]http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/5456/001qyz.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
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Thanks once again for the tip guys.