bass buzzing till i touch something metal

[alanday1975]

My Rick 4003 has been spot on up until a couple of weeks ago when i started getting a nasty buzz which went silent when i touched the strings or bridge etc. A local shop had a look at the bass and couldnt see anything a miss and said it had to be the amp. bought a new amp a week later, plugged it all in and it was perfect for 5 mins or so. then all of a sudden....Buzz came back. Tried all new leads, different amp.. Still no idea.......Any help anyone????
please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[chrismuzz]

Sounds like a grounding issue. I Had the pickup cavity covered in copper tape to help a little bit but I'm sure there's a less devaluing way of sorting your Ric out!

[HowieBass]

What's changed (if anything) in your setup? Are you using a different room (mains socket) or in a location with more electrical interference maybe? If you've done nothing to the bass itself and have checked that the cables are good, the only thing I can think of is that maybe there's a loose connection in the jack socket as that's really the only thing that gets mechanical wear and tear.

[alanday1975]

the odd thing is i thought it was the amp after chatting to a guy at a shop so i borrowed on for a gig...Perfect....No issues.....so i bought a brand new littlemark III. set it all up at home today....perfect for about 5 minutes then all of a sudden the buzz came back!!

[alanday1975]

ps. the buzz has been present in three different venues now so i pretty sure its not my house's wiring.

[ubit]

It's usually a bad earth that causes buzzing, I'm surprised the shop couldn't diagnose it, they should have guys who know how to sort problems. Why not try a different shop?

[alanday1975]

yeah thats my next step. doing my nut in though....was 100% sure it was the amp after borrowing one for a gig with no issues. Still glad i bought the Littlemark III though. Was a great sound for 5 minutes today until the buzzing reappeared

[icastle]

Well...

It's not the amp - you've already changed that .

It's not a bad ring main - you've had the problem at other locations.

It's not the leads - you've changed those.

Despite what the guitar shop says, it can only be the bass.

[Truckstop]

You haven't come into contact with any radioactive waste recently, have you? Maybe you could try to harness this newfound power and use it to fight evil. Buzzing noises can annoy even the most hardened of criminals.

Truckstop

[99mustang]

Have you tried your setup in a different room? I had recent experience of having no earth wire in the wall socket!! Long story
Good luck.

[ubit]

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1396977324' post='2419398']
You haven't come into contact with any radioactive waste recently, have you? Maybe you could try to harness this newfound power and use it to fight evil. Buzzing noises can annoy even the most hardened of criminals.

Truckstop
[/quote]

I tried that mate but got arrested for the risky nature of my costume

Case comes up next week.

[Captain Rumble]

Bridge earthing cable come adrift perhaps

[alanday1975]

Ok. guy called Andy Viccars has been over it, re soldered the joints and put a new tab on the bridge earth.
Still no joy. Tried today at home. Yamaha TRB was totally silent. Plugged the Rick back in and the buzz was there. Have included a link to a little video i took of the problem. If people could have a look and help it'd be hugely appreciated.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAJfqIG0CN0

[mikhay77]

Is it an old Rik? I had one once with this problem and even changed the pickups! Found in the end it was slight corrosion on the inside of the input jack,not the tip(pos) but the outer earth bit of 1000 wet and dry did the trick,couldnt believe it! Worth a look?