handman Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 Some help and advice would be much appreciated , I have recently acquired a 2003 squire jazz bass to tinker with really and maybe upgrade as and when I've got some spare cash, the thing is trying it out tonight I noticed quite a lot of humming coming from the bass but became a lot less when I grounded it by touching the strings or bridge. Also the pick up's are really useless now I was thinking I could up grade with some Wilkinson, price seems about right and maybe it might also help with the earthing issues, what do you guys think ? Quote
stingrayPete1977 Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 (edited) The bad earth on many basses is often from the wire either being pushed into the wood or what looks like sinking into the finish as if it was bolted together before the paint was dry! Slacken the strings and unscrew the bridge, pick the earth wire out from the body, clean it up and the rear of the bridge plate then move it to a new place and screw the bridge back on. Check the other end at the jack socket and the general condition of the soldering etc, if its all good welcome to the hissy single coil pickup club, putting both pickups on full normally stops it, or buy a Stingray with a humbucker I like bartolini pickups but they work best with active basses ime, I cant help with the wilkinsons, sorry. Edited January 16, 2015 by stingrayPete1977 Quote
handman Posted January 16, 2015 Author Posted January 16, 2015 Cheers for that will have a go tomorrow, any ideas on the pick up's, I also have a 5 sting vm70 jazz and the difference is night and day, maybe I should trawl fleabag to see if I can find a pair Quote
stingrayPete1977 Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 Seymour duncans, bare knuckle, maybe some used Fender USA ones off ebay or even in the for sale here? Quote
Geek99 Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 This comes up a lot and I think there is even a sticky thread for it somewhere. I pulled the Earth wire through under the bridge and stuck it in place with conductive copper tape Buy a multimeter and test the resistance at all points, it should be as low as possible from most places to the earth ting of the jack socket Quote
3below Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 (edited) [quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1421442350' post='2661413'] ......welcome to the hissy single coil pickup club, putting both pickups on full normally stops it, or buy a Stingray with a humbucker [/quote] All good advice about the ground wire. You can of course keep the bass and get some humbucking or noiseless J bass pickups. I am more than happy with the DiMarzios on my Warwick. There is plenty of choice in the humbucking and/or noiseless varieties. EMGs come up on BC frequently at very good prices. I have a set of these in my 'el cheapo' how low rent can you go bass. Edited January 16, 2015 by 3below Quote
stingrayPete1977 Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 Also you might have something where you are playing causing the hum, stereo amplifier or a fluorescent light fitting, anything with copper windings really? Quote
handman Posted January 16, 2015 Author Posted January 16, 2015 Buy a stingray,oh god I can feeling of deep depression welling up inside, you see I use to have a 1983 stingray in very very good condition back in the 90's and I foolishly sold it. What an idiot😅 Quote
DarkHeart Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 Entwistles, im starting to sound like a broken record but for the money the Neo pups are the business. Quote
Wilco Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 [quote name='DarkHeart' timestamp='1421445646' post='2661476'] Entwistles, im starting to sound like a broken record but for the money the Neo pups are the business. [/quote] +1 to that. Recently fitted to my Geddy. Quote
Maude Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 I'll rate the Entwistle Neo pups as well, Fitted a pair to an Aria jazz and wired a mini toggle in so I can run them in series like Fenders S1, in series they sound immense. Don't let the low price tag fool you, they could double the price and they'd still hold their own in the PU world. Quote
0175westwood29 Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 cant speak highly enough of my Nordstand pickups that i have in my vm squier, nice growl and response and a really simple thing to fit! andy Quote
handman Posted January 17, 2015 Author Posted January 17, 2015 Pulled the trigger on some entwistle, should be arriving next week, hope they are OK reviews seem quite positive Quote
BassBod Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 (edited) DiMarzios are a very good cheaper option - the older Model J's come up at good prices. Humbuckers, so a bit darker than true single could designs, but they have plenty of wallop. My personal experience has been that cheaper J pickups (Kent Armstrong/WD or Squier etc) tend to sound a bit clanky when compared to more expensive versions. The Seymour Duncan passive/vintage style are probably the best I've used for vintage sound and affordability. A bit late, but let us know how it works out... Edited January 17, 2015 by BassBod Quote
Dan Dare Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 Armstrong pu's are excellent. Nice company, too. Many years ago, I sent my J bass pickups to Kent Armstrong and he fettled them for very little money and returned them within a week. Quote
handman Posted January 18, 2015 Author Posted January 18, 2015 OK waiting for these entwistle to arrive, just doing some testing /comparison. Stingraypete1977 was bang on the money indeed after removing the bridge i found the earth wire sunk into the paint . I have removed cleaned and repositioned the wire and clean the bridge but the thing is there is still a very loud hum when the bass is not being grounded by me, the thing is it's a lot louder than vm70 5 string which is basically the same guitar so I was thinking could this be down to the pick up's, what do you guys think ? Quote
stingrayPete1977 Posted January 18, 2015 Posted January 18, 2015 (edited) Do I win a prize? you can add some extra shielding but I suspect its either the actual pickups but worth checking there is nothing nearby that could be inducing it? Edited January 18, 2015 by stingrayPete1977 Quote
Conan Posted January 19, 2015 Posted January 19, 2015 (edited) [quote name='handman' timestamp='1421612722' post='2663317'] there is still a very loud hum when the bass is not being grounded by me, [/quote] You will always get that to a certain extent with single-coil pickups - but the extent will depend on the quality of the pickups themselves, your settings (reducing treble will reduce hum), the wiring, the shielding within the control cavity and so on. All are fixable to a certain degree, but there comes a point where simply buying a better quality bass becomes a more sensible option (unless you are far handier with a soldering iron than I am!) Squier pickups are notorious for hum and a generally weak sound, so pretty much anything you replace them with should be an improvement. Even a set from a Fender MIM J! (which I did with my fretless). Entwistles have a good rep on here at the moment, and are priced [b][i]very[/i][/b] competitively. I've not used them myself so I would be interested to hear your thoughts when they are installed... Watch out for the sizes though, as a number of people have reported that they are very tall... Edited January 19, 2015 by Conan Quote
handman Posted January 19, 2015 Author Posted January 19, 2015 I'm pretty handy with a solder iron , so that should no problem fitting new pick up's.Doing this really is about having some fun , messing about with a bass, trying some different thing out, bit of a project/hobby really Quote
Maude Posted January 20, 2015 Posted January 20, 2015 They are taller than most so be aware of that when fitting them. I had to leave the springs out and just use the old foam for keeping them under tension, with the springs in the springs would fully compress and act like spacers before the pups were low enough. I did wonder afterwards if this was their intention as the new pups don't come with springs. Quote
handman Posted January 21, 2015 Author Posted January 21, 2015 Installed the pick up's and yes they are very tall just used the original sponge,not really had a chance to do a full test yet but initial impression are that they seem to have a lot more punch.still got the him but will have to look into that further. Quote
handman Posted January 25, 2015 Author Posted January 25, 2015 Just a quick thought, looked at the volume/ tone controls one has star earthing and seem to be be the quietest the other don't , could it be that simple, has anyone carried out this mod? Quote
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