Fender Grounding Strips. Do I need one?

[basskay1]

Hey there,

I have a USA fender 75 RI (with the standard pick ups) and I seem to getting quite abit of noise (which stops when I touch the strings). I know that they have an internal strip but I was thinking that an external grounding strip could solve this but A) i cant find one and B ) Does anyone know if I need it, will it make a difference?

Thanks guys
Kay

Edited July 15, 2010 by basskay1

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited February 16, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[basskay1]

yeah that is a really good point. This was the first thing that came to mind.
Its not a horrific buzz, its just quite annoying, especially for recording.

Edited July 15, 2010 by basskay1

[attackbass]

[quote name='basskay1' post='896115' date='Jul 15 2010, 11:37 PM']yeah that is a really good point. This was the first thing that came to mind.
Its not a horrific buzz, its just quite annoying, especially for recording.[/quote]

I have the same bass. I copper shielded the control cavity which helped.. there are some threads about it over on talkbass. I've also found that it cane be made worse by certain lights in the house etc and obviously when you aren't running both volume on full. I never hear any noise at venues unless there is some sh*tty power supply going on.

[basskay1]

[quote name='attackbass' post='896125' date='Jul 15 2010, 11:54 PM']I have the same bass. I copper shielded the control cavity which helped.. there are some threads about it over on talkbass. I've also found that it cane be made worse by certain lights in the house etc and obviously when you aren't running both volume on full. I never hear any noise at venues unless there is some sh*tty power supply going on.[/quote]

That was another option I was considering, thanks for your input, that really helps. I will look in to that further I think.

[LukeFRC]

i wasa recording with my old old P bass and something had come loose inside. We wrapped a bit of electrical wire around something of the bridge and then taped the other end with electrical tape to my right arm. Worked well enough to lay down my tracks

[Doctor J]

Definitely shield the cavity and the pickup routes too (connect the pickup route shielding to the cavity route shielding so it's all grounded) to try to minimise the interference and then go after the source. My house has some lights which cause interference, you should test to see what's causing the problem where you are. Here, we have some dimmer-compatible lights which each have a transformer which converts the power to 12V and they cause a lot of noise (on MW radio too), so they're going to be removed. Shielding has helped but it's till a problem for any single coil pickup.

Edited July 16, 2010 by Doctor J

[basskay1]

Thanks for the tip about the wire, something to try in an emergency


[quote name='Doctor J' post='896375' date='Jul 16 2010, 11:09 AM']Definitely shield the cavity and the pickup routes too (connect the pickup route shielding to the cavity route shielding so it's all grounded) to try to minimise the interference and then go after the source. My house has some lights which cause interference, you should test to see what's causing the problem where you are. Here, we have some dimmer-compatible lights which each have a transformer which converts the power to 12V and they cause a lot of noise (on MW radio too), so they're going to be removed. Shielding has helped but it's till a problem for any single coil pickup.[/quote]

Cool so Ill do the cavity and the routes, i think i saw a tutorial type artical somewhere about this so its something I can do my self. Ill check our studio for interferance, we have quite a few things plugged in to extender bars so i wonder if that could be part of the problem

[Al Heeley]

You can buy adhesive copper foil from Axes'R'Us and from ebay, it certainly helps isolate the electrics when the ctrl cavity, underside of pickguard and pickup cavities are all coated, then grounded. In my old house the fridge was the biggest pain connected to local ring main as the socket where my amp was plugged in. Caused all sorts of extra noise and buzzing. Fluoresecent lights can also be a pain.

[essexbasscat]

For a whole discussion of grounding, mothods of doing the job, materials etc go to GuitarNuts.com

The site is based around strats and Telecasters i.e single coil pickups, with lots of alternative wiring diagrams for those guitars as well

graphite shielding paint is available from e -bay

T

[basskay1]

[quote name='essexbasscat' post='896409' date='Jul 16 2010, 11:43 AM']For a whole discussion of grounding, mothods of doing the job, materials etc go to GuitarNuts.com

The site is based around strats and Telecasters i.e single coil pickups, with lots of alternative wiring diagrams for those guitars as well

graphite shielding paint is available from e -bay

T[/quote]

Cool thanks, Ive had a good read through GuitarNuts and it seems to be a good DIY job. I found self adhesive copper foil on eBay that looks to do the trick. Ill let you know how I get on

[yorick]

You could also shield the back of the scratch plate.

[basskay1]

[quote name='yorick' post='900121' date='Jul 20 2010, 03:03 PM']You could also shield the back of the scratch plate.[/quote]

Yeah ive seen that you can cover the back with foil and run a wire to the cavity to something metal inside. As far as im aware could help as well?