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Post subject: Squier VM Jazz Fretless Hum After Shielding
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2012 10:50 am
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I did the following on my Squier VM Jazz Fretless: installed CTS 500k minipots, replaced all wiring (except for about an inch coming from the pickups because I did not want to mess with those tiny copper wires on the pickups), shielded control and pickup cavities with copper conductive adhesive foil, soldering all joints, shielded the control wire tunnels with same, re-attached the bridge grounding wire and followed the wiring diagram for a jaco bass, installing wires connecting the cavities to a lug in the control cavity and thence to a volume pot.

http://support.fender.com/service_diagr ... A_SISD.pdf

All hum except the normal single coil hum is gone except for a hum whenever I play, disappears when the strings stop vibrating.

There was a 2009 thread with a wiring diagram where the guy star-grounded all the negative leads to the control cavity, then to the pots and the output jack. Would that help?

Any input anyone may be willing to give on how to get rid of hum while playing would be much appreciated.


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Post subject: Re: Squier VM Jazz Fretless Hum After Shielding
Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 1:44 am
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Hi mate I have this very bass, awesome for its price. Anyway as for your problem I had similar issues with a P-Bass I shielded, I removed it and hum went away, I read that you can over shield which can cause interference. Does it hum when you touch any chrome parts?

Dave


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Post subject: Re: Squier VM Jazz Fretless Hum After Shielding
Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 5:38 am
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Thanks for your reply. I traced the problem to the setup I was using. It only did the hum when I played through a signal processor with headphones. No problems with any amplifier/speaker combination.

I'm pretty new to this but I had not heard it was possible to over shield. I put one layer of conductive adhesive backed copper foil with a small amount of overlap here and there to cover gaps and mistakes.

Check out the threads at Talkbass relating to these issues. Might be something there.


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Post subject: Re: Squier VM Jazz Fretless Hum After Shielding
Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 9:17 am
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I didnt know it was possible either :? Anyway how does it sound now? What upgrades to date have you made, I'm gonna eventually upgrade mine, not the neck tho Im more than happy and suprised how good the ebanol is. And what amp are you using?


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Post subject: Re: Squier VM Jazz Fretless Hum After Shielding
Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:52 am
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The improvement is fantastic. Bigger, fuller sound, more depth, clarity, highs are higher, lows are lower, mids are ... midder, more character. I highly recommend re-doing shiedling and replacing the pots on this instrument.

As far as other upgrades, I am going to replace the nut with a Graphtech Tusq which has not yet arrived. The old nut fell out when I took the strings off to do the pots. It is cheap white plastic. I am going to approach this carefully of course because I'm just a hobbyist and the action is just about perfect the way it is and I do not want to mess it up.

I considered a new bridge but I read a lot of conflicting things on this site and talkbass about aftermarket bridges, that they do mnot necesarily improve the sound. When I re-did the wiring I made sure the bridge sat flat on the body. They don't always - the manufacturer puts the ground wire under the bridge and this sometimes causes a gap between the bridge an body. I think having the bridge lay absolutely flat helps the sound as well.

I like the pickups pretty well, too, so all told I do not think I am going to do any more upgrading for now. The bass has a great sound and feel the way it is - really the best of my current instruments, including a late 70's MIA Jazz.

At the moment I am playing through a Peavey Megabass and a peavey 1820. I like the rig a lot.


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Post subject: Re: Squier VM Jazz Fretless Hum After Shielding
Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 2:41 am
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Sounds a bit of a BEAST!!!! :mrgreen: I think the fretless is such an underated instrument and should be used more by players. Its all well and good when we think fretless "ooooh Jaco", not taking anything away from him, he was amazing and I love his work but its still associated with jazz. Then on the other hand theres Juan Alderete of Mars Volta/Racer X, this is the direction I'd like to see the fretless heading, its such a versitile instrument without the frets limiting you to certain notes. And theres nothing better than a fretless with a bit of fuzz, probably the best sounding instrument I've ever heard. Keep up the good work dude and update us on your progress. :D


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Post subject: Re: Squier VM Jazz Fretless Hum After Shielding
Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 6:28 am
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Never thought of using distortion with a fretless. I'll have to give it a try. Thanks for the tip.


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Post subject: Re: Squier VM Jazz Fretless Hum After Shielding
Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 8:08 am
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Check these out. :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSIMrw-SZ8s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx5_IeZLgqg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt_6tkBo6BI


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