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Post subject: Pickups Humming
Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2013 2:33 pm
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I bought a Mike Dirnt bass just the body, ok I have put a set of fender 50s pups in it with new cts 250 pots, 47 orange cap, lined the cavities with copper shielding and the thing hums, if I touch the bridge it stops like a bad ground but my ground is good. PLEASE HELP!!!! I have read that these basses new hum!?!? This is not my first bass to rewire and put new pups and pots in so I know my soldering is good.Thanks

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Post subject: Re: Pickups Humming
Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2013 3:00 pm
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Flourescent lights? Neon? Geez there is so much that can cause a buzz in single coils- I just keep experimenting and then I call my friend who repairs guitars.

Sometimes the bridge ground that comes out of the body just doesn't make good contact. I fan(wires) out and I have even used cooper tape to tape the wires to the bridge plate bottom. It's tricky cause the plate is so flat and you want it down flat on the body. My friend told me to scratch the under side of the plate where it will make contact with the ground wire.

Good luck--- The guys will be along soon with more ideas.


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Post subject: Re: Pickups Humming
Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2013 7:14 pm
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Thanks stroker vance I got it sorted out.

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Post subject: Re: Pickups Humming
Posted: Sun Dec 29, 2013 9:29 pm
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What was it?


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Post subject: Re: Pickups Humming
Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2013 1:35 pm
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stroker vance wrote:
What was it?


We may never know for sure. I was thinking ground wire to the bridge or a short in the controls.


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Post subject: Re: Pickups Humming
Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2013 2:33 pm
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brotherdave wrote:
stroker vance wrote:
What was it?


We may never know for sure. I was thinking ground wire to the bridge or a short in the controls.



Yeah- bridge wire is pretty common even if you can solder and etc.


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Post subject: Re: Pickups Humming
Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2014 8:44 pm
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Sorry guys, it still does it even tried diff pups and rewire, guess it is what it is.

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Post subject: Re: Pickups Humming
Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2014 10:07 pm
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Wow- you been working on it for almost a year dude.
If the input jack touches the copper tape when you plug in it will buzz. Nothing should be touching the copper . Ground the lugs that aren't in use to the pot case. Ground the pots together on the cases. Take out all the copper ? Could be a bad input- pot- busted wire inside the wire casing- I'd tell you to bring it over but I live too far away.

If all else fails start over with new parts. AND if you only play it at home and only plug it into one electric outlet you may want to try another outlet. OR if the house power is off off 110 that may cause a hum.


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Post subject: Re: Pickups Humming
Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2014 10:44 pm
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Lol no I just haven't been on here in a year, you know its not a loud buzz so its ok and yeah I know about the cooper thing first hand. when I get a new tip for my iron I might redo it.

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Post subject: Re: Pickups Humming
Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2014 8:53 am
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Location: In this country town, where the laughter sounds...
Do you live in an area of high power lines?

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Post subject: Re: Pickups Humming
Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2014 9:18 am
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Any Ham radio operators near?


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Post subject: Re: Pickups Humming
Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2014 12:31 pm
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stroker vance wrote:
Any Ham radio operators near?


Good point SV.

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Post subject: Re: Pickups Humming
Posted: Mon Nov 17, 2014 2:47 pm
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Split Coil P-Basses have one of the quietest most noise resistant bass pickup designs ever conceived and are in essence an ideal humbucker. The ones that come pre-mounted on the brass base-plate like the Original Vintage are especially noise free and practically impossible to screw up during installation. One of these should NOT hum when everything is installed and wired properly, ever. The model doesn't matter. So something is amiss here. The body could be USA. MIM, CIJ, MIJ, Chinese or made in a hut on Bora Bora and when you put a Fender Precision Bass pickup in it the thing should not hum. The BODY isn't causing the hum, it's the electronics. So to say this particular body design is causing the hum is digging in the wrong place.

I have shielded standard passive P-Basses, but to be totally frank there really is an undetectable benefit in doing so. Therefore I probably will not do it again on any standard passive P-Bass I own as the extensive labor is of so little benefit that I can't really tell it mattered at all.

A first generation single coil P-Bass or a single coil Jazz Bass is an entirely different matter though and there is a clear benefit in copper foil shielding them.

In short, copper foil shielding a split coil second generation P-Bass (post 1957) is largely a waste of time and money. It can actually make it worse if you don't do it properly! The foil has to be wired to ground in both the control and pickup cavities and some people just slap foil in and omit that crucial step which in essence is equivalent to installing a RFI collector into the instrument.

I've found one thing that helps long term on the post 1957 P-Bass. It is easy and practically free. The stripped end of the bridge ground wire that is fanned out and held in place by the downward pressure of the fully seated bridge is frequently a weak point. It is sometimes better if the stripped end gets lightly tinned to make it stiffer and then wrapped around one of the bridge screws on the underside of the bridge for a positive and sure contact when all bridge screws are tightened down and the bridge properly seated. Sometimes just fanning the wire doesn't give a reliable contact because the insulation on the un-stripped portion of the ground wire prevents adequate contact, the bridge screws work loose or string tension flexes the bridge just enough cause inadequate contact.


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Post subject: Re: Pickups Humming
Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2014 4:35 am
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Maybe it just doesn't know the words?


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Post subject: Re: Pickups Humming
Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2014 7:09 am
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Brotherdave makes a good point. If a shielding job is improperly done it can actually do the exact opposite of it's intended purpose and create buzzing conditions where there would otherwise be none. Two conditions, if found together, can range from slightly annoying to truly aggravating. They are: gaps in the shielding and unwanted electrical contact. When combined the shielding can actually act as an antennae, grabbing low level external sources of interference and amplifying them to hideous proportions. Gaps can be difficult to locate and almost impossible to completely eliminate since the pups poke through the shielded cavity.

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