BOD2

Check out the "Humming and Buzzing" thread pinned to the top of this section [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/194-humming-and-buzzing-problems/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/194-humming-and-buzzing-problems/[/url]

Check the full wiring against this (but note that the wire colour codes are different in that diagram,, notably Seymour Ducans RED = DiMarzio BLACK and Seymour Duncan BLACK = Dimarzio RED) [url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=jazz_bass_stacks"]http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=jazz_bass_stacks[/url]

Does this amp have biasing controls on the back ? [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIHKY-OkEJs"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIHKY-OkEJs[/url]

[quote name='rageingtelephone' timestamp='1378988561' post='2207379'] I reside in Bristol. So far I have had it serviced by an independant guy called Jesse James and later on by Justin @ [url="http://www.heronmusic.co.uk/"]Heron Music[/url]. [/quote] Jesse James ? He's a cowboy.....

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1378820487' post='2205065'] I'm probably not explaining it very well, hopefully someone else can do a better job? [/quote] Lots of info and some discussion here [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/49897-how-to-shim-a-neck/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/49897-how-to-shim-a-neck/[/url] In the middle of the topic there is a diagram (by BigRedX coincidentally) that shows what neck shimming actually does.

Does the Roland Cube have a compressor or noise gate effect on it ? If so, then try switching those off to see if that makes any difference.

If the noise is constant no matter if you move around or move the bass then it might be passing along the mains cables, in which case plugging the amp into a different mains circuit might help. If the noise varies when move the bass around or move to different locations in the room, then it is "airborne" interference or "Radio Frequency Interference" (RFI). The noise is in the air all around you so it won't make any difference plugging into a different mains circuit, or filtering the mains with a noise suppressor. In this case the noise is an electromagnetic field that is reaching the bass pickups through the air and not through a cable. Shielding (screening) the control cavities of the bass may help a little, but you cannot effectively shield a single coil pickup, therefore noise will always come in through the pickup itself.

It sounds like you're picking up "air borne" interference from some component of the lighting system. Dimmers are often the main culprits for this kind of noise but I don't know if there will be dimmers in use at this venue. There's not a lot you can do about this - the interference is in the air around you and picked up by your pickups. There's no fault with the pickups - that's what they do. When you run the pickups together they are probably working in "hum cancelling" mode, which is why the noise is reduced then. Single coil pickups are bad for this kind of thing - "humbuckers" were designed to reduce this sort of noise. Anything that varies the gain of your signal will have an effect on this kind of noise - either increasing or decreasing it. If it is this kind of noise then you'll often find that it varies as you turn the bass around so you might be able to move on stage (swivel around) until you find a spot where the noise is minimal. It could be that some of the lighting components are badly positioned or not properly screened but its unlikely the venue will be interested in changing this.

Have played a bass through a POD XT Pro and then the PA quite a lot, but not through a bass amp. A couple of things to note, though - 1. Set the bass amp EQ flat and neutral and use the POD for tone shaping otherwise you'll have too many EQ settings to fiddle with. 2. Sounds that you create on the POD at low volumes do NOT work well at gig levels. Create the POD sounds at the volume you expect to be playing with for best results. 3. Don't "overdo" the POD settings just because they are there. The simple sounds are usually the most effective ones. 4. Try switching off "speaker cab simulation" on the POD otherwise you'll be playing with speaker "colouration" on the POD and then more speaker colouration from the speaker in the bass amp.

You possibly had a dry solder joint at the LED. By resoldering it you fixed the problem. As icastle says, the input jack usually incorporates a "switch" that makes contact when a lead is plugged in and allows the pedal to work. There are a couple of ways to do this. It might be a stereo jack socket with the "ring" and "sleeve" contacts wired so that when a mono jack plug is inserted these contacts are shorted together by the barrel of the jack to complete a circuit. Alternatively it could be a "switching" jack socket in which contacts on the socket open or close as a jack is inserted into the socket. Have a look at the input jack and see if you can make any sense of what happens when a mono jack plug is inserted. Do any bits of the socket move ? Are there 3 contacts on the jack socket (tip, ring, sleeve) ? Are two of the contacts wired together ?

Could be quite hard to locate the problem but the next thing I would check is the continuity of the PCB tracks that lead to where the LED sits. You can see them clearly in that first photo - use a meter between the LED points and the solder joints at the end of each track. You might be able to trace it back further to the other end of that ribbon cable too. It could have been a bad solder join on the LED, in which case it will work if you resolder the LED back in place. Failing that it may be a problem elsewhere on the board.

I've found that active basses require a slightly different way of looking at things because, unlike a passive bass, they can BOOST as well as cut the EQ. I'd always advise starting with the EQ set flat. On a passive bass that will be the tone controls full on but on an active bass that's usually the centre position of the controls, often indicated by a little detent "stop" that you feel as you turn the control from min to max. Where you feel a click on the control is usually where the control is set flat - neither cutting nor boosting the EQ. Once you've got that position, setup the amp/FX for the best sound you can get without touching the onboard EQ. With the amp and FX setup you're ready to play with the onboard EQ to make fine adjustments to the sound as required. The key is to keep the adjustments small, and if you get "lost" then go back to the flat EQ setting.

Yep - just plug in and go. It's not like a computer where you had to "add" the cab - if the cab is connected then the amp will use it and if it's not then it will just use the internal speaker.

It's more noticeable on a Strat. The "in between" pickup selections (bridge + middle, or middle + neck) are thinner than each pickup on its own. Each pickup, due to its position relative to the strings, "hears" a different combination of harmonics. With two pickups selected you get a mix of the two sets of harmonics and some combine while others cancel out.

It's not identical, bit could it be a version of this ? [url="http://www.bassmods.com/BEQ12-35MSAP-3-Band-Preamp-Vol-blend-mid-Stacked-Treble-and-Bass-ActPass-Mini-Switch-_p_208.html"]http://www.bassmods.com/BEQ12-35MSAP-3-Band-Preamp-Vol-blend-mid-Stacked-Treble-and-Bass-ActPass-Mini-Switch-_p_208.html[/url]

Post a photo of the preamp (clearly showing the colours of the wires coming out of the black box) and maybe someone will recognise it.

The glockenklang website has this - [url="http://www.glockenklang.com/pdf/de/GLOnboardStackedVolJasonWiring.pdf"]http://www.glockenklang.com/pdf/de/GLOnboardStackedVolJasonWiring.pdf[/url] but I have to say that is one of the worst diagrams I've seen lately ! The pickups connect to the "Balance" pot on the right of the diagram. Connect the "hot" wires of the pickups to "In1" (bridge) and "In2" (neck) and the ground wires to the "Ground/Shield" connection on the same pot.

You could try speaking to these people - [url="http://www.furmansound.com/page.php?div=03&id=WHY_PWR"]http://www.furmansound.com/page.php?div=03&id=WHY_PWR[/url] But their equipment will cost around £200. I've never used one of these devices so I can't say if this would cure your particular problem or not. I would go around the house checking for any light dimmers, fluorescent lights, or low energy bulbs first. Try switching these off to see if that eliminates the noise - if you're lucky then it might just be one particular light fitting that is causing the problem. Fridges can also cause problems when the compressor switches on and off, but there's not a lot you can do about that !

Can't be sure about the wiring colours - black to earth is a good guess. As long as you do both pickups the same it won't affect the sound. If it's the wrong way round then I've heard that you can sometimes get a slight buzzing sound when you touch the pickup pole pieces but that's the only issue. If the additional earth wire on the pickups is a bare wire (or looks like a twisted "braid" of bare wires) then, yes, earth it to one of the pot shells. Remember to run an earth wire from under the bridge to one of the pot shells. On Jazz basses with a metal control panel the metal of the panel will usually earth all of the pots together, but sometimes you'll see an earth wire connecting each pot together.

It won't do any harm but I doubt very much that you'll hear any difference. The concensus seems to be that, all else being equal, the actual "type" of capacitor in a tone circuit will not make a difference to what you hear. Provided it's a good quality component and the value is appropriate then just about any capacitor will do the same job. The orange drop looks nice, though. Pity you can't see it under the pickguard !

No the guy in the shop was right to ask. An "active" monitor is a box that contains both an amplifier and a speaker. To connect that to the PA you'll need either an instrument lead (e.g a guitar lead) or an XLR mic lead. Which one you use depends on the available connections on the mixer and the monitor itself. A "passive" monitor is just a speaker box with a separate amplifier placed somewhere else on stage. To connect the monitor amplifier to the monitor speaker you would use a speaker lead - definitely NOT an instrument or mic lead. To connect the mixer to the monitor amplifier you'd use an instrument or mic lead.

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1359041032' post='1948882'] You know there's a hell of a lot more to bass than just the notes. [/quote] Yes, I realise that. And I would also agree that it's not an easy thing to play solid notes like that all the way through a song. And if you were playing that sort of song to a "real" audience who were enjoying and appreciating the overall sound, then it's a joy to be a part of. But in a covers band at the "Dog n' Duck", or whatever, the experience is somewhat different. But I'll bet there were gigs when even the Simple Minds' bass player would be thinking "oh no.... not Waterfront again !"

While agreeing wholeheartedly about the song overall being more important than the bassline, or any single part of a song, I'm afraid I did draw the line when the last covers band I was suggested "Waterfront" by Simple Minds. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUBz4J1Gc-w"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUBz4J1Gc-w[/url] Not only is the bass line the same one note ALL the way through.... it also lasts almost 5 minutes !

I would add to that - smear some candle wax onto the screws before you first attempt to tighten them up (just rub the screw against a candle and it will collect some wax in the thread). This gives a little lubrication to the screw and should make it turn easier. If the screw tightens up too much before it is fully home then you may need to enlarge the holes in the neck. Avoid using excessive pressure on the screws or you may damage the screw heads which will make it harder to remove the screws and replace them again later, of necessary. If the neck is tight against the sides of the neck pocket then, again, a little touch of candle wax on the sides of the neck may help ease it into place.

Some pictures here, if you scroll through the thread..... (ignore the first part about adding a shim) [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/49897-how-to-shim-a-neck/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/49897-how-to-shim-a-neck/[/url]