rmorris

Are we talking about 'mains' related hum here - '50Hz' noise + harmonics (100Hz is often the largest component due to rectification) ? Adjust frequencies for '60 Hz' territories of course ! That interference is primarily magnetic field related (H-field). It's always an electromagnetic field but the relative contributions of electric and magnetic field strengths vary. It's the reason why mains frequency transformers may need to be shielded with a suitable grade of mumetal rather than copper or aluminium. You need some ferrite element to shield against H-fields. Similarly microphone input transformers are typically fitted with mumetal shields.

So...it seems clear that your bridge/string grounding is fine. To reduce noise when you're not touching earthed metal - check the shielding. Not simply ground continuity - is the shielding complete and how it is implemented. And yes - SCR dimmers are a major source of noise so if you can avoid them then all the better. And don't ignore noise sources that may be in an adjoining room or building. Or, from experience, even further away. Note on this: Coated strings can be an issue with this.

Yes - low impedance pickups like EMG are less susceptible to interference as you say. And the associated controls are then lower impedance themselves eg 25K pots vs 500K or 1M0. But can we dispense with the idea that there is some problem with the earthing of the bridge in this particular case. The noise 'goes away' if the OP touches the strings. That indicates that the 'Earth' path is intact. When the player is near the bass but not touching any grounded metal - be it the bass strings / bridge or another piece of metal that is grounded eg a rack unit / chassis - the body acts as quite a good antennae for the 'emi soup' we are immersed in and causes this to be picked up by the (High Impedance) bass electrics. Screening is advised as it will attenuate the amount of interference getting through to the electrics. I'm an advocate of screening the rear of any plastic pickguard. It also reduces the problem of them "going static" where touching them causes a "brushing / rustling" noise in the output.

Not in general. Anyone near the bass but not at a fixed potential - practically this means not touching 'Earthed' metal acts as a source of radiated noise due to the RFI soup we are generally immersed in. So if there were no one near the bass there wouldn't be the buzz. But it's difficult to play it from a distance ! By 'Earthing' to the player it stops the antennae effect. Having said that I did once he ave a glitch at distinct one second intervals and I really should have realised it was my quartz movement watch causing it as it was synchronised with the movement of the seconds hand 🙄

Yes. Copper tape is great. But make sure to use one with a conductive adhesive if relying on that - tales from the EMC lab 🙄. But the OP's bass seems to be correctly grounded. The noise is coming from the player. When the player touches the strings/bridge or anything else that is grounded then the noise stops as the player is held at a fixed electrical potential (voltage).

True. But it will work over most. Now the trick is to play it with confidence. Then if it doesn't 'fit' you can make it sound like it's the chord being played is 'wrong' and not your bass note 😃 +1 for learning the most common chord sequences and permutations.

Yes I get the technique aspect and strings can go all the way from packet fresh super zing SS roundwounds through to old flats and all points between. But my real point was about online presentations where the player carries on apparently fine with, or oblivious to, the amount of 'non musical' noise that is audible. And it's also noticeable that a lot of stuff doesn't really have much low errr...bass in it. And this isn't a case of listening on tinny speakers. It's generally going through decent sized monitors that I also use listen to recorded/streamed audio including my own DI bass.

Yes. And I fully appreciate that some of it is legitimate articulation that you may positively seek to feature - similar to putting a mic pointed toward the neck of an acoustic to get the noise of fingers on strings. And there is always going to be some 'noise' associated with metal on metal contact. Very much depending on the elements involved - string type most obviously. But it gets to the degree that the euphemistically named 'bite' at the front of a note is obscuring the real attack of the note and it becomes difficult to really hear the note itself. What brought it to the fore of my thinking was that I was in a bass shop on Saturday (Bass Gallery in that London) and there were a few people plugged in and playing. So no drums to mask things, no 'mix'. And everything sounded good - and not like a bag of spanners being shaken 🙂. I appreciate that online stuff is likely DI into an audio interface and so not a mic'd amp but it shouldn't take much to turn out a decent sound if you're going to the trouble of making a demo'/lesson/review. tbh it just sometimes seems that people have their actions set too low and are willing to keep a straight face while the note they've just hit a tad too hard continues to bothers the frets in an unmusical way.

I don't know if this counts as "elephant in the room" territory but...is it just me (taking on a standup comedian pose) or do nearly all online bass demos/tutors/reviews etc simply have far too much fret noise and clank in their audio output ?

Again not wood but anyone else remember these - Magnesium Alloy / GRP - and from Pete Townsend's brother I believe...ToneMetal ? http://guitarz.blogspot.com/2011/10/staccato-mg-bass-circa-1986-made-from.html?_sm_au_=iVVQRMM0jS7Jjk2s1F81QKHFkHCjJ

Okay. I think i probably assumed 70s = Single Action. Seems kind of disappointing either way (no pun intended !) though. Good Luck.

Good point. I'm assuming a Squier VM 70's Jazz Bass as per the OP would have a single action rod ?

I have an acrylic bass. It's blue - do other colours sound better ?

Of course. we could bypass the whole timber argument and go all Carbon Fibre ? I'll get my coat 🙄

My old Rocktek Chorus Pedals.

worth reading this write-up https://www.talkbass.com/threads/ebow-vs-tc-electronics-aeon-first-impressions.1352769/

tbf That is proper funny 🤣🤣🤣

But I don't read the posts as framing playing covers in that way. For transparency IIRC I've played (for public consumption) one 'Cover Version' ever. But I didn't listen to the original recording before interpreting it. The guitarist presented it as he would have done with something he had originated and I took it from there.

+1. I don't want to sound harsh but if your bass tech just passed it back to you without suggesting the "washer solution" I have to suggest taking stuff elsewhere in future.

Yes, but the battery switching function is not intrinsically associated with the barrel form. Any TRS socket has the same switching functionality.

I think that's basically the point. The difference in feel and playability to the bassist can make a huge difference to the performance. As can many other factors like monitors etc. Audience will not generally ascribe this to s particular instrument. When did you last go to a gig and think that the bassist should be using a slightly lighter/ heavier gauge of string ? Or neck profile ? But it will feel different to the player and influence the performance. Emphasises that setup can be more important than the bass itself. Obvs there are limits - Don't try and 'do' Mark King or Peter Hook on a Precision set up with flats and a high action a la Jamerson 😳

Ha! I guess cassette heads are a very niche interest now - some retro interest notwithstanding. It's never going to be like Vinyl. Young people have never experienced seeing long lengths of cassette tape in gutters after a jammed cassette was thrown out of a Ford Capri in frustration 🤣 But I guess there are still some Big Reel tape decks where the same cleaning is applicable. For that it's hard to beat IPA tbh (Isopropyl not Pale Ale 🙄) although I recall that it was important not to use the pure stuff on the rubber capstan wheel as it would dry it out and cause it to crack. +1 for DeOxit 5 btw. Think whether the flushable or non-flushable version is best for your application.

yes it can be useful to have the option to work at 'non-professional' nominal level eg -10dBv (lower level and different dB reference - standards are great - that's why we have so many 🙄) and I have been in the situation where I've chosen to configure a DIY attenuating pad to archive some stuff from DAT (remember when that was a thing ???) using my now old multichannel TDIF interface that has unbalanced inputs at a low nominal level. But I still prefer to work at +4dBu until I have to attenuate. In reality all audio going into an ADC is going to be squeezed down to a 5V range or less. But attenuating directly before the ADC gives best SNR. Also worth noting that signals that are impedance balanced or 'Ground Cancelling' are likely to be at -2dBu nominal level. Since the -ve leg of the signal isn't driven. As for mixers that don't handle +4dBu - tbh I'd just say use a different mixer.

Yes. I guess I'm more biased toward recording rather than live work. Agree wrt your keys player - unless his keyboard is mains earthed itself and so the DI would give him the opportunity to avoid a hum loop in the system.