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Cool. Everyone's starting to go over my head now but unfortunately I don't have any spare bulbs or 15V batteries. I re-ran the test with the multimeter set on 200 and took a reading from the bridge to the earth pin of the kettle lead. It's about 00.5/00.6. Does this help? For Brancini as well, yes there are those sorts of things in the house but I made sure that there weren't any on my floor. The only dimmers are 2 floors down and I unplugged everything else to try and get rid of it already

Although after that I thought I would try my friends guitar for a laugh... Mmm. I don't know where Snap is but I've found Crackle and Pop! Guess it's not the bass. Weird...

Not wealthy enough to have another bass

Was passive. I have tried a different preamp as a resolution too ( J-Retro ) and it does it in both active and passive modes.

Yea. .000. Was a bit harder to get a steady reading but it's .000.

What do you mean by 'floating'? I should have also included in my last post that I checked the resistance through the cable (sleeve to sleeve), amp sleeve pin to kettle earth out, kettle lead earth to earth and found .000 as the value for all.

I'm confused To me it seems logical to expect there to be no problems if the results have no resistance but I still get these problems. Am I being over sensitive? Is this to be expected on a jazz style bass? I just want to reiterate that I tried the bass with two heads, two cabs, my iPhone, direct laptop input (connected to mains and not) and with an audio card to laptop (mains/no mains). I get the same results be it somewhat varied but eq has not be constant so I suspect that to play a part.

OK so this is really going to confuse you. The [b]Ω [/b]setting reads .000 when the probes are together. Everything on the bass reads .000 when linked with the bridge. Is there a sparky in the house!?

My bad. I am a multimeter newb so I was reading it wrong. The continuity test seems pretty good. Nothing is registering above ~025. Should I still be getting this noise? I'm really lost now. This just doesn't seem to add up. Whenever I touch any metalwork it's a really obvious pop and strings still crackle. I've tried a different floor now as well. Same problem.

Hey, everyone. Well the problem lives on. My pick guard is already grounded to the control plate. I put some copper tape on it not to long ago. I just installed the new preamp too and the problem is still here. Hey Brancini, sorry if I gave you a scare. By the time I had got to earthing myself, I had kind of ruled out the mains earth as it still occurred when I was using my phone. And you're right it should never be done. Moving forward with it though, the multimeter is here and I get high readings from the continuity test between the bridge and the control plate/knobs. I also get a high reading between the bridge and a natural earth like the radiator. Any ideas on how to fix this. I guess that means the bridge is no connecting with the plate correctly?

Yea... The shoes off routine has been standard from the beginning. Like I said, I'm stumped.

I have to agree with Bod2. I think it is there is something freaky going on with static rather than mains. I don't think it will be possible to resolve it completely but I'm luckly enough to have string routes through the bass. I might fashion something to go through from the back of the bass to make contact with the bridge to resolve it. If anyone else has some awesome incite I'd welcome it with open arms.

I hadn't tried a different mains cable and that seemed to be a good idea. I just tried it a minute ago and a) the crackling was worse and when I tried to earth myself like before, I started getting shocks between me and the radiator/strings! Hmmm.... I really need to find somewhere else to test my setup.

Sounds painful....

Oh dear... I just tried the static theory by earthing myself on the radiator whilst touching the bridge, control plate and strings... It's SIGNIFICANTLY reduced. Nothing from anywhere but the bridge which has a small pop... I am Static Man! Wow. Thanks for you help guys and congrats to Bod2 for getting it. Now just to figure out how I can earth myself!

Well the multimeter is on the way so that might help but I'm still tinkering. The copper tape arrived today and I shielded the control cavity, pick guard, PUP magnets and added a bit around the bridges connection to earth to make a better contact. It's still crackling! Johnston, unfortunately yes, I checked both ends. I even resoldered the connection to the pot casing and exposed some new cable at the bridge end to see if that helped but no luck. Brancini and Bod2 still have good points I haven't managed to test the whole system in a different building and I may indeed be Static Man! Would you guys say it's not likely to be the building if it still happens when playing into my phone? I thought that would make sense but I might be missing something. Got to try the preamp now but it arrived at the wrong address!

I've made no changes and it's been like this since I had it but I can't speak for the previous own. I think it's standard. Looks it. I didn't know about the pot casings so thanks! I actually just ordered a J-Retro this afternoon (already had an email from John saying I'll have it before 1pm tomorrow!) so installing that should be interesting. I've got copper tape on the way and think I might just go crazy with it in the control cavity. Thanks for the help guys.

Thanks for the responses guys. As Mart said, I've already tried the bridge earth and yes, I have tried a different cable. I have also tried the different mains socket test and had no luck although I suspect they were on the same ring. I thought the same about the amps but when plugging it into logic through a sound card or using iRig and my phone, I get the same problem. I think you're right Mart, I will have to grab a multimeter and start crunching some numbers. I've been looking at one on amazon today uming and arhing whether or not to get it. How much higher than 0 is acceptable? Thanks.

Hi everyone, I finally caved and decided to ask you guys about my problem as I can't figure this out and it's driving me nuts! So the thing is my Lakland 55-60 and what I guess is a relatively uncommon earthing problem. When I touch the control plate, jack (which is metal) and bridge, I get a loud and intrusive pop. Personally I think it is way too loud as it intrudes on my playing but I understand that this is to be expected to some degree. My real upset comes from the strings... When I place my fingers on the strings with no pressure and run them up and down I get terrible crackling! I'm no master but I have a fair amount of experience with pro audio gear and guitar/amps/earth loops etc. and I am stumped so I put it to you and hope you can help me out! [b]What I have done so far:[/b] Checked the earth cable from the tone pot to the bridge. Re-soldered connections from the PUPs to the pots. There was no connection from the tone pot to the sleeve so I made one but no change. Tried with a different head and cab. I tried completing the diagram attached and found it did not change my results. Linking the shielding paint to the control plate. Turned off all electronics like LCDs, other speakers and lights. [b]Things to note:[/b] There is only shielding paint inside the cavity and it doesn't come over the edges. [b]Things I'm waiting to try:[/b] Shielding the control cavity with copper tape. Change the preamp. I guess the first question is: Has anyone come across this before? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, H

Yet again, another positive shout out for Gwil. I just bought his F500 head which he kindly had fully checked over. Highly recommended. Really nice guy. Good taste in music too Thanks for the amp! H