Buzz goes when i touch a string ( bad earth ? ? )

[afterimage]

had this annoying problem but hooked up a Big muff pi that seems to quieten it down somewhat the guitar is a geddy lee mim jazz bass got a mains conditioner as well to see if that helps

[jgmh315]

Sounds almost certain to be an earth problem.
Normally a wire which finishes under the bridge, on the ones I've looked at anyway.

Edited January 26, 2014 by jgmh315

[dan670844]

[quote name='jgmh315' timestamp='1390768650' post='2349327']
Sounds almost certain to be an earth problem.
Normally a wire which finishes under the bridge, on the ones I've looked at anyway.
[/quote]

100% agree I have a MIM jazz great bass, with better pickups. On mine the earth wire under bridge was squashed into the paint so was not making contact, so I re attached and it improved greatly. Also improved by putting some self adhesive shielding tape neath the pick guard

[alyctes]

[quote name='dan670844' timestamp='1390771645' post='2349388']
100% agree I have a MIM jazz great bass, with better pickups. On mine the earth wire under bridge was squashed into the paint so was not making contact, so I re attached and it improved greatly. Also improved by putting some self adhesive shielding tape neath the pick guard
[/quote]
Yes to both. You could also put conductive tape on the body under the bridge, so that the wire touches the tape [u]and[/u] the bridge? That way even if the wire is pushed into the tape it should still have a good earth.

[99mustang]

I've just been going 9 rounds with my Squier Pbass, It looks like the problem was a missing earth in the wall socket as It was fine in other rooms, might be worth checking?

Good luck

[dincz]

Not wishing to see you suck eggs Granny, but have you tried a different cable?

[iiipopes]

Some of that is normal. Without touching the strings, the only grounding (earthing) is back through the amp. The strings, as well as single coil pickups, are perfect antennae for electrostatic noise, such as off of fluorescent lights, in addition to 50Hz (UK& Euro) or 60Hz (USA - Can) hum. What I would be more concerned about is if the bass did not quiet down when a player did touch the strings. That would indicate an open circuit to ground/earth, which is potentially more dangerous.

The usual remedies are humbucking pickups, good shielding, good cabling, and mains conditioning.

Also, check the entire signal path to make sure there are no ground/earth loops.

Finally, if all else fails, EMG actives are internally grounded/earthed.

Edited January 28, 2014 by iiipopes

[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]

[afterimage]

thanks everyone cheers

[rmorris]

[quote name='iiipopes' timestamp='1390920397' post='2351300']
Some of that is normal. Without touching the strings, the only grounding (earthing) is back through the amp. The strings, as well as single coil pickups, are perfect antennae for electrostatic noise, such as off of fluorescent lights, in addition to 50Hz (UK& Euro) or 60Hz (USA - Can) hum. What I would be more concerned about is if the bass did not quiet down when a player did touch the strings. That would indicate an open circuit to ground/earth, which is potentially more dangerous.

The usual remedies are humbucking pickups, good shielding, good cabling, and mains conditioning.

Also, check the entire signal path to make sure there are no ground/earth loops.

Finally, if all else fails, EMG actives are internally grounded/earthed.
[/quote]

But the 'Earth' path back through the amp is usually the only earth path anyway unless the player toushing the strings is touching ( or close enough such that capacative coupling is significant ) something else earthed - mic casing / rack chassis etc.
Basically the player not touching something 'earthed' acts as an antennae for noise and connecting to 'earth' potential via the strings / bridge stops this.

On EMGs - low impedance actives not the Hi-Z Select types - they have a much lower impedance than 'normal' pickups and are thus less susceptible to noise. They are not regarded as requiring earthing by the manufacturer. It does mean that they have relatively low output levels hence need for on board amplification.

Anyway - I think this stuff has already been pretty well covered on this site as BOD2 links to....

Edited February 24, 2014 by rmorris

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Are the pickups active ?