Grand Wazoo Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 Hi guys, I have a few quality basses, mostly active ones Ernie Ball Music Man, PRS etc however I am having problem with an otherwise lovely yet cheap Squier Precision 50's Classic Vibe which snap, crackles and pop every time I take my hands away from anything metallic on the bass, be it the bridge, the strings, the control pots it just goes off like a frying pan If I am playing finger style or pick style it stays quiet, as somehow I am always touching the metal bits, however the minute I start slapping or playing fast by touching the bass on and off, it starts to crackle like a b*tch again. Bearing in mind this is a single coil small pickup (you know the telecaster type bass, see pics below) and not the standard P-bass humbucker, does anyone kwnow what can I do to get rid of the static? I actually love the way it plays and its sound and for the money I paid for it, it'll be a shame to resell it because of the static issue. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutToPlayJazz Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 You'll find this partcularly with single coil basses. It'll be either a case of bad earthing on the instrument (check the control cavity and pickup cavity for foil shielding or shielding paint.) You can usually cure most of it via extra shielding or some manufacturers like Nordstrand make classic style pickups with hum cancelling but these replacements can be on the expensive side. The other part of the cause can be 60 cycle hum in the electrics in your house. My house is very old, so I definitely suffer cycle hum. Watch out for venues with dimmer switches as well. They play havoc with pickups! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrcrow Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 radio frequencies? or multiple earth hum...but you say static check all earths and especially the bridge...sort of inch by thick blitz on anything soldered to earth then make sure the strings are earthing on the saddles...meter required Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Wazoo Posted January 14, 2010 Author Share Posted January 14, 2010 (edited) [quote name='mrcrow' post='712935' date='Jan 14 2010, 07:35 PM']radio frequencies? or multiple earth hum...but you say static check all earths and especially the bridge...sort of inch by thick blitz on anything soldered to earth then make sure the strings are earthing on the saddles...meter required[/quote] Thanks, fact is none of the other basses in the pic make any noise whatsoever even the 25th Anniversary when played passive and on it's single coils, it is definately something to do with this bass. The blue precision is also brand new, I've only had it 2 weeks, and made this noise from day one. There is no control panel on the back of the body, the only cavity is the one under the volume and tone pots. the pickup cavity just about holds the pickup and when I lifted it to check for lose wires a black and a white wires are firmly soldered on. the jack socket is also sound and all wires are connected to it firmly Edited January 14, 2010 by bass5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOD2 Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 The only two things I can think of are a possible problem with the earth wire to the bridge, and static electricity building up on the pickguard. To check the bridge you'd have to unscrew it and remove it from the body. Sounds drastic but it's only the 5 screws at the rear of the bridge. Underneath, there should be a wire coming through from the control cavity that is bared and should touch and make good contact with the metal underside of the bridge base plate. Occasionally you have to roughen the underside of the base plate with sandpaper to ensure a good contact. Splay out the bare ends of the earth wire to ensure a good contact - a touch of vaseline can also help here. If it's static on the pickguard, then glueing aluminum foil to the underside of the guard might help. You need Spraymount photo-mount adhesive and some Bacofoil. Remove the guard and cut a square of Bacofoil larger then the guard. Spray the reverse side of the guard with Spraymount then place it firmly onto the foil. Trim round the edge of the foil. You now have a foil-backed guard. If you can arrange it so that part of the foil touches the metal control plate when it is all reassembled then the foil will be earthed and should reduce static build up on the guard. Seems a lot of trouble to go to on a new bass, though ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Wazoo Posted January 14, 2010 Author Share Posted January 14, 2010 [quote name='BOD2' post='713137' date='Jan 14 2010, 10:05 PM']The only two things I can think of are a possible problem with the earth wire to the bridge, and static electricity building up on the pickguard. To check the bridge you'd have to unscrew it and remove it from the body. Sounds drastic but it's only the 5 screws at the rear of the bridge. Underneath, there should be a wire coming through from the control cavity that is bared and should touch and make good contact with the metal underside of the bridge base plate. Occasionally you have to roughen the underside of the base plate with sandpaper to ensure a good contact. Splay out the bare ends of the earth wire to ensure a good contact - a touch of vaseline can also help here. If it's static on the pickguard, then glueing aluminum foil to the underside of the guard might help. You need Spraymount photo-mount adhesive and some Bacofoil. Remove the guard and cut a square of Bacofoil larger then the guard. Spray the reverse side of the guard with Spraymount then place it firmly onto the foil. Trim round the edge of the foil. You now have a foil-backed guard. If you can arrange it so that part of the foil touches the metal control plate when it is all reassembled then the foil will be earthed and should reduce static build up on the guard. Seems a lot of trouble to go to on a new bass, though ?[/quote] THANK YOU very much, that was a most helpful reply, I will remove the bridge and check if the earth wire is presently connected and then I will bacofoil the scratchplate. Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Wazoo Posted January 15, 2010 Author Share Posted January 15, 2010 At close inspection the reason for the crackling emerged... Closely following BOD2's suggestion I set about checking the hearth wire under the bridge and control cavity, and yes also turkey foiled the back of the pickguard (bloody hell that pickuar it's so big you can use it as a dinner tray) Anyway after everything was correctly earthed and shielded (see pics below), I still had noise and decided to completely lift the pickup out of its cavity to inspect loose wires and there it was a great big gash in one of the 2 wires, the wite one to be precise which shows that the chinese muppet that assembled the bass didn't realize he caught the wire under the pickup plate and whne screwed down it was cutting into it. Tomorrow I am going to take it to a mate who has a solder and new wire and will rewire the pickup with a new fresh length of cable. Bridge carefully removed for inspection Earth wire unpleated and making decent contact with the under plate of the bridge home made work bench / desk Control cavity is sound and also shielded with graphite paint And here is where the wire showed signs of damage, its basically cut and barely holding together Back of pickguard now shielded with Sainsbury's turkey foil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumnote Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 I have one of these as well and I dont have any more noise problems at home than I have with any of my other basses I did sheild it with copper foil but it didnt make that much of a difference as Fender china obviously paint on some sort of sheilding paint, and mines not really any more noisy than my lakland jo when using a single pickup Great bass for the money Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Good set of pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Wazoo Posted January 15, 2010 Author Share Posted January 15, 2010 [quote name='bumnote' post='713498' date='Jan 15 2010, 10:45 AM']I have one of these as well and I dont have any more noise problems at home than I have with any of my other basses I did sheild it with copper foil but it didnt make that much of a difference as Fender china obviously paint on some sort of sheilding paint, and mines not really any more noisy than my lakland jo when using a single pickup Great bass for the money[/quote] Yeah but you were lucky to get one in good shape as you see I've found a damaged pickup wire on mine which was the reason for the extreme noise, hopefully I'll get it sorted and all will be ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumnote Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 If its only a few weeks old why dont you take it back to the place you bought it from, that should be repair replacement under warantee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Wazoo Posted January 15, 2010 Author Share Posted January 15, 2010 [quote name='bumnote' post='713707' date='Jan 15 2010, 01:13 PM']If its only a few weeks old why dont you take it back to the place you bought it from, that should be repair replacement under warantee[/quote] Yes, that's what I need to find out about it, you see I have bought it mail order from Nevada Music, [url="http://www.nevadamusic.co.uk/Bass-Guitars/Bass-Guitars/Bass-Guitars/sc1114/p7144.aspx"]http://www.nevadamusic.co.uk/Bass-Guitars/...1114/p7144.aspx[/url] I need to see if they have a repair centre local to me. But since it's only a broken wire which can be easily fixed it might probably be easy for me and a friend to sort out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrcrow Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 [quote name='gary mac' post='713558' date='Jan 15 2010, 11:39 AM']Good set of pics.[/quote] excellent set...and great sleuthing.. need to add that one to my guess list Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOD2 Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Well spotted ! Sorry to put you through all that unnecessary work but at least you've found the problem now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanP2008 Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 So is it fixed? Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Wazoo Posted January 23, 2010 Author Share Posted January 23, 2010 [quote name='AlanP2008' post='722572' date='Jan 23 2010, 08:41 PM']So is it fixed? Alan[/quote] Yes and its now sporting a Seymour Duncan Bassline Quarter Pound pup in it. All is well and no more buzz. Thanks for asking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Wazoo Posted January 26, 2010 Author Share Posted January 26, 2010 Finally the new pickup arrived today and I've slapped it on immediately, thanks to a mate with a soldering thingie, we managed to remove the original flimsy pickup and fitted the new Quarter Pound from Seymour Duncan Basslines. Oh boy what a dfference, superb attack, clarity and sustain, and most importantly NO MORE STATIC BUZZZZZZ!! Alleluyah! When I removed the old pickup I was also able to see the extent of the damage in the wires where inside the white sleeve the wire was interrrupted in more than one place. Never mind the new Duncan is in and there to stay. Happy again here are a few pics... [b]ORIGINAL PICKUP[/b] [b]DAMAGED WHITE WIRE[/b] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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