ground hum

[bradpinn]

Hi all

I'm new to the forum as I have just bought my first [second hand though] stingray. There's this thing though that since yesterday it has started to hum a bit if not touching the strings or any metal part . It seems to be the instrument's fault as if no sound is being picked up by the pickup [sorry about that ]the noise gate on my line 6 pod x3 shut's it up. but as soon as i play even the weakest sound it statrs huming again. the hum seems to be stronger when i turn my highs all the way up from the eq (even on the pod). do you have any ideas? might there be a loose wire connection somewhere?

Please be so kind to help and sorry if this subject has already been discussed

have a great one

 

[danny-79]

Hi and Welcome.
Questions a bout technical issues regarding possible electronic issues cant really be answered over the Internet with out seeing the bass first, anything anybody says will just be a guess.
The first thing that i would do would be to change the battery an try using different leads directly into your amp (remove the pod from the chain) then if still no luck an you don't feel competent to open it up your self, take it to somebody who is.
Good luck !

 

[Rick Auricchio]

Brad, your noise gate cuts off all sound when you're not playing, but it does nothing once you hit a note. So to troubleshoot, first get the noise gate out of the circuit. Now we have hum all the time and can better troubleshoot.

You're picking up electromagnetic interference from the room; your body is acting as the antenna. When you touch the grounded strings/bridge, you ground yourself and therefore cut your noise pickup.

You're actually hearing a buzz, which has harmonics throughout the audio range, e.g. 60Hz, 120Hz, 240Hz,... (A hum generally has only the fundamental tone without the harmonics.) When you turn up the treble, you simply boost the high harmonics of the buzz; it isn't an EQ problem, so ignore the EQ end of things.

First, let's try to find the source of the interference.

1. What changed? Did you change instrument cables, the amp, the room, the power outlet, an extension cord? Undo this change to see if it was the cause.

2. Is there some new equipment nearby? Computer, printer, appliance? That could be the cause.

3. As Danny suggested, try a new battery. Also try a new instrument cable; those can fail at any time.

4. If possible, try another bass with everything else the same as before. If it's quiet, this will pretty much isolate the problem to your 'Ray. If that's the case, call EBMM customer service for further assistance.

Beyond these general suggestions, it's very hard to help remotely.

 

[bradpinn]

Hi danny and thank you for your quick response

THe thing is that i first noticed this hum on saturday while rehearsing with my band [going through a bass amp]. It was the first time it was buzzing. Then yesterday, just after posting the buzzing suddently stopped. And was only heard from again a minute ago but just for a second or so. I will try replacing the battery and if it persists i will try opening it myself to try check the ground wire. If any of you guys has a wiring diagram that might help i would highly apreciate it.
Thanx again and i will keep every one posted.
Any way...i just Love my stingray

 

[bradpinn]

Hi Rick

Thank you too for your detailed reply . I get all your points and I agree with you completely. THing is, like I said before I ran my bass through two gears: the amp from our rehearsal studio and my pod x3 [which I have at home]. Two entirely different setups, two different cables, two different power outlets.
At home I have my samsung LCD TV which is quite close to the pod (under one meter). it is off now and was off eversince saturday when i last heard the hum at home[don't quite remember if there was anyone watching it as it's in the next room].
In the rehearsal studio there are lots of equipment as you would imagine so there might be some source of interference there too. I will check if anything moved since when it was not humming.
Then again, my ray has a Hum-Bucker which should see these signals as common mode signals and should reject them so theoretically i should not worry about electrical equipment nearby [please correct me if i'm wrong ].
I will try as both you and Danny suggested a new battery and a new cable. At home I run my ray through the first guitar cable i ever had [from my first guitar ] which is around 15 years old so that might be a possible cause.

what troubles me kinda is that, as i said before, the hum suddently and magically dissapeared after first posting here. So I could say that it hummed only on saturday and only for a few hours. It's winter here and it's quite cold. Could the changing temperature have affected it in any way when i took it out to rehearsal ?

Anyway thank you again for your kind answers and i'll keep you gys informed

cheerios

 

[Rick Auricchio]

How about a cell phone? My iPhone causes occasional buzz-crackle noises, probably when it periodically checks in with the cell towers. Sometimes I hear it through the Stingray, and if necessary I put the phone into Airplane Mode (which shuts off its radio).

The position of the phone in your pocket vs. the bass, cable, or amplifier will change the noise pickup.

 

[bradpinn]

Hi Rick
i will try this also...this is a pisibility indeed...a few days ago our guiyarist began hearing very strange noisesbfrom his amp...the culprit was his car alarm remote control which periodically checket.the status of the car...it was in his pocket.
I'll pay attention to these details next time it hums.
Thanx again

 

[Rick Auricchio]

I'll pay attention to these details next time it hums.

It may be time to teach your bass the lyrics...

 

[bradpinn]

sorry for my previous post. it was from my mobile. I did the mobile phone test and indeed it seems to pick up noises from it.
But i'm not yet sure. I'll keem investigating.
it's most probably nothing, just me being a bit paranoid D