Sterling 5 HH Hum

[mobax]

I have a Sterling 5 HH with a very noticeable hum. The hum is present when my hands are on the strings. This is the second Sterling 5 HH I've purchased that had this issue. The first I returned to Musician's Friend. The second was purchased from Bass Central and while the hum is not as loud as that of the first bass, it is still very much present. I will add that I own a Sterling 4 HH which is very quiet. Have others here received a Sterling 5 HH with this issue?

 

[mynan]

Welcome.
This is something you will probably want to call CS about.
8668232255

 

[bradfordws]

No problems here, except for a little hum until you turn a little right or left and it disappears - that problem that we're all aware of, which is more noticeable on exposed pole piece pickups - I think. I don't notice it as much on a bass with Bartolini's. I was going to ask about your amp, but your Sterling 4HH is quiet, so it can't be that. Before you send this one back to the retailer, call up EB/MM customer service first. They'll fix you up - "I heard tings" - as in I hear they do good work! I've never had to send anything in before. It's possible that the preamp is bad. Stuff happens. I bought one of those little EA Micro bass amps when they first came out and it literally smoked and quit. It turns out that they had a bad batch of transformers or something. They fixed it up quick and it works great now.

 

[mobax]

No problems here, except for a little hum until you turn a little right or left and it disappears - that problem that we're all aware of, which is more noticeable on exposed pole piece pickups - I think. I don't notice it as much on a bass with Bartolini's. I was going to ask about your amp, but your Sterling 4HH is quiet, so it can't be that. Before you send this one back to the retailer, call up EB/MM customer service first. They'll fix you up - "I heard tings" - as in I hear they do good work! I've never had to send anything in before. It's possible that the preamp is bad. Stuff happens. I bought one of those little EA Micro bass amps when they first came out and it literally smoked and quit. It turns out that they had a bad batch of transformers or something. They fixed it up quick and it works great now.

The hum does to some extent go away once I turn away from the amp. I am not planning on returning the bass to Bass Central. I will probably send it to EBMM customer service. I've already talked to a tech at EBMM about this and he seemed very customer friendly. I am a big fan of the Sterling HH and my band mates are also.

 

[Ken Baker]

The hum does to some extent go away once I turn away from the amp. I am not planning on returning the bass to Bass Central. I will probably send it to EBMM customer service. I've already talked to a tech at EBMM about this and he seemed very customer friendly. I am a big fan of the Sterling HH and my band mates are also.

Please forgive me if this doesn't pertain to your issue, but...

Turn the volume down. EQ as well. Of course, this assumes that you've got things dimed.

Again, please forgive me if this doesn't pertain to your issue.

Failing that, you should also check the ground of the circuit in use by your amplifier.

Ken...

 

[Aussie Mark]

Is this hum the same in other houses, venues, rehearsal rooms? If you haven't played it anywhere else, the issue could well be your house - fluorescent lighting, dimmers, a refrigerator on the same circuit etc. I'd plug it into a separate circuit or at someone else's house (and with a different amp for that matter) before assuming that it's an issue with the bass.

 

[Bloodfist]

I'm in complete with Aussie Mark, I don't think its your bass but more likely your surroundings. I play a stingray and my guitarist plays a JP6, both have physic powers and can predict when a cell phone is about to ring. Sounds like morse code coming through our amps lol. We have to make sure no one on stage has a cell phone when were playing live.

 

[Manfloozy]

I'm in complete with Aussie Mark, I don't think its your bass but more likely your surroundings. I play a stingray and my guitarist plays a JP6, both have physic powers and can predict when a cell phone is about to ring. Sounds like morse code coming through our amps lol. We have to make sure no one on stage has a cell phone when were playing live.

Its all just wavelengths on the Electromagnetic spectrum. I have a massive amount of various electronic and computer equipment in my house, and yes, they too predict incoming calls, or even when the iPhone is checking email.

As for the EBMM CS, my only experience with them was an extremely positive one.

 

[mobax]

Please forgive me if this doesn't pertain to your issue, but...

Turn the volume down. EQ as well. Of course, this assumes that you've got things dimed.

Again, please forgive me if this doesn't pertain to your issue.

Failing that, you should also check the ground of the circuit in use by your amplifier.

Ken...

I did an A/B with four other basses through the same amp with identical eq and volume. None of the other four basses produced the hum. The amp used is an Eden WT400 paired with an Epifani UL115 cabinet. I have been using this combination for practice at home for years with a number of basses with no hum. I am 100% positive the issue is the Sterling 5 HH.

 

[bovinehost]

Then you should either contact your dealer or customer service.

 

[Big Poppa]

please oh please why do people kkep ignoring polite requests to contact customer service????? WHy is this happening to me?

 

[mobax]

please oh please why do people kkep ignoring polite requests to contact customer service????? WHy is this happening to me?

With all due respect, I have stated that I have contacted customer service and that I will likely be sending the bass to Musicman to investigate this problem. The purpose of this thread was to ask if others had experienced this issue with a MM Sterling; not to trouble shoot the problem. Why oh why do people not read my posts thoroughly. Why is this happening to me? Upon further reflection, I guess this thread is pretty much useless and I will refrain from posting this type of content in the future. Thanks from a Musicman owner since 1980.

 

[bovinehost]

But trouble-shooting in the form of SWAGs (this was a Navy term we used long ago - it means "Scientific Wild-Ass Guess") is what you get when you make such a post.

"My bass is humming."

Everyone has experience with this (or anyone who's been playing a while and has experienced the joys of dimmer switches, fluorescent lighting, nasty power in clubs, etc etc). Anecdotally, I'd say the vast majority of "hum" cases turns out to be environmental (or people playing Jazz basses).

The other week, there was a post about a bass that had begun to hum. This was on Talkbass. As it was an EBMM bass, I chipped in, making my own little SWAG. Eventually, the owner added some information: the bass had only begun to hum after he dropped it. But he didn't think it was right that the bass should be affected by that. Fair enough. I once ran my car into a tree....but it was a NEW car, and expensive! It shouldn't have dented.

I've stayed out of this thread until now, hoping against hope that people would say, "Who knows? Call CS or your dealer." What else COULD they say? Well.......have a look, and welcome to the world of SWAGs.

BP has asked (politely, generally) over and over that if there is a problem with an instrument, let Customer Service handle it. "Aha! A conspiracy to keep problems off the forum!" Well, no, not really - an attempt, perhaps, to limit the amount of Google hits relating to simple problems with simple fixes but that soon become "internet truth".

Given how much we get from this cultural exchange on the forum, I don't think it's too much to ask participants to follow a few simple and logical rules. And I think the overall opinion of the forumites here is that we get way more back than we give.

Anyone who thinks otherwise is either too new to have seen it or has a bad case of Entitlement Syndrome. The former can be overcome; the latter, I'm not so sure I have much hope about that.

In retrospect, it was my bad for not PMing the OP and saying exactly what's in BP's signature, then closing the thread. I just hate closing threads, I guess, in my ongoing effort to moderate as little as possible.

So file this under "lessons learned" for yours truly, too.

Oh - and contact Customer Service, guys, rather than asking for SWAGs, because there ain't much "S" in the SWAG.

Jack

PS: Contact Customer Service if you have a problem with an instrument. I've been none too keen on closing threads immediately when the rule is circumvented, but I won't be in the future. Fact is, it is BP's rule and whether or not you or I agree with it is irrelevant.