Eliminating hum from my bass

ciaran75

Hi Guys,

I have a Trace Elliott 500W rig and Warwick bass guitar but am getting a very annoying hum coming from the amp with this guitar.

I've gotten the guitar checked out and apparently nothing wrong with it and have tried brand new amps in music maker with the exact same hum. When in shop we tried a few guitars there and it was there for them all except ones with humbucker pickups.

Apparently it is something to do with the single coil pickups and the amp.
Building not been earthed correctly.

I was told i can get a device called a humbuster or something to eliminate the hum which i would plug my amp straight into and then plug this into wall.

headed down to maplin the girl i got didn't have a clue what i was talking about. I have seen humbuster on the web but only US models no european model i could find.

Anyone have this problem, how did you solve it?

Where would i get such a device, doesn't have to be this model, what are they called?

Cheers,

Paolo_M

The "humbuster" is possibly refering power conditioner and it's not going to help your problem. It might be refering to a ground lift plug and this wont help either, and if fact will be highly dangerous for you to use.
The only other thing I can think this "humbuster" might be refering to is a varaable pot to ground used in the heater circuits of valve amplifiers, called a humdinger, and that wont help either.

You could bond the building to earth using the Eiffel Tower as the grounding spike and it wont get rid of electrical noise generated within the building, so building earthing isn't the problem either.

Your problem is with your bass.
Single coil guitars/basses are noisier than humbuckers because they do not cancel any noise picked up. Humbuckers do, hense the name.
This "noise" comes from all around you, socket wiring, lighting (particularily fourescent lighting or the use of cheap dimmers), computors etc.etc. A power conditioner may help with some of the noise produced by your amplifier only but you'll still have all the other noise sources to contend with..

The way to solve, or at least reduce, your problem is to shield your guitar as best as possible from external noise sources. This can be done by installing shielding inside the body cavity of the guitar preventing noise from getting to the sensitive signal wires. Guitar cable does this naturaly and you want to extend the idea to your guitar body. Here's a good guide http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/shielding/bass.php
If you reckon you're not up for it then any music store should be able to do it for a reasonable price.

Quillo

You could try noise gates or supressors....
This sort of thing:

http://www.jimdunlop.com/index.php?page=products/pip&id=255
or
http://www.bosscorp.co.jp/products/en/NS-2/index.html

ciaran75

Thanks Paulo

the humbuster device i am talking about is
http://www.psaudio.com/ps/products/detail/humbuster-iii

can't find a european model.

rewiring the electronics not an for me to do, i've a friend who may.

Cheers,

ciaran75

Thanks Paolo

the humbuster device i am talking about is
http://www.psaudio.com/ps/products/detail/humbuster-iii

can't find a european model.

rewiring the electronics not an for me to do, i've a friend who may.

Cheers,

Paolo_M

ciaran75 wrote: »

Thanks Paolo

the humbuster device i am talking about is
http://www.psaudio.com/ps/products/detail/humbuster-iii

can't find a european model.

rewiring the electronics not an for me to do, i've a friend who may.

Cheers,

That looks like a power conditioner. As it says, it will only reduce noise produced by your amplifier, your noise is coming from your bass (well the noise is coming from electrical noise sources via your bass).

Proper shielding it the first and best method for reducing the noise you're getting. The shielding doesn't actually involve any real re wiring and is a pretty cheap and easy task, your friend should have no problems.
The guitarnuts guy talk about installed a DC blocking cap (in the guitar version anyway) but that is not necessary unless you plan on using vintage, non earthed equipment in venues where your suspect the wiring may be backwards and you sing, or like to lean against solidly earth bonded water pipes while playing!!

If shielding does not completely remove the noise then the noise gates Quillo mentioned are a good. The ISP Decimator is the one that I've heard works the best.

Dord

You'll need to shield the bass, simple as. That's your issue. Once you've done that the hum should be minimal or non-existant.