How to deal with bass hum/noise while recording

I recently got a bass guitar (fender p-bass) and its
a little noisy. There is an electronic hum/buzz when
my fingers are not touching the strings. I had my
guitar tech look at it and he said the noise is
normal. However, I plan on using this bass to record
direct and when I plug into Logic this buzz/hum is
audible. If I turn the tone knob on the bass down
completely, the noise goes away. But when I start to
turn the tone knob up at all the noise get louder.
My question is if this is a common problem with
instruments (bass, guitar, etc) and is it normal to
use a plug-in to eradicate this noise (like a noise
gate, or something else)? Also, does anyone else have
any ideas on how to work with this buzz/hum? Thanks.

Hi JackQ,

I had some experience a few years back with one of these basses,same model.Basically,the hum you are hearing is a grounding problem.Your tech does not know how to fix it,that's why he said it's "normal".It's not normal.
You cannot get rid of that noise unless you do two things.One:get a reputable tech that is an expert on electric instruments,and ask him to solve the ground hum problem.It is not expensive to do so.
Second,you can do a "home repair" kind of fix,like this:Take a RadioShack alligator clip wire (the ones that look like little alligator mouths,that clamp onto anything)and hook up one end to the bridge of your bass,and hook up the other end to your body,preferably where you have a high pain threshold.This second option,will work,but I only recommend it when you are going to record,otherwise if you leave the alligator clamp on you for a long time,it will leave a permanent mark(just kidding).This also is the cheapest and most efficient way of dealing with the hum problem.Plugins like a gate or other are not going to make it go away,and you'll spend wayyyyyy tooooo much time trying to get it(the plugin) to work.

Cheers,
noeqplease

use a noise gate.

you can get an external pedal that will do the trick, or you can use on of logics.


the purpose of a gate is you have to push a signal at a certain threshold to open it. so when you played it would let the sound through and if your not it will not let the hum through.

FP

noise gate will help at the input. you don't want this noise printed with the signal if you can help it.
most electric gtrs/basses are very bad when it comes to shielding.
get further away from your video monitor if it's CRT.
isolation and grounding are big probs with standard gtrs and basses (try a star earth grounding solution).
buy an Alembic - no more probs - ever.
for noise that occurs between phrases, use strip silence after recording.
some types of music require more attention to this than others.
always record as lean/clean as is possible.

stripe silence is a feature in logic that takes an audio region, and cuts the silence between peaks of the wav. you can set the threshold that it looks for peaks.

like if you wanted to remove the silence between a kick and a snare you can use this feature to create two regions by removing the silence.

also you can use it to remove the hum between your notes that you play on the bass, but i would recommend a noise gate pedal or something similar rather than this feature..

stripe silence can be frustrating. also you can look up the correct definition of stripe silence via the manual and the help > logic reference pdf

While listening to the hum, turn in the room so the neck of the bass is aiming in different spots. There is usually a spot where the hum is much lower. Now, DON'T MOVE! 🙂

Also, a noise gate will only remove the hum when you arent playing, but the hum can be heard when you are. It is best to do everything you can to reduce the cause of the hum, removal after the recording can be iffy.

Another cause of hum can be fluorescent lighting - that includes low energy bulbs. This is especially noticeable when using single coil pickups.
You could try fitting humbuckers on the bass if they aren't on it already. If you have two pickups, try putting the selector switch to both.
Good quality leads can help reduce hum. So can the position of all your leads e.g. power cables, guitar leads, monitor/speaker leads. No matter how good the shielding, if you have enough cables lying side by side or coiled loosely, you are likely to get low level hum from them. Try to cross leads at right angles to reduce hum.

Those are a few more tricks you can try, but a good noise gate between your guitar & the computer input is likely to be the best solution.

guitarguru

That's totally normal for a P. As you are usually touching the strings I wouldn't worry about it.
Hum is part of the Fender single coil breed of instruments. The same thing happens with Strats and Tele's.
To minimize hum:
1. Move away from the computer.
2. Try changing the angle you are facing ... you will hear the hum increase/decrease as you move around. Plant yourself where hum is minimal.
3. If it drives you nuts either change out pick up (the two are really just one pick up) to a high quality pick up (mexican and far eastern made Fenders do not come with great pick ups).
Cheers
Darrell, Ottawa

Also, tell your tech to have a look at the wiring. If there's a lead grounding the bridge, remove it. This helps, with many p/u's.

Also, if you're using external boxes, keep the first stage gain down, if possible.

If you're feeling ambitious, you can get adhesive copper foil used for sheilding. You can use this to line the p/u cavities. (But then you have to ground it; use a small wood screw with a wiring lug. Also, the stuff is conductive - so make sure it doesn't touch any of the electronics.) HIH chris

Are you sure that the bass doesn't have a grounding problem? From what you are describing, it sounds like something isn't properly grounded.

jord