My recording engineer wants me to up-grade my single coil pickups on my Fender Jazz Bass to eliminate the hum.
In reserching the problem, I've found that these two stock single coil pickups should cancel the hum themselves by design.
How do I check the polarity of these pickups to see if they are installed correctly?
Are there any other tips for eliminating the hum?
Comments
Thanks for the shielding tip. I was surprised to find no shieldi
Thanks for the shielding tip. I was surprised to find no shielding at all! I'll try it and post the results.
I thought the two single coil pickups needed to be wound in opposite directions to achieve the humbucking properties... will reversing the leads achieve the same thing?
Right, the pickups have reverse polarity and reverse winding. I
Right, the pickups have reverse polarity and reverse winding. If one were wired backward the hum would be worse, but the pickups would be out of phase and would sound terrible together, so that's probably not the case - but since you asked what to check...(Of course, I'm assuming they are stock pickups and not mix and match.)
The two Jazz bass pickups work together like a single humbucker,
The two Jazz bass pickups work together like a single humbucker, but only if you are using both at equal volumes. I suppose your could be wired wrong, so you might try switching the leads on one of them. You can also add shielding. Several places on the web that can help with that. Here's some info on shielding a strat.
http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/shielding/shield3.php