Horrible crackling and popping from basses

P

PhilZone96

Guest
Sep 19, 2011
3
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4,531
#1
I recently bought a new bass, A warwick thumb 5, it has emg pickups in it.
Whenever i wiggle the cable when its plugged it, the sound goes out. Also, whenever i take it out or put it back in, it makes a terrible crackly noise. There's occasionally a combination of both when i wiggle it.
I just bought new cables too, so i doubt its the cable. The guy i bought it from said he recently replaced the output jack as well.
What's goin on here? I've also got another thumb pro that does something similar.
The help would be appreciated.
 
#2
The output jack most likely has a loose solder joint. Though it happening on another is odd. Maybe they both need a visit from the soldering fairy?
 
#3
bholder said:
The output jack most likely has a loose solder joint. Though it happening on another is odd. Maybe they both need a visit from the soldering fairy?
Click to expand...
Possibly.
I should add though, I bought it today. I played it through his amp and its sounded great.
So, the new cables I bought are crap(i got fender custom shop cables), or something's up with my amp. But I'm playing through both my amp and a pa speaker i keep in my room and it's happening to both.
Could it have something to do with the electricity in my house?
 
#4
You need to isolate each possible cause. You have to test the bass with a known good cable and amp. Test the cable with a known good bass and amp.

It is doubtful that all your cables are bad.
Are your basses new?
With the symptoms you describe it's doubtful that it's the electricity in your home.
 
#5
Output jacks are often the cause of what you are describing, I am not sure what type is used on the Thumb Bass, if it is a closed cylinder type..they are notorious for causing problems, and even an open type panel jack can look good...and be bad. The fact that he changed it does not guarantee that the new one is good. I obviously can't know what the problem is...and looking at a cylinder type jack reveals nothing, but, that would be my number one suspect, and for the $10 that they cost, ($5 if it's an open panel type). I would replace it, if the rest of the control cavity was neat and clean. If you do buy one, Switchcraft brand jacks are well worth the dollar extra for the brand quality. If it's a closed cylinder jack, but, an open panel jack would fit the bass, that would be my choice, they aren't problem prone, if not I'd use a Switchcraft closed cylinder jack.
 
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#9
Another possibility is that the "hot" tab of the jack (or even a single strand of wire) is too close to the wall of the cavity and is making intermittent contact with the shielding when the plug is moved.
 
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