Noise from active treble control : is there an easy way to solve this?

[Inconnu]

One of my basses with active electronics gets noisy. The center of the problem seems to be the treble control. When it's flat, noise comes out. When it's boosted, it gets noisier, when it's completely cut, the bass is dead quite.

I love that bass and the way it sounds and I'd like to avoid changing the electronics. I'm not a tech either. Is there a simple way to solve this?

The bass is a Godin BG4, if it helps to know. The last generation of those, with what's supposed to be "Godin" electronics.

Thanks!

 

[shoulderpet]

Hi, first maybe check the shielding on the bass, if it is that the bass is not adequately shielded then it should be an easy fix , if it is not that then you could try a noise gate pedal

 

[dincz]

Depends on the noise. Is it buzz or hiss?

 

[Inconnu]

It's an hiss. Probably why the treble knob kills it when I cut all the treble...

 

[shoulderpet]

It's an hiss. Probably why the treble knob kills it when I cut all the treble...

Sounds like it is a noisy circuit then rather than a shielding issue, a nose gate pedal should help

 

[Spacecase]

This is just an educated guess...

There's a basic trade-off between current draw and noise, and some circuit designers favor ultra-low-current components to extend the battery change interval. This translates to higher noise. In a live music situation, this noise will likely get lost in the mix.

Without going to extremes, you have two basic choices, try a noise gate as shoulderpet suggests, or find a quieter preamp. Still, I'd shoot an e-mail to Godin to see what they say.

 

[Inconnu]

I must admit that I noticed the noise when playing alone, with a new setup. I solved part of the problem today. A bad cable caused the noise to be increased quite a bit.
There's still noise, but not all that much. I'll stop blaming the bass and try to find other sources... then, I'll see... a new preamp is not out of the question.