Pickups too close to strings can produce an off-key tone that overshadows any nuance in your playing. By adjusting their height you can bring them back within their proper places for optimal sound production.
First and foremost, check that all screws are not loose – if this is indeed the case then one or more of the following may be at play:
Adjust the Pickups
One of the first steps many take when trying to enhance their bass guitar sound is adjusting the height of their pickups. While this step might seem trivial, it can have a big impact in changing its tone. There are different approaches you could take; experimentation may lead to success!
Adjusting pickups typically involves tightening or loosening an adjustment screw in order to move them closer or further away from the strings. To ensure optimal results, make sure to do this while playing guitar so that you can hear how changes impact sound quality.
Once again, play both bass and treble strings separately to observe how their sound changes when you move them up or down the neck. This will enable you to find the optimal sound settings for both frequencies; once this process has taken its course, however, you will be glad you took the time to do it!
Foam that holds your adjustment screws may become disjointed over time and no longer provide pressure needed to raise and lower your pickup. In such a situation, replacing the foam may be beneficial; doing so will make lifting it much simpler than trying to do so without support.
Adjusting pickups requires keeping in mind that if they are set too high, too high height can actually cause strings to hit them and create unwanted noise, especially if you are an aggressive picker or slapper. This can become extremely frustrating!
An ideal tool-set for guitar maintenance and adjustment can be found online at Amazon and should include appropriate screwdrivers as well as wrenches designed specifically to adjust truss rods or make other necessary changes.
Check the Wiring
An issue with the wiring can often lead to bass guitar pickup looseness. This could be caused by magnets affecting wire insulation or, rarely, by broken copper coil wire that cannot conduct electricity. Diagnosing pickup wire issues is generally straightforward; simply open up the pickup and use a multimeter to measure its DC resistance – an electrical short will show lower readings than it should; one which has completely died will not show any resistance at all.
Note that it is normal for a bass pickup to move when being pressed by the strings, however excessive or irregular movement could indicate improper installation and tightening any screws or springs that hold it can fix this issue.
An additional cause of a loose bass pickup could be that its wires aren’t connected correctly, whether from poor soldering work or, occasionally, by becoming disconnected and no longer conducting electricity. With enough patience and solder, however, this issue should be easily rectified.
Notably, the wires from a bass guitar typically connect via a large terminal on its body. Unfortunately, this terminal may be covered with plastic caps which make it hard to see inside without taking off this cover and unhooking it first. We suggest using small amount of solder to connect these wires correctly before replacing your cover back on.
As mentioned above, a pickup is simply a magnet that passes between guitar strings to collect electromagnetic energy and produce sound output via amplifier. Over time, its magnets may lose strength, possibly impacting audio produced by instrument.
Check the Battery
Your active bass guitar contains a battery which powers its pre-amp, amplifying guitar signals for amps to hear. If this battery becomes depleted it may result in weak or interrupted signals which affect sound production and will need replacing soon; conduct some simple tests before making your decision.
An intermittent or weak signal could indicate a broken pickup coil or loose wire or solder connection, so use your multimeter to test the pickup by connecting one of its probes directly to one of its wires from your guitar pickup and setting the multimeter’s reading mode accordingly; you should get approximately 6.5K ohms when testing single-coils and higher readings when measuring humbuckers.
As an alternative, a multimeter can also help in testing batteries. Simply attach its red probe to one wire while its black probe connects with the other; plug your multimeter into your amplifier jack, set its resistance reading feature, and you should get approximately 6K or 10K readings depending on whether you use single-coils or humbucking pickups.
If you don’t own a multimeter, an alternative way is to use a small screwdriver to tap on the pickup while having your guitar plugged into an amp. While this method will likely prove more challenging, it should still give a clear indication as to whether or not your pickup works correctly.
Dead batteries are one of the main reasons bass guitars stop playing, so you should keep a spare battery or charger handy should your current one start running out. A telltale sign of dying batteries is when your guitar begins losing tone.
Dirt and grime could build up on your bass guitar’s connections or knobs, and can be easily cleaned off using an appropriate electric cleaner for sensitive electronics, which can be found at most music stores and online.
Check the Connections
Some bass guitars feature multiple pickups that can be used independently or together for greater sound options. There are two primary kinds of pickups: magnetic and piezoelectric, which both work by sensing string vibrations and transmitting that signal along your cable to your amp – with magnetic pickups using magnets while piezoelectric pickups detect vibrations using light instead of magnets.
The sound produced by your bass guitar depends on three components: its pickup, wiring, and amplifier. If any of these are damaged or malfunctioning, its sound won’t produce as you expect; this issue can easily be remedied through some troubleshooting and soldering iron use.
Before looking at anything else on your bass, take a close look at its wiring or solder connections and look for any signs of loosening or poor connections. A broken wire will prevent electricity from traveling down its intended path and should be monitored using a multimeter to check continuity in its wires and connections.
Next, verify that the ground wire is connected to the pickup. This typically involves red wiring that should go directly from it to a screw near its location on the jack plate or somewhere nearby. If your bass starts buzzing when touched with your hand but stops once your hand has left it’s an indicator that something’s amiss with its ground connection.
This issue can occur on older guitars as well as newer basses. With humbucker type basses, their metal legs may become lodged within their coils and cause this problem; single coil basses usually do not feature such long legs that could potentially get caught and cause this issue.
Piezoelectric pickups are less common on electric basses but can still be found in some models. They use a sensor that detects string vibrations through their bridge contact point and are more sensitive than magnetic pickups to string vibrations than magnetic ones; however they may have issues when dealing with non-metal strings such as nylon.