JAZZ BASS HUM FIX WALKTHROUGH - Fix Single Coil Guitar Hum - Flip Guitar Pickup Magnet Polarity

Here's how I fixed my MIM Fender Jazz Bass single coil hum. Jazz basses (and single coil guitars) should be hum cancelling when 2 pickups are at the same volume. My bass had a lot of hum even with both single coils at the same level.
It turns out both pickups had the same magnetic polarity. Flipping the magnet of the one pickup turned out to be an easy fix, and got rid of my bass guitar's hum!

[@sonicboompole2774]

This helped me fix my Mexican Fender Jazz Bass. It was driving me crazy. Apparently it was just assembled incorrectly! Thanks for teaching me something.

[@koreyfreemanofficial]

Happy to hear that this helped, and great job! Enjoy that bass!

[@ChrisHopkinsBass]

The other option would be to get a cheap Strat pickup with the bar magnets on the bottom with an impedance of around 6K. Then, take the magnets off the bottom of the strat pickup and wire it in series with the output from controls to the output jack. This would create a dummy coil which should give you hum cancelling no matter what blend of pickups you have dialled in.

[@koreyfreemanofficial]

Interesting! I have never heard of this being done. That would be pretty cool if it works

[@edwinhurwitz6792]

Essentially the original Alembic setup.

[@HansBlixedable]

I have a MIM Jazz bass with this same issue. Tested the pickups using your method and sure enough, they are the same polarity. I'm going to attempt the fix but just had a question. Do I need to recharge the pickups using magnets or can I get away without doing that? Great video, very helpful. Thanks!

[@koreyfreemanofficial]

Glad you found the video helpful! I don't think you will need to recharge the pickups, reversing the magnets seems to do the trick just fine all on its own. It's got enough juice to give the pickups a good pull in the correct polarity. I didn't notice any improvement in the magnetic charge after I recharged them. Worst case, try it without charging them, if they seem really weak you can hunt down some magnets to recharge them at that point. Just test the magnetic pull before and after with a non magnetic screwdriver (or something similar) before and after so you have a reference point. Let me know how it goes!

[@HansBlixedable]

@@koreyfreemanofficial I did your fix (minus the charging) and it totally worked! Thanks again for the video, I'd still be dealing with an insane hum without it.

[@koreyfreemanofficial]

@@HansBlixedable love to hear it! Thanks for letting me know, enjoy that quiet bass!

[@maliwilliams7262]

One of those things that make's one Say "Why Didn't I think of that"??

[@freeblowjobforall2697]

14:00 In there you charged polarity north in side to the string, as well north to side into the case. Is it not be north to the strings -> south to the case?

[@koreyfreemanofficial]

I'm not sure that I understand your question. What are you referring to as the case? You want to make sure the polarity is opposite to the other pickup.

[@freeblowjobforall2697]

@@koreyfreemanofficial you can charge pole this way “/south/north/ -pickup- /north/south/. OR this way “/north/south/ -pickup- /north/south/. /north/south/ means polarity of permanent magnet.

[@koreyfreemanofficial]

Sorry, it's a little confusing to me. At any rate, what I did seemed to work just fine :)

[@joelbonnecarrere7341]

Check the grounding wire. It should be fastened to your soldered I guess to your bridge and to one of the pots that should get rid of the noise all together.

[@koreyfreemanofficial]

I don't have the bass anymore. I thought i had it grounded but i am certainly not an electronics expert so its def possible there was something going awry with the electronics

[@sedbomb1]

All my jazz bass'es , bridge pu is 1/8 in wider than neck , if yours same size , guess what it is...

[@christopherstorrier5560]

Check your bridge ground & all sheilding is connected properly & electrically with output jack...no noise when touching any metal parts or not touching at all...i suspect microphonic pickups or earth/ground problem...plus 1 of your Jazz coils must be reverse wound to hum cancel..magnet polarity is not enough...better to save up for split linear coil Jazz pickups...no noise at all,like a P pickup in a Jazz cover with 2 coils...worth the peace & quiet..their are ways to ground your polepices etc to help with single coil hum but 1 pickup must be reverse wound as well as reverse polarity & properly sheiled & grounded...when you touch strings it goes quiet...sign of unmatched pickups ,maybe wiring to or microphonic pickups...can only be fixed by rewinding pickups..better to save up if you gig...i use Seymour Duncan Linear Apollo Split Coil Noiseless Jazz pickups...so quiet & sounds nice & heavy but very clear as no noise...good luck bud...another way to get rid of most noise...turn it in to a PJ...much quieter...

[@koreyfreemanofficial]

Thanks for the comment Christopher. I actually sold this bass soon after making this video

[@AlexMartinez-wf4lf]

maybe... you only could try to deatatch de pickup (one of them) cables from the switch and soldering again in reverse position, only with that change the phase and you should get noise hum cancelling... but, get noise touching pole (I suppose that you don't have noise touching pole in the original position)... anyway... god job.

[@koreyfreemanofficial]

I think what i did was better than that! But maybe this will be useful for someone else to try. Nevertheless, i don't own this bass anymore.

[@Romain_Chafore]

I would just change the pickups, the pots, the capacitor, use shielded cables and make sure everyting is properly grounded. I would cost in the $150 but if the bass is worth it, I would change the pickups. I just move to Fender Custom Shop 60s pickups. Amazing. And no hum or buzz

[@koreyfreemanofficial]

Yeah that would certainly be an option if you are looking to spend a bunch of money upgrading, a totally diff video which I am sure has been well documented here on KZbin

[@Romain_Chafore]

@@george_richman does the buzz stop when you touch any metallic part ? If so, it just needs to be shielded.

[@Romain_Chafore]

@@george_richman is there a difference when you touch the strings ? Use a multimeter in continuity mode. Check if there is a continuity between the plate and the strings. It should. If not, then your strings are not grounded, they act as an antenna, catch all the the magnetic interferences and your pick ups catch them. Fix : fix the connection beneath the bridge. The wire is not making a good contact with the bridge.

[@halo20763]

No compass, no problem - Get a couple of plastic mixing bowls one large one small put water in larger bowl, put one pickup in other smaller bowl, place on the water, pickup will orientate North or South. Dab a N or S on with permanent marker.

[@koreyfreemanofficial]

Interesting!

[@christopherstorrier5560]

I would buy a set of real Fender Split Jazz Coils & get no noise at all, as well as sheilding, correctly wired & a Greasebucket tone control,so much better sound,you can get a diagram from Google etc...& buy a PureTone twin mono output jack for Jazz plates,200% more contact & jack plug sits solid...£5 on one of them online big shops....worth saving for the pickups as split coils wired in series inside each Jazz cover...no noise even with 1 pickup, bridge or middle..does a good P bass tone with a Split Jazz Coil in series in middle/neck position....seriously needs shielded ,rewired & good noiseless pick-ups & Greasebucket tone set up...should be no noise at all bud, none of my Fender bass's buzz, including my 2 Jazz's ...on stage the noise would be really bad....

[@koreyfreemanofficial]

Sounds like you got a serious case of Upgradeitis. That would def be sweet but this video is about a quick, easy cheap fix. Thanks for the comment, maybe you will inspire someone!

[@christopherstorrier5560]

@@koreyfreemanofficial ...their not Fender Jazz pickups...they don't use twin bar magnets...did'nt work ,shame as ungigable but easily fixed , not your pickups making the noise, wired just like a real Fender...really badly...but if you think it ain't worth fixing it's your bass .....

[@Stratisfied22]

How does that get out of the factory like that? Oh it's a Fender.

[@koreyfreemanofficial]

Good question!

[@bgadzi333]

You are just making it difficult, why don't you just shield the entire circuit.

[@koreyfreemanofficial]

I had already shielded it. This helped much more than that.

[@Urbanwino]

You mean shielding all cavities with metal foil? It looks like it was already done here.