Picking Up Radio Signal ?

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whyseye

whyseye

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I was practicing with my new (used cheap) fretless bass, plugged into my practice amp today, using my headphones so that I could crank it up a bit without disturbing anybody...I was playing with the volume and tone controls for the different pickups -I'm still getting to know this bass, and I had just strung it with flats, and wanted to really listen to the difference in tone - when all of a sudden....
....I noticed the sound of somebody talking faintly in the background through the phones! :eek: There were no radios on nearby, and I wasn't using anything wireless, so how was I picking up a radio frequency? :confused:
 
Even though your radio is off, the signal is still being broadcast through the "invisible airwaves".

My guess is the cable you were using from your bass to your guitar amp was acting as an antennae. Sometimes unshielded cables in headphones could cause this too.
 
What shields shielded cable to eliminate this problem?

....and if it's the headphone cable, then I just need to get used to it? :D
 
Whyse, does this happen with your other bass? Active pickups maybe?
I have no idea, but have heard similar things before, but not from regular radio, just from like a shortwave.
 
Dogman said:
Whyse, does this happen with your other bass? Active pickups maybe?
I have no idea, but have heard similar things before, but not from regular radio, just from like a shortwave.
Click to expand...

....I've never noticed this before, but the electronics on my other basses are pretty sketchy, so I've never cranked 'em this loud before.....
...they are passives, though...
 
I used to get this all the time with my old distorion pedal.
 
whyseye said:
What shields shielded cable to eliminate this problem?

....and if it's the headphone cable, then I just need to get used to it? :D
Click to expand...

It's not the headphone cable. RF (radio frequency) interference is leaking into either your bass itself, the cable you are using to connect it to your amp, or into the amp at the first gain stage.

The shield is the braided, twisted, or foil outer wire in a guitar cable. Some cables are better shielded than others, and sometimes shield connections in the ends of the cable break.

Two easy things you can try:

Change out the cable from the bass to the amp.

Make sure the bass is turned all the way up.
 
And don't forget to wear your tin foil hat when you play. ;) :D
 
At our last rehealsalplace radio was clearly audible from vocal cabs. :D

Something before the amp picks it up and the amp makes it audible. In our case, it was enough to kick the mic-cable in some other position.:rolleyes:
 
It may just be the cable but most likely the bass is picking it up.
That's actually pretty common.
If changing the cable doesn't fix it, you'll have to shield the bass ...... do a search on shielding gits. I'm sure it's been covered a zillion times.
 
Seeing as how you've only encountered this RFI with your new/cheap bass this would indicate that the guitar is the problem--as Lt. Bob has stated.
 
Thanks for the tips, gang! I'll start with the cable, and work my way out....

....time to learn more about shielding!:D
 
Whenever I've heard talking through my gear, it's been taxi drivers driving by with illegal signal boosters on their CBs. This being Washington, though, that got cracked down on pretty well - I haven't heard Farsi through my stereo in years! :eek: :D

But this is the cell phone age, and that's a likely suspect. They are just radio transceivers/receivers in essence, after all. My coworkers computer speakers emit a weird sound whenever she gets a call - even if her ringer is turned off!
 
There's a device in the dashboard of my car that does the exact same thing, and it comes in crystal clear.

Strange.
 

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What you have is cold solder joint in your cable. The cable acts as an antenna, then the cold solder joint "rectifies or detects" the AM signal. The capacitors in the cathode circuits integrate the RF signal reproducing the audio component of the modulated RF signal. Since a guitar amp is an audio amplifier you hear a radio broadcast. This similar to the old crystal radio kits we used to get at the hobby shops.
Get a new cable first. If this doesn't fix it have a tech check for cold solder joints in the input stage of your amp.
 
whyseye said:
....I noticed the sound of somebody talking faintly in the background through the phones! :eek: There were no radios on nearby, and I wasn't using anything wireless, so how was I picking up a radio frequency? :confused:
Click to expand...

Have you considered consulting a phsychiatrist? :p
 
whyseye said:
....I noticed the sound of somebody talking faintly in the background through the phones! :eek: There were no radios on nearby, and I wasn't using anything wireless, so how was I picking up a radio frequency? :confused:
Click to expand...


What were they saying? Something to the tune of "go kill your neighbors?" or anything like that? Because in that case it's probably a supernatural deity commandeering your audio equipment for purposes of communicating vital information to you because you are the chosen one.
 
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