Bass strings feel electrified

bounce389

New member
Hi!

I've recently purchased myself a new standard MIA fender jazz two weeks ago.
Over the past few days, I've noticed that while playing the bass, the strings feel electrified.
It feels like a mini electric shock, not enough to cause you to pull away from it, as supported by the fact that I continued playing even though the feeling is there.

It's not constantly there but it happens at least once a day. Especially so when I plug it in and play it right after I take it out of the hard case.

There are no pedals plugged in when this happens. On the contrary, when I plug it into the pedal, it doesn't have that electric feel.

The bass amp used is a Harkte HD 15 . Three pin.

Is there any way to solve this? Replacement of sound cable maybe?

Thanks!
 
Do you have any other basses/instruments you can test? It sounds like it might be your amp since plugging it into the pedal makes the problem go away? And what pedal are you using, are you using power supply or batteries to power it? And is it a one-off discharge or does it linger for a while?
 
Hi Whammy

Thanks for replying

I have another one and it didn't have this problem. That one is a Loan from my Friend and it's pretty seasoned( material maple). My bass has a rosewood fingerboard.

The pedal I'm using is the big muff pi deluxe and it's running on batteries

The discharge will last for at least 3-5 mins, with periodic 'aftershocks' after.
It is mostly centralised in the 5-9 fret region.
 
This seems like a really, really odd problem... It's centralised at the 5-9 fret region? Is it only when you fret the strings or even when you lightly touch them? The material of the fretboard should not make a difference, if it's an electrical problem.... I suppose you could check that the bridge is properly grounded, open up the control cavity and see if there's a loose cable
 
Hi Whammy,

Thanks for the reply!
I only get it when I fret it.
I tried running my fingers across the fingerboard a few times to reduce the static, and it works! I've also changed my soundcable. Glad to say it has been minimised quite a great deal. Shall continue to monitor.

Thanks for the help tho! :)
 
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