What is causing my Bass to be "Fizzy" on loud notes?

hi - I'm new to bass and have a Fender MiM Precision Bass that I'm trying to learn to play.

The problem is when I pluck a note hard with some good volume I get a lot of fizziness. That is a high frequency crackling. It's most noticeable on an amp with a tweeter, but even on a 1-15 amp (no horn) it's noticeable. For a while I thought it was my amp, but my friend's Jazz bass doesn't do it. I've set the pickup height to Fender's spec, and played them lower too.

I play guitar and have lot's of experience with guitars/amps, but never encountered this issue.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

Is it limited to one string?
Try replicating the problem and then putting a finger on different parts of your guitar, bridge, pickup, controls, cable, jack, etc. and see if you can isolate something loose.

thanks SamCl . . It's all strings, all notes. I tried your suggestion and there's no effect from touching any of the mechanical/acoustical parts. What does affect it is if I turn the tone knob all the way down, it goes away nearly completely. All the way up it's very bad. I lowered the pickups some too - no affect. thanks again

Try backing the volume on the bass back to about 8 and see what that does. If you have some, I would try spraying the controls with some tuner cleaner. I would also check the output jack, could be loose (long shot).

thanks Sam . . . that makes sense. I'll plan to open it up and give the pots a shot of cleaner. The output jack does function a little strange - though I wouldn't call it loose. It's worth a check in any event.

Last time I had a mysterious fizzing - but only when I plucked a note, not when I wasn't playing, turned out to be a bad cable. Probably something you've already checked, but I thought I'd mention it...

Derek

Last time I had a mysterious fizzing - but only when I plucked a note, not when I wasn't playing, turned out to be a bad cable. Probably something you've already checked, but I thought I'd mention it...

Derek

Last time I had a mysterious fizzing I checked the amp, then the cabs, then traded cables with the guitarist. Still the fizz was there. Finally the sound tech tracked the fizz down. My bass amp vibrated a faulty speaker in a side fill monitor.

thanks again guys. I'm 99% sure my issue is with the instrument - not the cable, nor the amp or anything else. I've used more than a few different amps, and cables too. When my friend brought is bass over we did an a/b comparison - his was clean, mine fizzy. I haven't had a chance to open it up and clean the pots/jack yet (damn job), but once I do I'll report back.

The FIZZ is gone! I took the pick guard off this morning and gave the pots a shot of deoxit . . . all is well - no fizz. Getting to Precision bass controls is much easier than a Strat or Tele. no need to loosen or remove strings.

thanks again for the suggestions