Has anyone had a problem with a Stingray making strange noises?

[Dr. Doom]

Hi,

I've got an HH Stingray that just started to make very strange noises. It did it a couple of times while I was practicing. I checked the battery and, according to the tester, it has a full charge.

I took the bass on a gig last night (I brought a backup bass just in case) and the weird noises occurred when I set the bass in the stand just in front of my amp.

I have another Stingray, an "H" that has never had a problem even when placed on the stand next to my amp.

The problem isn't the amplifier. The problem occurred when I was practicing through a different amplifier.

Is there a way to fix the problem?

Thanks!

 

[tbonesullivan]

What kind of strange noises? crackles? Pops? squeals? Weird alien noises? The type of noise usually can help pinpoint what the problem is.

 

[Dr. Doom]

The noises are 'weird alien noises'. There is some high pitched squeals and some "alien farting' noises. The noises are all strange electronic stuff.

 

[tbonesullivan]

Did you try changing the battery? Even if it reads a full charge, that can just be a "surface charge" and once it starts running the voltage can go lower.

Have you made any changes to your rig lately? Any wireless units or similar things?

 

[five7]

My cell phone use to make alien sounds thru my amp. Didn't matter what bass I was playing.

 

[danny-79]

Also check the terminals on the battery box, it sounds like a battery fault of some description from what you are describing

 

[Daniel]

Hi,

I've got an HH Stingray that just started to make very strange noises. It did it a couple of times while I was practicing. I checked the battery and, according to the tester, it has a full charge.

I took the bass on a gig last night (I brought a backup bass just in case) and the weird noises occurred when I set the bass in the stand just in front of my amp.

I have another Stingray, an "H" that has never had a problem even when placed on the stand next to my amp.

The problem isn't the amplifier. The problem occurred when I was practicing through a different amplifier.

Is there a way to fix the problem?

Thanks!

Hi there, I would recommend checking the jack. Make sure that all connections are solid and are not touching each other. It sounds like your battery connection may be connection to your guitar's output. This can be caused by a loose jack or bad connections on or inside the jack.

 

[Dr. Doom]

Hi

I'm going to try changing the battery. It's a fairly new battery. I changed it last December.

The problem does match the descriptions of low battery symptoms that I've read about.

I've made no changes to my rig. I always 'run direct'.

Thanks for your advice.

 

[Dr. Doom]

I can assume that it's not my phone as the problem has only come up with one of my basses. (I've got another Stingray that has never made the sounds.)

Thanks for the information.

 

[Dr. Doom]

From what I've read it does act like a battery fault. I'll check the terminals.

Thanks!

 

[Dr. Doom]

Hi,

It acts more like a battery problem than a jack problem. I've had jacks go bad and the symptoms are different.

Come to think of it I've never had a jack go bad on an active bass so maybe that is the problem. The jack feels solid though. The problem has come up using 2 different instrument cables.

 

[Dr. Doom]

Thanks everyone for the sensible suggestions. By Stingray HH is one of the great loves of my life. It has incredible tone and my left hand absolutely loves the fretboard.

I very much want to keep my beautiful Stingray HH in play.

I have another Stingray which I also love but I love it in a different way. It's a "Classic". The tone is wonderful but it's vastly different than the HH.

 

[ksandvik]

Check the actual battery connection, it could get loose based on shorter sized batteries and cause all kinds of hiccups. One solution is to put padding of some kind in the battery enclosure to make a more tight connection.

 

[Dr. Doom]

That's a good suggestion......Thanks!

 

[brash47]

Only when I play funny.....

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk

 

[Golem]

From what I've read it does act like a battery fault. I'll check the terminals.

Thanks!

As to alien noises and such things as jack connect issues... one night the venue owner’s puppy was tugging on the cable but I did not notice til there’s this weird alien howling noise. When I looked, the plug was partially out and it kept howling til I pushed it back in.