Help! Brand new Stingray5 HH - dead pickup coil

Jbass

Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2016
Messages
6
Hello All,

I just received my brand new StingRay5 HH neck-thru yesterday (shipped from out-of-state), but among the four pickup coils on the bass (two on front (neck P/U), and two on rear (treble P/U) I noticed that the rear-most coil is not working.

When I first played the bass, I immediately noticed that it didn’t have that classic Stingray sound when switched to the rear (treble) pickup. (I have a 2004 4-string Stingray as well, so I am familiar with the sound.) Instead, the sound is nasally with a lot of midrange in this position. Definitely _not_ that classic Stingray sound.

The front pickup sounds fine.

Also in listening to the demos online of other 5-string HH Stingrays, they _do_ sound like a Stingray should when only the rear pickup engaged.

Then I ran a test. I plugged into an amp at a volume the bass would normally be played. I took a paperclip and gently tapped the magnet pieces for each pickup. All of the other three pickup coils behave as expected: when switched in, tapping with a paper clip produces a loud, noticeable “pop”, but when switched out, there is no pop. I confirmed this for all coils on all five positions of the pickup switch with the other coils.

For the rear coil on the treble pickup (the one closest to the bridge), however, there is never any pop when tapping the magnet pieces, regardless of the pickup switch position. This coil is thus never contributing to the bass sound, regardless of pickup switch position.

I also confirmed that on my single-pickup 2004 stingray (no switch), both coils “pop” when tapped, as expected.

I have a lot of electronics experience, and if it is something simple, like a disconnected wire, I would rather repair this myself than have to pay and risk to ship the instrument to EB in CA or the original vendor in another state. On the other hand, I don't want to void the warranty. At the least I would like to remove the pickup guard to have a look at things, but figured I would ask on the forums for thoughts and advice before proceeding.

And thus I ask:
- any thoughts on how to proceed?
- is there a wiring/circuit board diagram for a stingray5 HH?
- is this an automatic warranty violation to remove the pickup guard?

Otherwise the bass plays and looks is beautiful, by the way. I can't wait to hear how it sounds when it is working correctly.

Thank you in advance,

Jon L.
 
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EBMM Customer Service, problem solved.

HOWEVERRRRRR ......

EBMM CS covers only return shipping. You
pay the freight to SLO. Soooo .... if your
vendor covers return shipping for faulty
gear, which many vendors will do, then it
saves you money to return it to the vendor.

I live about 2,500 mi from SLO. Just a few
years back, it cost me $75 to ship an SR5
in its plastic case plus the outer carton. So
it kinda depends on your vendor's policies
and how far you are from SLO.
 
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Thanks Golem. Yes, I will put a call into EBMM CS first thing tomorrow to get their thoughts. I'm in New York, so it's a long haul to SLO. I also have a call into the vendor for their thoughts.

I just hate for it to be a loose wire and a 15-minute repair that I can easily do myself, while saving everyone the time and headache. I'm also not crazy about a 6,000 mile round-trip for the ax. If it wasn't brand spanking new, it would already be apart on my bench by now.

Thanks again for the feedback.
 
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Update: I called EBMM Customer Service and spoke with a technician yesterday. They were fantastic! We walked through a few tests, and it turns out the pickup itself is the source of the problem (versus, e.g., a loose wire). It was decided to replace the pickup only, rather than having to ship the entire bass back, which puts me at ease.

Overall an extremely impressive experience with their Customer Service (first time I have ever had to use them).

Thanks again for the feedback and recommendations, especially to contact EBMM directly.
 
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Update: new pickup arrived promptly and I installed it without incident this morning. Problem solved!! Man, what a great-sounding bass. The tonal variety on the HH is remarkable. Can't wait to get out on a gig with this baby.

Thanks again to all for the help and suggestions.
 
It seems EBMM CS works great in the US, unfortunately in my country I have not any support from EBMM distributors.
 
Update: new pickup arrived promptly and I installed it without incident this morning. Problem solved!! Man, what a great-sounding bass. The tonal variety on the HH is remarkable. Can't wait to get out on a gig with this baby.

Thanks again to all for the help and suggestions.
Ive got the sterling HH, amazing basses.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
 
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