Help! Loss of bottom end, tone and power on my MM stingray V 2005ltd edition

[vernthebass]

I have lost tone, power and particularly bottom end one my MM stingray V 2005 ltd edition,
admittedly the bass has done more gigs than the rollings stones, about 600 since I have had it in 2005 (from new) and three or four times that amount of rehearsals and training sessions.

I had a problem a few months ago with a phasing or buzzing on the E string, this was resolved with a new set of strings, but this loss of power and tone leads me to potentially link the two issues.

The bass is active and the battery isn't old, my amp Ampeg and cabs Eden haven't changed and when i use another bass (fender jazz), the tone and depth is immediately back.

Im considering sending for a full service to a good MM dealer, or deos anyone have other ideas?

I live in the UK, can anyone recommend a good MM guitar tech'? or do I ship it to the US?

the bass sounded great at this festival last year...

 

[liverbird]

If you're near London, I'd recommend Martin Petersen at the Bass Gallery in Camden. Highly skilled luthier and builder. He sorted out a couple of my Stingrays.

 

[Freddels]

Is your battery draining more quickly than usual? I had an issue with that and CS had me take out the jack plug and just bend the prongs apart a bit. Even though the cable was removed, the battery was still draining. It cured the problem. Otherwise, I think it's time for a Skype call to EBMM customer service.

 

[TWISTEDSTRINGS]

Same problem one time with my SR4, everything(sound) was falling off and the battery was fairly new(maybe a month), had to keep turning up volume, boosts on the bass and amp. I was stumped, played with the pups height and all but because the battery was new I never thought to just try a fresh one. Put in a new battery and it came back to life. Had a bad battery, that`s all..Try changing it out anyhow...good luck and keep us posted to what the problem is.

 

[Freddels]

I had another brand bass that I was getting all kinds of distortion out of. I couldn't figure it out. I sent it out to the guy that made it and he was stumped for a while too. Then he changed out the battery and no distortion, then put the old battery back in and the distortion was back. The battery was a wholesale club brand and not a brand name battery. Strange as it was, it was the battery.

 

[vernthebass]

Thanks for all your replies guys, I'm going to try the new battery advice on Friday when I'm home again, i will report back. Thanks to Liverbird, i'm working in London every week so popping into bass Gallery in Camden is no problems if i need to.

 

[Yango]

What a great song... and you guys are doing a killer version!!!

 

[vernthebass]

Thanks for the feedback Yango, glad you liked it...

 

[ihixulu]

I recently had a similar problem with my 2000 SR5. Changed strings, batteries, pickup height and everything else I could think of. No change - weak low end, low headroom, not the SR5 sound that I knew.

Thinking that maybe the bass wanted a makeover, I decided to swap out the pickguard for another one I had lying around. While the control cavity was open, I decided to clean out the pots with a squirt of Deoxit. When I put the bass back together and plugged it in, voila, the thunder was back.

It might be time to clean the pots.

 

[Freddels]

I recently had a similar problem with my 2000 SR5. Changed strings, batteries, pickup height and everything else I could think of. No change - weak low end, low headroom, not the SR5 sound that I knew.

Thinking that maybe the bass wanted a makeover, I decided to swap out the pickguard for another one I had lying around. While the control cavity was open, I decided to clean out the pots with a squirt of Deoxit. When I put the bass back together and plugged it in, voila, the thunder was back.

It might be time to clean the pots.

It was the pickguard!!!

 

[vernthebass]

OK Guys here's the news!
I took your advice on changing the battery, when I took the battery out and put a new one in the bass didn't work at all!!
So I looked at the battery cage and slightly bent the tabs up that the battery connectors fit onto, one thing to note if you haven't done this before is the polarity of the battery when you fit it, make sure the + and - matches whats indicated on the battery cage. when I again refitted the battery it was a much tighter fit in the cage (bending the connectors up a little did the trick), the bass has boomed back into life! I think a combination of battery and the battery cage connectors... I'm happy again and glad this seems to be resolved... Thanks to everyone for your comments and advice

 

[TWISTEDSTRINGS]

Great glad to hear it, now go wake the neighbors !