My Sterling is distorting like a MoFo

[BassXgirl]

Hi everyone.
I just bought a new Sterling a couple of months ago (White sparkle, white perloid PG, rosewood board). Its absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!!! Ive been drooling over MM basses for YEARS and now, I finally have one . Ive got one problem though, the PU seems really REALLY hot. This is my first active bass so im not sure if im doing something wrong or if its the bass.

Symptoms: When playing my bass through an amp, it sounds awesome. When i plug in direct, it distorts like crazy. Ive tried lowering the volume, changing the eq, and changing the battery (duracell alkaline). I first noticed this at a show last week. All I heard coming out of my monitor was pure raw distortion but what i heard coming out of the amp was my normal awesom MM sound

Yesterday I was in a recording studio trying to use my MM. I went direct and it completely overloaded the board even at a very low volume. I ended up using my trusty little Fender instead.

Maybe someone can give me some advice on this? Is this a common problem with active basses? Is it something that I might be doing wrong?

Any and all advice is appreciated......

 

[Masamax]

What type of amp?

 

[bassmaniac]

If your bass sounds right though your amp, I doubt there is anything wrong with your Sterling. How are you getting your sound to the mixing board ? It's possible that you are somehow overdriving the board, which wouldn't be your own fault, but the fault of the guy running the board. If you are taking a direct out from your amp, it could be your amp. Does you amp have a DI output control ? ( If you use it ). Always check your battery again. It's also handy to have an inexpensive VOM meter that you can get from Radio Shack to keep in your case to check the battery voltage.

 

[BassXgirl]

Im playing through a Hartke Kickback 15 100 watt combo. I bought it new about 4 months ago.

It does have a direct line out that i have used with my Fender (passive) bass. The line out seems to work fine. Ive never had any problems with it that im aware of.

As far as getting to the mixing board, ive tried a few different things. Ive plugged a separate direct box into my amp and plugged into that, then into the board. Ive also used the direct line out from my amp. Lately what ive been doing is mic-ing the speaker AND taking a direct line out straight from the amp. Ive done this with both basses and have only had distortion when using my Sterling. At the gig we played last week, the sound coming from my amp sounded great. The monitors were all distorting really bad. This was at The Knitting Factory Hollywood's main stage so i THINK their monitors would be working : \ ? I suppose theres a possibility that their speakers were blown. When we were recording this weekend, i didnt see what they did exactly. I know it went into a direct box but after that, im not sure how the signal was routed. We basically kept lowering the volume on my bass until it was almost off.

My poor bass : ( I want to use it as my main bass but im afraid of this distortion.

P.S. Thats a great idea about getting the meter from Radio Shack. I will deffinately take your advice and go buy myself one.

 

[bassmaniac]

Does your amp have 2 different input = 1 for passive basses and the other for active basses ? If so use the active input for your Sterling, passive for your Fender bass.
If you try your bass with another fresh battery and you can play through an amp and sound good, your bass should be fine. Have you tried playing through different amps ?

 

[Aussie Mark]

Most quality DI boxes and mixing desks have a gain reduction switch (also known as a "pad") to reduce hot input signals. However, not all DI boxes or mixing desks have this feature. I would recommend that you purchase a DI box and take it with you to all gigs, which should enable you to deal with the problem of playing through different PAs and using different DI boxes.

For example, the Behringer Ultra-DI D120 has a 20dB and 40dB pad, and should do the job nicely for just $25.

 

[BassXgirl]

Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions!

I think i may have just found the problem. I was just playing my bass and it sounded great again through my amp. After about 15 minutes of playing i noticed the distortion coming through my speaker really faintly. It was kind of intermittant and mostly only distorted with the lower open E and A strings. I plugged in some headphones and i heard lots of distortion That was even with the volume really low. After this I went to change the battery and i noticed the battery compartment wasnt closing tightly. It looks like the battery compartment may be broken.

Im pretty bummed out now. I really don't want to have to ship my baby off to repair it

 

[bassmaniac]

Is it still under warranty ?

 

[BassXgirl]

Yeah it should be. I just bought it at the end of August. It was a B-day present to myself.

 

[bassmaniac]

If you send your bass to Ernie Ball for repairs, you'll have it back pretty soon, especially since you don't live too far from the factory. Ernie Ball customer service is about as good as you will find and the turn around time is pretty quick, besides that should be an easy repair.
You'll want to call this number (800)543-2255

 

[Fretbuzz]

I agree with Bassmaniac. Check the sound board. If you have too much "gain" coming in you will get a molten lava hot type signal. I have been in the studio a few times and that is the first adjustment that is made.....getting the signal tamed.

 

[bovinehost]

I haven’t had this problem, but have heard of it – all 9volt batteries are not the same size. I can’t recall now which ones are a bit shorter than the others, but those short ones might be the cause of your problem with the battery compartment.

See if you can buy 3 or 4 different brands of 9 volt and check them out in your bass – it may not work, but if it does, it’s a much easier fix than sending your bass off for repair (although EB does have a fabulous reputation for quick and effective service).