SR5 distortion

[prickly_pete]

I recently picked up a used 1999 SR5 maple fretboard which seems to have a curious tone. No matter where I have the volume, tone, or switch set, this thing seems to have a growl like its going through an old SVT... Kind of a compressed distortion. Its subtle, but its driving me crazy! The problem is I have an SWR Redhead and I want a clear round tone. My SR4 and Jazz bass are clear as a bell, so I know its not my amp. Is this the way the SR5 is supposed to sound? btw, I have tried a fresh battery and that does not seems to fix the problem. Also, the neck to body fit is not as good as my SR4 and not as good as other Musicmans I've seen in the past. Any advice? Thanks in advance.

Bob

 

[prickly_pete]

I should also mention that I have tried adjusting the pickup height and that makes no real difference either.

 

[bassmaniac]

Have you tried installing a fresh alkaline battery in your SR5 ?

 

[bovinehost]

Bob, if you've tried a new battery....well, one thing you may want to check, even with a new battery, is that it's making good contact. I've heard that some batteries are too short to make good contact so I'd check that first because it's cheap and easy to do.

If that doesn't work out - and I sure hope it does - you need to get it looked at. Got a reputable repair shop near you?

 

[prickly_pete]

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll try them when I get home tonight. As I said I did try a fresh battery -- a Duracel, I believe -- but I suppose its possible that the battery is not making good contact, or maybe even that the battery is defective.

--Bob

 

[prickly_pete]

Well, it seems that I had a bad battery after all. I put a new Duracel in tonight and wow!! Man my Redhead never sounded so sweet. Its funny but the sr5 sounds a lot like the sr4 but different too -- better in a way... Really smooth and punchy in parallel mode. Anyway I am happy as can be now, so thanks again guys.

--Bob