Stingray issues?? Not playable

[TheRealMayo]

So long story short, I end up getting a bass I never thought I’d own..stingray5 HH in cream and white, gold hardware..I played it for about a month before I get chirping really bad. I contact musicman, they told me what to look for in the input. I fix it with their help in like 5 min. A week goes by and it’s happening again..they tell me to ship it and they’ll look at it. Breaking it down to ship and JUST to look at it was a ridiculous price and very long wait. I play at church, it’s chirping. I fix it in the back afterwards. The next week I’m getting really bad hum/almost white noise from the pickups in every position besides parallel…I contact mm again, no hope, past warranty and they’d want a lot of money to look at in a couple weeks after receiving it.
They said to send my electronics in at my own cost and buy new ones at discount…
I haven’t played the bass in over 2 years..did I buy a $2000 paperweight??
There’s a lot of storing a month at a time between contacting mm..I’ll play at home through a cheap amp and it may sound good, but I’ll plug into Foh and it sounds really bad aside from making the entire PA chirp

 

[tbonesullivan]

What do you mean by "chirping"? Are you possibly using a mono cable to plug it into a stereo jack on the PA? Does it chirp with other amps?

 

[TheRealMayo]

It doesn’t chirp (very loud winding squeak) when in my spark, and it’s quiet.
I’m using a reg TS cable
And from my understanding the third connection on the stereo jack is just to connect the battery when playing. I wasn’t ever told or heard about using a trs from the bass to a mono input

 

[kevins]

I’d take it to a repair shop that’s good with electronics, the specials have pretty advanced electronics but the pre 2018 ones have very simple electronics, either way I think you probably could get it fixed by someone who’s good at this sorta thing for around 60-140 dollars. the pickups being broken is very unlikely but a single hiccup in the preamp could cause all sorts of havoc, but nothing that a seasoned technician can’t handle.


Only send in the preamp if you have to, for the most part they’re very simple pieces of electronics. I had a 79 Sabre preamp that we thought had a blown chip, turns out one of the solder joints was weak and resoldering the connection fixed it. But I sent it to someone who’s very good at this! A good shop will usually have a work guarantee etc. sounds like something is up with your pickup selector wheel and maybe something in the preamp is off

 

[TheRealMayo]

Thanks for the input!
I called GC about a repair and they were telling me “oh those have preamps and I need these special tools, I can’t work on it, I mean unless you want to buy me these expensive tools”
I know of a very reputable repair tech known artists use near by. May not be that cheap but might be worth it at this point

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

It doesn’t chirp (very loud winding squeak) when in my spark, and it’s quiet.
I’m using a reg TS cable
And from my understanding the third connection on the stereo jack is just to connect the battery when playing. I wasn’t ever told or heard about using a trs from the bass to a mono input

Have you tried another lead?

 

[DrKev]

It doesn’t chirp (very loud winding squeak) when in my spark, and it’s quiet.
I’m using a reg TS cable
And from my understanding the third connection on the stereo jack is just to connect the battery when playing. I wasn’t ever told or heard about using a trs from the bass to a mono input

Don’t use a TRS cable. Use a standard mono/TS cable. It connects the earth side of the battery (which is the ring on the jack) to ground (which is the sleeve of the cable).

Are you using a wireless system? Some wireless can have issues with instruments with preamps.

 

[DrKev]

Thanks for the input!
I called GC about a repair and they were telling me “oh those have preamps and I need these special tools, I can’t work on it, I mean unless you want to buy me these expensive tools”
I know of a very reputable repair tech known artists use near by. May not be that cheap but might be worth it at this point

Please remember that diagnosing issues with any instrument without having the instrument in front of us is at times impossible. The instrument has to go to someone with the expertise to diagnose and fix it. Some guitar store people can do a fine job, but many do not have the knowledge and experience required. A good tech, trusted by the pro musicians in your area, are well worth their time!

 

[TheRealMayo]

Are you using a wireless system? Some wireless can have issues with instruments with preamps.

I use regular cables, and FOH is not using wireless besides in ears
Two other guys that play on the same stage have stingrays as well with zero issues

 

[A.J.]

I just sent a PM to TheRealMayo. I'd like to learn more about particular situation and how we can help. We'll take it from here. Thanks!

 

[kevins]

Thanks for the input!
I called GC about a repair and they were telling me “oh those have preamps and I need these special tools, I can’t work on it, I mean unless you want to buy me these expensive tools”
I know of a very reputable repair tech known artists use near by. May not be that cheap but might be worth it at this point

Oh yeah definitely take it to the reputable guy and not guitar center, that’s way over their heads over there, and there’s a high probability that guitar center probably sends their more advanced repairs to that tech! They need tools that can detect if resistors caps and components are dead or not, and the other guy will definitely have those! If you’re in a major city it should be easier, might have to travel like 50 miles or so but they’ll sort it out and usually those shops have a working relationship with musicman as they regularly have to order parts from them etc

 

[Braaheim]

I ordered the Smoke Chrome Stingray 5 HH. It came and I couldn’t play as the g string kept sliding off. Store said they’d have tech check it. Came back and played it side by side with another random Jackson bass off the wall. Ended up getting my deposit back. The bass was not usable for me at all.
that was a couple weeks ago.
tonight I see this ad

Ernie Ball MusicMan Stingray Special 5 HH Bass - musical instruments...

This bass in the Smoked Chrome finish is absolutely mint/like new. I received it a few days ago and discovered the string spacing is just a bit too tight for my large hands. As most folks know, this...

vancouver.craigslist.org

this guy too only had bass for a few days but could not play it. Sadly he took it home. He’ll lose a few bucks for sure