Unwanted Distortion with Stingray 5

[earlus]

Hi There,
I've got a Stingray 5 that I bought about 18months ago that i'm having a bit of hassle with unwanted distortion.. Could you advise please?

I'm using:

Stingray 5 ( all eq settings flat, parallel pickup position)
Ampeg SVT Classic ( gain 5, bass 8.5, mid 7, treble 7.5, master between 2.5 and 3)
Eden 410XLT 4ohm cab

Firstly, I thought the distortion was the cabinet because it couldn't handle the SVT, but I took my rig in to work ( I work in a music retailer in Australia ) and plugged my bass in and noticed that the distortion occurred even with the SVT on extremely low levels. I tried various other new cab's and the distortion was still there.. I tried other heads with the same result. Lastly, i tried various other basses and when i did this, the sound seemed to improve instantly. Even with basses worth a third of the price of the Stingray. So, I threw a new set of strings on my Stingray 5 and a new battery in the preamp and hoped it would fix my problem, but it didn't. It only seems to effect the low and low mid frequencies.. Unfortunately, we're not a MM dealer so I couldn't A/B it against another Stingray 5. Sounds like a preamp thing to me..

Have you heard of anything like this before?? or have you got any suggestions on fixing this??

Regards,
Earl

 

[boston asphalt2]

Im new to these parts, but I have already learned the unwritten "rules" of the forum: Try calling EBMM customer service, they should help ya out

 

[Bill]

Yep, what he said! I was going to say it's probably the battery, but you changed it & the problem is still there. Definitely give EBMM a call or send them an e-mail about your problem.

 

[Big Poppa]

thank yo loyal soldiers

 

[PocketGroove82]

Hooooah Loyal Ebmm Soldiers!

 

[tadawson]

Does it still distort if you turn down the volume knob on the bass? It may just be too hot a preamp for the SVT . . . . . .

- Tim

 

[boston asphalt2]

thank yo loyal soldiers

Im a contract hire, kinda like a mercenary. I do the same thing over on the Warwick forums

 

[PocketGroove82]

I was getting all kinds of nasty sh!t comming outta my amp today, and guess what. It was a bad patch cable. Go fig.

 

[Bungo]

Captain....What is....'unwanted distortion'?


Bungo=Visitor from skinny string land

 

[StingRayzor]

Hmmm...Sounds like a flavitz inducer issue to me. Can't be certain though.

Try customer service at EBMM. They will gladly help you.

 

[waq charlie]

it must be a batery.try to change it.if a new batery,try to take out and put it back

 

[Caca de Kick]

waq,
He said he already tried a new battery.

earlus, do you have the bass and mid knobs both turned up all the way on your bass? If you do and are also plugged into the unpadded input, maybe you're overloading the preamp on your SVT. Just a thought...

-Mike

 

[Aussie Mark]

waq,
maybe you're overloading the preamp on your SVT.

I tried other heads with the same result.

 

[Caca de Kick]

What I aws trying to imply was maybe he has a bad habbit of over EQ'ing his bass into non-padded inputs on amps, then over EQ'ing the amp.