Hello everybody. . .I'm new on these boards and somewhat new to bass playing in general.

I purchased a Cort Curbow 4 string on eBAY some 6 years ago, beautiful dark red, hard plastic Washburn case with custom leopard fur interior. The bass played wonderfully (as far as I can tell anyway) for 3 years, then one day while changing the 9 volt battery, I saw a tiny wisp of smoke and it has been silent ever since then.

I don't know whats wrong with it, i've opened up the back and everything seems to be connected, but hey! what the hell do I know?

What's my next move? take it to the local GuitarCenter and let them have at it?

Hmm, any chance you installed the battery backwards? That will damage some electronics, if they don't have a diode in the circuit to prevent it.

Personally, I would never give any of my basses to GC. If you know how to solder, you could replace the preamp--either try to buy one from Cort, or go with an aftermarket model. If you don't know how to solder and don't want to learn how on your favorite bass, you should probably looking for recommendations for a local repair person.

So where are you located?

Ed

See if you can get a direct connection from your pickup hot & ground wires to the jack hot & ground. If you can, you should get a pickup response over the amp, if the pickup's OK. At least this would tell you if the pre is actually damaged.

As for pre - John East.