PLEASE HELP URGENT - Whats upwith my bass?

harry182 · #1 05-27-2010, 05:45 PM

Right guess the 1st thing handy to know is that its a warwick corvette rock bass 5 string. its also active

the problem...

I was playing a gig Last Saturday and my bass just cut out, thought ok, swapped basses. other bass worked as it should

He had a new battery in the day before?

got home the same night, and plugged in the bass to have a mess around see if i could find anything,...but It worked again?

well just now i was playing and it cut out again....

thought must be the amp... So tryed my other two basses just to make sure and they worked fine.

Tryed playing the Warwick through an effects pedal and headphones, Worked fine for a couple of seconds and just fadded out.

Pulled it out and it did the same again :s

i dont know if its worth noting, but some times, when i plug this bass in to my amp, it can make a kind of disorted noise were as the other two dont?

Please Help me on any possible ideas?

Many thanks

Harry

elgecko · #2 05-27-2010, 05:49 PM

Loose wiring on your output jack maybe? Preamp giving up the ghost?

SVTDOUBLEBUCK · #3 05-27-2010, 05:51 PM

Sounds like a connection issue with the pre-amp, make sure it appears that all the necessary wires are attached, and change your battery again for the hell of it

**TheMutt** · #4 05-27-2010, 05:53 PM

Do you leave the bass plugged in overnight? That would drain the battery. Could also be poor contact on the battery snap/box (I don't own Warwicks, but had this problem on my EBMM SR5, changed out the battery box and it worked fine again) or a wire or solder joint that needs attention.

harry182 · #5 05-27-2010, 05:54 PM

ok cool cheers guys. will take the back off now and have a look for any loose wires.

what does the pre amp look like?

is it a costly fix?

harry182 · #6 05-27-2010, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMutt

Do you leave the bass plugged in overnight? That would drain the battery. Could also be poor contact on the battery snap/box (I don't own Warwicks, but had this problem on my EBMM SR5, changed out the battery box and it worked fine again) or a wire or solder joint that needs attention.

no bass sits on a rack with nothing attatched to it.

wil go and try battery 1st. now to find house appliences that use 9v batterys

**TheMutt** · #7 05-27-2010, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by harry182

ok cool cheers guys. will take the back off now and have a look for any loose wires.

what does the pre amp look like?

is it a costly fix?

The preamp is all of the electronic guts that are connected to the control pots on your bass between the pickup and the output jack. It can be a costly fix if your bass is out of warranty, and may even necessitate the complete replacement of the preamp. But lets factor other things out before then.

Quote:

Originally Posted by harry182

no bass sits on a rack with nothing attatched to it.

wil go and try battery 1st. now to find house appliences that use 9v batterys

Honestly, its much better to use a fresh set of batteries. You never know how old or how drained down a used battery is. The old "lick the contacts to see if I get a shock" test doesn't really tell you if the shock was 9v, 7.5v or even less, and doesn't tell you when the battery will die.

harry182 · #8 05-27-2010, 06:18 PM

right just got back from the shop and replaced the battary....

seems to be working fine now :|

very odd, going to play it for a bit now and see how i get on.

i was advided to go with durecell battarys, but they didnt have any

so just bought what was there. will have to go on a search for a little bunny tomorrow at sensible hours.

thanks for your help guys

**TheMutt** · #9 05-27-2010, 06:22 PM

No problem! Keep us updated on how everything is working.

A guitarist of mine was having problems with her new Taylor guitar. It was shooting out really loud squeals into the PA. She thought that her guitar was broken until I came over, took out the battery, replaced it with the battery in my bass (I had replaced the battery the night previous) and switched over to passive mode to keep playing. She was incredibly happy to know that her guitar wasn't defective and stopped leaving it plugged in overnight.

harry182 · #10 05-27-2010, 06:30 PM

Pretty much same as me. Freeking love this bass. Just has so much character. and its always nice to know that what was a problem at 1st, is just a simple fix. Didnt think a new battery would go that quick :|

But yeah, I have a practice with rest of the band tomorow so will just leave this battery in for now and replace after just to make sure

Thanks again and youll hear from me tomoroow night

Deathblade Eric · #11 05-27-2010, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by harry182

i was advided to go with durecell battarys, but they didnt have any

so just bought what was there. will have to go on a search for a little bunny tomorrow at sensible hours.

thanks for your help guys

Couple of alternatives...

Halfords own brand of 9V batteries are pretty good & significantly cheaper than Duracell.

Also have a look in Poundland and 99p Stores - I got a 12pack of Kodak AAA Heavy-Duty batts for, well... £1.

EverReady "Energisers" are good too.

Don't be tempted to get rechargeable batteries though - they have a nasty habit of running out of charge very suddenly.

Pete.

Pilgrim · #12 05-27-2010, 09:02 PM

And don't leave a cable plugged into the bass...that will preserve the battery.

tobie · #13 05-27-2010, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by harry182

Didnt think a new battery would go that quick

If it's an alkaline battery, it's highly unlikely that the battery is dead - even if you've left it hooked up to a switched-on amp through the night.

Why not invest in a multimeter - or even better - a Battometer (http://www.keithmcmillen.com/products/batt-o-meter/) so you don't need to guess? A battometer tells you exactly how many working-hours you've got left on a battery and you can test the battery without removing it from your guitar. In other words read: "G-o-o-d I-n-v-e-s-t-m-e-n-t".

harry182 · #14 05-28-2010, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deathblade Eric

Couple of alternatives...

Halfords own brand of 9V batteries are pretty good & significantly cheaper than Duracell.

Also have a look in Poundland and 99p Stores - I got a 12pack of Kodak AAA Heavy-Duty batts for, well... £1.

EverReady "Energisers" are good too.

Don't be tempted to get rechargeable batteries though - they have a nasty habit of running out of charge very suddenly.

Pete.

will have a look at these

thank you

and yeah iv read that about the rechargeable ones so i wont be going down that route

Quote:

Originally Posted by tobie

If it's an alkaline battery, it's highly unlikely that the battery is dead - even if you've left it hooked up to a switched-on amp through the night.

Why not invest in a multimeter - or even better - a Battometer (http://www.keithmcmillen.com/products/batt-o-meter/) so you don't need to guess? A battometer tells you exactly how many working-hours you've got left on a battery and you can test the battery without removing it from your guitar. In other words read: "G-o-o-d I-n-v-e-s-t-m-e-n-t".

tbh its the first iv heard of one of these and will def look in to getting one.

thank you for the link

WELL.....

Had a two hour practice tonight, and had no problems at all with the bass? so fingers crossed it was the battery

thanks for the help though guys, feel like such a noob :lol:

beelzelboss · #15 05-28-2010, 05:38 PM

Yea man, it is usually the battery. I have a lithium one in mine, and it has lasted at least for the last two years. Those little buggers are awesome. Lithium batteries FTW.

jarrhead · #16 05-28-2010, 05:41 PM

I advise Lithium Ion Rayovacs. Last me 6 months and I play anywhere from 2-11 hours a day. Over the weekend I logged 26 hours of playing.

VinKreepo · #17 05-28-2010, 05:44 PM

It seems to me when you replace the battery the first time it probably came from a household item... probably almost dead. Basses are like digital cameras... the battery might still be strong enough to power the household item, but it sure as heck won't power the camera for long. If you have a digital camera you know what I mean.