Problem with sound in Schecter Damien 4

[hellxbovine]

Hello everyone! I believe this is one of my first posts, but I'm just looking for a problem with a bass I bought several months ago.

I own a Schecter Diamond Series Damien 4 bass guitar that has active EMGHZ pickups. I had been playing this guitar at my church every Sunday ever since I got it about 4 months ago. My pastor ended up changing the bass amp to a GK model, and after a few months of playing, the sound coming out of the amp as I was playing was coming out as lightly distorted, like what bass usually sounds like in stoner metal bands or something. I didn't change anything on the nobs on the bass, or on the amp, but anything I did couldn't change the sound.

Last week, I took the bass home, and I played it on my personal amp, a Hartke HyDrive 112c, and the same exact thing happened, leading me to believe that the problem was with the bass itself.

The 9-volt battery for the pickups is only a couple months old, and all the circuitry in the bass seems fine. Did any of you ever have a problem with a bass similar to this? And do any of you have an idea of how to fix it?

Thanks guys!

[Stilettoprefer]

Swap out the battery. My stiletto goes through batteries about two times a year. It does exactly what you're describing. Starts to sound distorted then eventually it gets to be unbearable.

If you use the bass a lot, then you'll burn through batteries faster. And there's no telling how long that bass sat around in the store before you got it. It's had that stock battery in it since before it left the factory.

[brainburst]

I know this is old but I agree and would go futher. Anyone owning an active bass should have it modded to have a passive option to bypass the preamp. 1-An external preamp is almost always going to be better an an on board one. 2- Always have an option when your batteries go!