Sick StingRay - Help!

**jmattbassplaya** · #1 12-09-2010, 10:49 PM

*Not sure where this should go mods*

Hey guys,

So I have a sick Ray and I don't know what's wrong with it. Whenever I turn on my amp I start getting this horrible feedback that gets exponentially louder until I finally turn the amp off.

I know it's not the head, cab, or cable because I've ran 5 different basses through it without a single issue. As such, I think it has to be the Ray. This isn't the first time my Ray has given me trouble, either. A while back the bass would make this horrible squeak and pop noise whenever the cable near the input jack was even slightly nudged.

Does anyone have any idea what might be causing this? For what it's worth, it's one of the older Rays before they got the new pickup design a few years ago.

Thanks!

**lowfreqgeek** · #2 12-10-2010, 12:14 AM

Can you plug it into some sort of headphone amp (computer interface, anything?) and verify if it's an acoustic issue or electrical?

It sounds like a severely microphonic pickup - which is essentially an acoustic feedback. The other possibility, though not real likely, is that the opamp in the 'Ray's preamp is oscillating with just a little input. Without getting into lots of technical mumbo-jumbo, it could be a problem with the preamp that causes the output of the IC to essentially "run away" with the oscillation. I've built astable multivibrators (analog oscillators), and I've seen stable opamp circuits go crazy with oscillation under certain conditions.

But first verify that it's not a microphonic pickup. That's more likely...

**jmattbassplaya** · #3 12-10-2010, 12:49 AM

I'll take it over to my friends place in the next day or two and run it through his interface. Is there anything specific that I should be looking for or listening for?

spaz21387 · #4 12-10-2010, 12:58 AM

also try checking the ground. and make sure your phone isnt in your pocket with a few actives owned by friends they would squeak and hiss and pop when they got close to my phone. passives dont do this as bad.

scotts42 · #5 12-10-2010, 01:04 AM

Call Billy @ Music Man

lowfreek · #6 12-10-2010, 01:15 AM

First thing I would do (will only take a few minutes) is to take off the control plate and take a good look for anything that doesn't look right, like broken or loose wires/solder joints/caps, etc. Also take out the battery holder and check the connections (these connections are kind of fragile - have had one break, myself), and also check the connections on the jack, and make sure its nice and tight when you reinstall it.

**jmattbassplaya** · #7 12-10-2010, 01:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spaz21387

also try checking the ground. and make sure your phone isnt in your pocket with a few actives owned by friends they would squeak and hiss and pop when they got close to my phone. passives dont do this as bad.

Not the phone. The past few times I've played it my phone has been in the other room

I'll check the ground tomorrow, too. I'm honestly surprised that it's giving me as much trouble as it is. The bass has basically been sitting around my house for over a year and hasn't been abused (or for that matter, used) at all.

I'll probably shoot EBMM an email tomorrow and see what they say. I've actually been wanting to get a new preamp for a while now since my Ray has never had the traditional, in-your-face 'StingRay' tone. Perhaps this is a mixed blessing.

**jmattbassplaya** · #8 12-10-2010, 01:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lowfreek

First thing I would do (will only take a few minutes) is to take off the control plate and take a good look for anything that doesn't look right, like broken or loose wires/solder joints/caps, etc. Also take out the battery holder and check the connections (these connections are kind of fragile - have had one break, myself), and also check the connections on the jack, and make sure its nice and tight when you reinstall it.

I actually did that when that bass first stared giving me issues, as I thought it was the input jack. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, loose, broken, etc... but I'll look again.

What interests me is that this problem has been getting progressively worse. At first it would only happen once in a blue moon. Then it would happen every few times I'd play it. Now I can't even turn my amp on without it instantly feedbacking. For what it's worth, the feedback always starts happening as soon as I turn my amp on.

Caca de Kick · #9 12-10-2010, 02:48 AM

Why don't you call them instead of emailing? I do tech support and installation troubleshooting where I work, and nothing bugs me more than emails because I need to walk them through things and them to answer my questions. Usually everything can be handled in a 2 minute phone call.

**lowfreqgeek** · #10 12-10-2010, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmattbassplaya

I'll take it over to my friends place in the next day or two and run it through his interface. Is there anything specific that I should be looking for or listening for?

Well, if you can play it through headphones, you'll immediately rule out a microphonic pickup. The idea is to remove any acoustic path for the sound coming out of the speaker to get into the pickup.

If the feedback is still present in the headphones, then it's not the pickup. It's something in the preamp and will most likely need an advanced tech to troubleshoot, or will require a new preamp. An oscillating opamp circuit is fairly easy to troubleshoot and solve for someone who knows what to look at (and has the right tools), but your average tech isn't qualified - IME. It could be as simple (but hard to find) as parasitic impedances from poor solder joints.

One other thought - have you replaced the battery? That seems like an unlikely culprit, but you never know - and it's a cheap test.

Turkeylips · #11 12-10-2010, 10:31 AM

Not to hijack the thread, but I have the same squeaking issue on my Stingray, with an occasional loss of signal. I have assumed it is a soldering issue but I might be wrong.