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Changing my Stingray's preamp
- Thread starter Sacha 2A
- Start date
Did you like the original preamp? Maybe try EB customer service?
I added a John East MMSR preamp in my Stingray and liked it very very much. It didn't necessarily change the sound of the bass, but it did make available a number of additional tones/sounds that I didn't have with the factory preamp.
The East preamp isn't cheap. On the other hand, it is well built and (in my case, at least), never gave me any problems. It was 100% reliable and my battery seemed to last forever.
Here is Lobster's review of the East MMSR preamp…
The East preamp isn't cheap. On the other hand, it is well built and (in my case, at least), never gave me any problems. It was 100% reliable and my battery seemed to last forever.
Here is Lobster's review of the East MMSR preamp…
Agree John East makes great preamps.
But EBMM can help you with a replacement. They generally don't sell them as parts but they do sell them as replacement so they'll want to exchange the new one for yours.
But EBMM can help you with a replacement. They generally don't sell them as parts but they do sell them as replacement so they'll want to exchange the new one for yours.
There is a noise that only disappears when I touch the strings or something else metallic on the bass. My luthier has tried to fix it, he has done everything but the problem still remains. So, he has said that there was nothing else to do than changing the preamp.
Sounds like a simple grounding issue to me
It's been a long time since I've had to deal with them so I'd say to reach out to them directly to get it straight from them.
In the past Ernie Ball would require you to ship the defective preamp back to them, then they will ship you a new/identical preamp.
With that said, please see my comment about a simple grounding issue. It would be nuts to replace the entire preamp when there is a bad ground connection going to the bridge or something simple like that. Are there any other techs in the area that you could try first?
Don't know how long. Shipping is fast. But last time I needed that service they required the old part for new. Just call and ask.
You need to have another luthier take a look at that problem.
It's a somewhat common problem with an easy fix if the repair guy knows what he's doing.
I have it on my 2002-era Stingray, too. It's normal unless something got knocked loose, but that would be much louder. You can look into shielding the preamp cavity with copper conductive tape and solder it to ground if it's complete silence you're looking for.
Have you tried covering up the polepieces with tape to see if that rectifies the issue? If so, you could probably find a cover for the pickup.
I was going to recommend the John East, but was beat to it 2 posts in. I have not had a MM East preamp, but had two 5-knob JE Pres in in two different basses. One fretless, one not. Both were great.
It doesn't sound like a preamp issue at all and is unlikely that replacing the preamp fixes it.
Tape is not going to shield the pickups from any noise, and neither would a pickup cover.
The only thing I'm aware of that tape can help with is noise caused by the strings contacting the pole pieces when played hard. I have several basses with pickups covered with electrical or masking tape for this reason... but the only thing it's doing is preventing the metal-on-metal contact that causes an unpleasant snapping noise thru the amp.
