Hey all, I have a chance to pick up one of these in good condition for $100 except the seller say when plugged in there is no sound, now it could be dead batteries, bad jack, wire came lose or maybe the pickups are shot now do you think it's worth a shot to get it and figure it out, Now I know nothing about these basses but heard it's pretty easy to change the pickups because I would like to make it passive, now if I put in passive pickups would the tone controls still work and what would be the cost of the pickups...Any info would be much appreciated...Thank You
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Schecter Guitar Research Riot-4 Question
- Thread starter nitrofix
- Start date
That's a great deal for that bass. Probably a cheap fix too that any guitar shop would be able to figure out fairly quickly. I would imagine maybe 50 bucks. Probably just a bad connection somewhere.
Swapping out pickups and converting it to passive would be allot more expensive, depending on the pickups you choose of course.
Even though it's an active bass, the pickups in it are probably passive. The bass just has an active preamp. The pickups are probably not the problem.
If you want to make it a passive bass, you could take out the preamp controls and wire in new passive controls. (volume/blend/tone). But again, this would be costly having a shop do it for you.
If you really want a passive bass, it's far easier to just buy one to begin with. Great basses and guitars are so inexpensive nowadays, you can buy a great bass brand new for 2-300 bucks.
Swapping out pickups and converting it to passive would be allot more expensive, depending on the pickups you choose of course.
Even though it's an active bass, the pickups in it are probably passive. The bass just has an active preamp. The pickups are probably not the problem.
If you want to make it a passive bass, you could take out the preamp controls and wire in new passive controls. (volume/blend/tone). But again, this would be costly having a shop do it for you.
If you really want a passive bass, it's far easier to just buy one to begin with. Great basses and guitars are so inexpensive nowadays, you can buy a great bass brand new for 2-300 bucks.
If everything else on the bass is good, for $100 I would just buy it and then fix the problem, regardless of what it is. Seems worth it.
At that price, I'd be worried about very little except the neck being straight and the truss rod working.
Roland GR 88
Commercial User
Thanks for all the info, If I'm not mistaken the pickups are active with no preamp so I was thinking of maybe just putting in Passive pickups......and also I don't need another bass I was thinking getting it right and flipping it unless I like it better than the basses I have now then I would sell one of my other ones
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It will be seen in person, It's for sale locally
According to Schecters site, the PU's are EMG 35DC in the bridge position, and a 35J, which are both active, and has an EMG 3-Band Active E/Q. So probably not.
I kinda doubt that both pickups would be shot and just stop working at the same time. In my 45 years of playing bass I've only had one pickup failure (internal wire broke) and had it re-wound. My guess would be a broken wire/bad jack. Maybe as simple as replacing batteries. I do my own work so at a hundred bucks, if I liked it, I would jump on it. However, as mentioned above, could get expensive having someone else doing the repairs depending on what is actually wrong with it.
It's definitely an active preamp, just seeing the knobs in the picture. The two big knobs are probably master volume and pickup blend, and the 3 small knobs are probably bass mid and treble control.
As others have said, unless there's a serious probably like a twisted neck or busted truss rod, this is an insane deal.
As others have said, unless there's a serious probably like a twisted neck or busted truss rod, this is an insane deal.
Brandon Shea
Commercial User
Schecter makes good stuff. I regret selling my old one. $100 is insane if the instrument is otherwise in good shape. The fix is probably going to be cheap!
If a deal seems too good to be true, which this does despite the no sound issue, it probably is.
I have a made in 2019 version of this bass. For $100.00 I'd buy it if even for just parts. It's a well built instrument. The EMG electronics makes it dead silent no matter how I adjust the preamp and my house has old questionable wiring. It has perfect balance on my lap with no strap. I can get the action incredibly low with lots of adjustment left on the bridge and truss rod to spare.
If the truss rod works and the neck is good, $100 is a fair price for that bass. I mean, I'd buy it if I saw the ad and was in the market.
As for the electronics, I'd get it home, open the back and check for a dead or missing battery and see if that was the problem.
After that if still not tone, look for any wires that are detached or even loose. Check the output jack first. Make a jumper wire; take some wire you may have and make jumper. Take maybe 10 or 12 inches of wire and make both ends bare so that around 1/4 inch or so shows. Now you can test connection points in the bass that look sus by using your jumper wire to bridge from one spot to another. If your bass makes noise again, you're good. Solder down the temporary wire to make the fix permanent and you're good to go. If the preamp is shot, one of those little Bartolini NTMB pre's would be nice in that bass. If you don't solder or don't feel comfortable with anything I've said past check for a dead or missing battery, take it to a guitar repair shop. Even if it came to that $100 for that bass is a good deal.
As for the electronics, I'd get it home, open the back and check for a dead or missing battery and see if that was the problem.
After that if still not tone, look for any wires that are detached or even loose. Check the output jack first. Make a jumper wire; take some wire you may have and make jumper. Take maybe 10 or 12 inches of wire and make both ends bare so that around 1/4 inch or so shows. Now you can test connection points in the bass that look sus by using your jumper wire to bridge from one spot to another. If your bass makes noise again, you're good. Solder down the temporary wire to make the fix permanent and you're good to go. If the preamp is shot, one of those little Bartolini NTMB pre's would be nice in that bass. If you don't solder or don't feel comfortable with anything I've said past check for a dead or missing battery, take it to a guitar repair shop. Even if it came to that $100 for that bass is a good deal.
I'm jumping in about eight months after this thread kinda petered out, but I have my eye on a Riot-4 Session, so I"m wondering how this story ended. I've done enough research to know that this is an 18v system with both active pickups and an active 3-band preamp and a single volume control with a blend pot. That's all right up my alley, but I already have a roomful of basses. So at $425 in 2026, is it worth it? It is said to be in excellent condition with a working truss rod and includes a Roadrunner gig bag.
