Should I be worried?

[Sammajammadingdong]

Hello, TalkBass. I'm new here. I've just purchased a Blue Rock Bass as seen here

5 string bass guitar, Zebra wood body. Active pickups. | Reverb

for $225 plus shipping, and i didn't know too much about it before I bought it (which I realized could have really messed me up in the long run). Honestly I liked the body and how it resembles a Warwick a little, which I've always wanted. So I figured "Hey, I'll just buy the knockoff!" Smart right?

Well, I'm pleased with the bass. It plays very smoothly and sounds fantastic. The only thing is that I'm not sure if something is wrong with it, or if something is wrong with my bass amp, and this is where I need you guys. My bass amp is an old, used fender 30 watt, and it tends to give a little pop as I go into the lower register of the bass, namely slapping or popping on the B string. Is this due to the active pickups?

I've never owned a 5 string bass, or one with two active humbuckers. This thing is gnarly. I've turned down the volume on the bass and up on the amp to get the pop away, but I want some expert advice

td;lr sound pops through bass amp, is it the bass or the amp?

 

[LoveThatBass]

Hello, TalkBass. I'm new here. I've just purchased a Blue Rock Bass as seen here

5 string bass guitar, Zebra wood body. Active pickups. | Reverb

for $225 plus shipping, and i didn't know too much about it before I bought it (which I realized could have really messed me up in the long run). Honestly I liked the body and how it resembles a Warwick a little, which I've always wanted. So I figured "Hey, I'll just buy the knockoff!" Smart right?

Well, I'm pleased with the bass. It plays very smoothly and sounds fantastic. The only thing is that I'm not sure if something is wrong with it, or if something is wrong with my bass amp, and this is where I need you guys. My bass amp is an old, used fender 30 watt, and it tends to give a little pop as I go into the lower register of the bass, namely slapping or popping on the B string. Is this due to the active pickups?

I've never owned a 5 string bass, or one with two active humbuckers. This thing is gnarly. I've turned down the volume on the bass and up on the amp to get the pop away, but I want some expert advice

td;lr sound pops through bass amp, is it the bass or the amp?

Sounds like one of the output tube sockets needs retentioning and the extra power draw when hitting a low note causing some arcing. Other things could be a bad solder joint on a Power cap, tube socket etc. among others

 

[Growlmonkee]

There isn't an honest way to tell what it is, one thing of note...there's more wattage being used on those low notes, the little Fender, or it's speaker may not be up to the B string. Two things to check..... first turn the volume quite low on both the amp, and the bass, see if you still get the pop. The second thing I would try is go to a music store, and ask to plug into a decent sized bass rig, see how it sounds there, there is a chance the pickups on the bass are crazy hot, that would not be a surprise, there are couple of tricks to calm them down, without changing them, if they sound good. The simplest one is to lower the pickups way down, just make sure the pickup screws are not so long that they poke through the back of the bass first. I have a P bass that sounds best with the pickup almost buried in the body, generally, I do not recommend that though. The other tricks to calm down hot pickups, without spending much, involve resistors soldered in, and may ruin the tone, ...anyway we don't yet know it's the pickups. Welcome to TB, and hope you solve it, cool looking bass!