Sterling bass SUB Series.

[Alfonso Polo]

Got me an Sterling SUB a few months ago... It worked and sounded great.... For a while....
Recently, for some reason, every time I play the E string I get a horrible distortion coming out of it, ESPECIALLY when I crank up the bass and treble knobs on it (just the way I like it) even with a brand new battery!
At first I though it was maybe a blown speaker (I have a classic Ampeg 8X10), but even when I use my headphones I get that "distortion" (I also use a VOX Valvetronix vt120+ that I use at a low volume for practice at home) and still get the "distortion" with it, same E string.
The rest of the strings sound good, it only happens with that E string and like I mentioned before, when I crank the bass and treble knobs.
Faulty pre-amp maybe? Anyone with some input please?
A friend of mine told me that it could be the pick-up itself....
Thanks!

 

[EagleMoon]

The battery could be dying.

 

[Alfonso Polo]

It still doing it with a brand new battery.

 

[Eddie Jones]

It still doing it with a brand new battery.

I had that happen on a mid-priced bass (Vintage VJ-74 Re-Issue). The pickup was angled upwards really close to the "E" string. I adjusted the pickup and the distortion went away. Check out how close your pickup is to the string on that side.

 

[Alfonso Polo]

I had that happen on a mid-priced bass (Vintage VJ-74 Re-Issue). The pickup was angled upwards really close to the "E" string. I adjusted the pickup and the distortion went away. Check out how close your pickup is to the string on that side.

I will give it a try. Thanks Eddie!

 

[Yahboy]

That's is normal syndrome once you turn up bass knob on Sub ray bass. Factory preamp issue.

 

[Alfonso Polo]

That's is normal syndrome once you turn up bass knob on Sub ray bass. Factory preamp issue.

Aaaaaah! I knew it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jpaulo]

I also had to lower my pickup a lot on the E side not to get that distortion...
Hope it works for you, the bass is comfortable to play and has a nice tone.

btw - the pup is so hot I can remove the battery and it will hear it with just a little bump on the gain...

 

[Alfonso Polo]

I also had to lower my pickup a lot on the E side not to get that distortion...
Hope it works for you, the bass is comfortable to play and has a nice tone.

Yeah I really like it! The arm is so smooth and easy to play with, overall it's a great bass but then again, that started noise issue started happening.