Bass problem. Help!

[stupid_mofo]

Hey Softies!
This is the first time i'm starting a thread, and i've decided to post about a problem i have on my bass.

I got this bass second hand from a dude here on soft. It's a sweet bass:Yamaha | BB604 Nathan East 4-String Bass. And it sounded fine when i first got it(yeah i tweaked around to test it out and stuff). But recently, i heard this annoying buzzing sound(sounds kinda like a distorter put the max) whenever i max the bass and volume. At first i thought it was my puny smarvo amp, but when i brought it out to jam, it didn't even work! No sound coming out at all. When i brought it back home, my bass worked again!(with the heavy distortion present). Second time i brought it to jam, same thing happened again (I used the studio's bass guitar after a few minutes and it worked perfectly with the studio amp, so i don't think it's the amp). This is so frustrating, i've tried changing the battery but there's no difference.

Can someone please please please help me out, i wanna found out:
1: Why is there 'free unwanted distortion'.
2: Why doesn't the bass work on a studio amp.

Thanks in advanced all! Please ask if you're still unclear about my current predicament.

 

[jbarks]

Could be a variety of reasons. Bad pickups, bad grounding, bad wiring—best if you take it to a tech

 

[ashleyj722]

reply bass amp

Is your amp a bass Amp or a guitar amp? If you are using a guitar amp you may of cracked the speakers. That might be causing it. Plus those big studio amps take a while to warm up which maybe why your not hearing anything.

 

[stupid_mofo]

Thanks for the replies guys, appreciate it.
I'm sure my amp is a bass amp. and I tried for half an hour in the studio. Usually it doesn't take that long to warm up right? i never had this problem with my previous bass(i used a different amp though, but sadly i got rid of that the old amp). Oh yes another thing, is there any way to make the gold hardware(tuners etc.) on my bass to shine again? Now they just look like crap. haha.

Also, where should i take my bass for repairs? I stay at Bedok so.. somewhere in the east would be perfect. I heard Beez is really good though. And he's a really friendly guy, i talked to him the other day cos i was in the area and i decided to check him out(i didn't bring my bass).

 

[Indigo_blues]

Could be the battery in the bass.. you sure its a new one?

 

[stupid_mofo]

Yeah bro, i'm sure it's a new one. Changed it the moment the problem started. But it didn't help.

 

[alanchia]

could be problem at jack. yeah may as well send to beez for comments.

 

[Indigo_blues]

I think you need to isolate the problem to the bass or the amp first.. right now its not clear which is spoilt..

 

[lordie]

weird it could be the pre-amp ;p

 

[kimura]

I think it's a pick-up problem& probably the wiring or something. Did you ask the previous owner if the bass had suffered any knocks or falls?

 

[Morlock]

if I did the same to my 15w amp I also get distortion thats normal small bass amps are not designed to handle max bass and volume. thats ok.

what kind of amp does your studio has? I bet the studio bass is passive. might just be a connection issue on the studio. some bass amps have a different connection for active basses and passive bass.

 

[AlNino10]

The bass is prolly too good, nathan east doesnt like coming out from poor amps.

Nah kidding. try fiddling around with the amp. im pretty sure the distorted tone doesnt come out when the volume of the amp's low yeah? so find a compromise between the amp and the bass.

 

[lordie]

maybe the bass too hot and the amp cannot handle and decide to give up?

 

[stupid_mofo]

Thanks for all the help guys. I guess i should just send the bass to Beez or someone to get it looked at.
Alnino10: I didn't tweak around with the volume of the amp but if the volume of the bass is low, there's no 'distortion'.

 

[liqnitro]

maybe the bass too hot and the amp cannot handle and decide to give up?

XD

stupid_mofo: Do keep us updated regarding the diagnose.

 

[shinobi]

do you bring the same cable from home to the studio? if your bass cocks up when u use a different cable it could be a problem with the jack.

or it might be a grounding/wiring issue. perhaps the wiring of the electronics in your bass is screwed up.

since the studio amp is not spoilt, that means there is a problem with your bass. whether or not there is a problem with your amp is another matter but let us solve one problem at a time.

the problem is that there are many problems that can have the same symptoms. so unless any of us can actually see or handle the bass there's no way we can solve it per se, other than giving some speculative suggestions which may not be of much help at all.

 

[Morlock]

Personally, I dont think it is a problem with the bass that is just my opinion.

Distortion on amp is usually because of blown amp speakers.

no sound from studio amp but has sound on practice amp at home means either there is a problem with the amp in studio or there was some sort of wrong config with the amp or amp could not handle an active bass with hot output

wiring problems and cable problems dont usually produces this kind of symptoms. usually it would just intermittently produces the symptoms no matter what amp you use.

 

[lordie]

hmm.. did u turn the volume knob on the bass when u go to the studio? did u plug in the cable to the right input?

 

[fretless6]

As much as I was thinking wat lordie was saying was abit... O.O

Someone bought a wah pedal from me many years back, calling me up over the next few days complaining that the pedal didn't work.

1) He plugged the instrument into pedal output and amp to the pedal input.
2) Tried to run the wah without a battery.
3) Called me panicing that he found MAYONNAISE inside the wah lol (lubricant that's on the potentiometer)

 

[lordie]

it does happens once in a while even for season players ;p it just happened to me last week *grinz*