Unwanted Distortion

Michael J

Michael J

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So, my Corvette Proline 5 is creating unwanted distortion, regardless of the amplifier or preamp. I love this bass to death, but im very troubled by this. Its distortion is very mild, but its definitly there. Sooooooo... any ideas?
 
Gee I dunno mate.Lower the strings a tad?Get the preamp checked for any suss components?Check all wiring?As you can tell,I'm guessing.
 
It could be many things, depending on the type of distortion. It might be the preamp on your bass, your pickups, or even the setup that's not right. My suggestion is to get your bass to a qualified luthier to take a look at it. From here to be honest with you there's not much I can tell you about it, since I can't hear it and do anything to it. And I truly don't want to guide you in the wrong direction. Feel free to contact me by e-mail if you want to know who is the distributor in your area.
 
hahaha... I was gonna say...

I might just use this as an excuse to get some sweet barts and a glockenklang pre amp...
 
Maybe the battery is on its way out man?

A tad bit of distortion and loss of volume is usually the tell-tale sign of a dying battery.
 
Yeah, Im gonna double check and triple check the battery next.
 
Doc said:
hahaha... I was gonna say...

I might just use this as an excuse to get some sweet barts and a glockenklang pre amp...
Click to expand...


Mate, the only problem I've ever had with a preamp (heavily distorting preamp... defective...) was on my Sandberg that has a.... Glockenklang preamp.


Hopefully, Sandberg changed the preamp for free...
 
Man, both of my RockBasses (with active MEC preamps) are cleaner than a new pair of underpants.

I was gonna say my underpants, but then it wouldn't mean very much.
 
Switched the battery to no avail....

This sucks so much.
 
Sorry to hear it Doc. No crackling from the pots? Input jack ok? Bad cable? Do you have an internal gain to turn down? I don't know man, keep us posted.
 
if this is a new developement i'd reccomend giving tyler at DBG a call and if he can't help, finding a good place to take it to.

OR...

if you've been wanting a different pre, this sounds like a great time to give it a go.
 
No cracking from pots, very obvious in fingerstyle but slap covers it well. It shows up with all cables, battery change does nothing, input jacks fine, happens on all amps and pres.... i dunno anymore.
 
What sucks most is im forced to use my Musicmaster and my trashy Ibanez fretless...
 
I'm having a similar problem with my thumb - after many many hours of playing it without any problems - it has started to distort when I play relatively hard on the strings (particularly the low B)... at first I tried lowering the pickups, then turning down the preamp level, but it has gotten to the point where the output is lower through the active preamp than when it is in passive mode, and in passive, it doesn't distort at all...???

sounds like the preamp doesn't it....?

I can't see any wiring issues, although both the wires that connect the battery to the board have come off before and I've had to solder them back on...
 
Found the problem!

The nut was too high... making it buzz and creating a distortion sound. Very interesting, last thing I expected...
 
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