Why are there so few Musicman Sterlings?

[warwickhunt]

If the pup screws are tensioned (not loose) it shouldn't but the Sterling does have a phantom coil... wonder if that is the culprit?  If it is brand new then you've nothing to worry about.  

 

[Graham A]

1 minute ago, warwickhunt said:

If the pup screws are tensioned (not loose) it shouldn't but the Sterling does have a phantom coil... wonder if that is the culprit?  If it is brand new then you've nothing to worry about.  

 

Apart that i purchased it from Thomann's, & it took three weeks to get here. Was hoping for a quick fix as i don't fancy the hassle of sending it back!! 😭

[Graham]

Is there a guitar shop/luthier local to you who could give it a check over to be sure? 

[Graham A]

20 minutes ago, Graham said:

Is there a guitar shop/luthier local to you who could give it a check over to be sure? 

There's one i use in North Yorkshire, but i know he was shielding last year due to corona virus. Not sure if he's taking on any jobs yet.

If i knew it was a simple fix, i could possibly leave it until after lockdown, but it's a brand new instrument. So it's either been damaged in transit ( no damage to boxes or case though ) or been faulty from the off.

Unplugged it sounds like something moving about in a cavity. I've plugged it in & run through a couple of songs with it, & it sounds great. All the controls, three way selector switch appear to be working as normal, but tilt the bass & you get the noise of whatevers moving amplified.

I've emailed Thomann's to report it. There's definitely something amiss, i'll just have to see what they say. As i say it's going to be a hassle to send it to them for repair & get it returned, probably wouldn't see it for months!! 

[Graham A]

Just put my ear to the bass again, & the noise does appear to be coming from the pickup, or should i say under the pickup.

Is there anything that become loose under the pickup & start moving around?

The facts that the controls, three way selector switch work, i'm hoping it's just something that's worked itself lose in transit.

[pineweasel]

You could just unscrew the pickup and take a look?

[Graham A]

14 minutes ago, pineweasel said:

You could just unscrew the pickup and take a look?

I'm tempted to do that, but i'm going to give Thomann's a call tomorrow & see what they advise as it's a brand new bass. I don't want to start poking around with it until i've spoken to them in case it's invalidates any claim.

[warwickhunt]

As I said earlier, the Sterling does have a phantom/third coil, that could have became detached.

 

[Graham A]

2 minutes ago, warwickhunt said:

As I said earlier, the Sterling does have a phantom/third coil, that could have became detached.

 

Thanks @warwickhunt

I've had a quick look at the phantom coil on the internet. On the pictures i've seen It looks like it's soldered to the bottom of the pickup, so could be a possibility.  

[Guest]

I’d concur with that - if you can’t see anything floating around in the control cavity then it can only be something under the pickups. It takes 5 minutes to pop the strings off, unscrew the pickup and find the root cause. Why not find out the issue and then contact Thomann if there is an issue? If it has become detached and given the VAT issues you may be better off waiting for lockdown to end, get a local luthier to fix it and negotiate a discount to cover it from Thomann.
You’ve now got me worried because I could no longer resist the temptation of the scarlet red 5 HH, fingers crossed that a) it turns up and b) nothing’s wrong...

[Graham A]

13 minutes ago, FDC484950 said:

I’d concur with that - if you can’t see anything floating around in the control cavity then it can only be something under the pickups. It takes 5 minutes to pop the strings off, unscrew the pickup and find the root cause. Why not find out the issue and then contact Thomann if there is an issue? If it has become detached and given the VAT issues you may be better off waiting for lockdown to end, get a local luthier to fix it and negotiate a discount to cover it from Thomann.
You’ve now got me worried because I could no longer resist the temptation of the scarlet red 5 HH, fingers crossed that a) it turns up and b) nothing’s wrong...

@FDC484950 That's probably not a bad idea mate, i've already sent them an email tonight just so it's logged.

After having a noodle i love the bass, i just find it galling that i paid around £2000, waited over three weeks for it to be delivered then find that there's an issue with it.

I'm sure you'll be fine, i've just think i've been unlucky....whatever the issue turns out to be!! 

Edited February 8, 2021 by Graham A

[Musicman20]

I tried a Sterling 4H that did this...years ago. It was an issue with the pickup and they had to order a new pickup. 

[Graham A]

10 hours ago, warwickhunt said:

As I said earlier, the Sterling does have a phantom/third coil, that could have became detached.

 

I've had the pickup out this morning, & like you suggested @warwickhunt the phantom coil was hanging loose, thankfully though all the wiring is still connected.

As you can see there is brown residue which has hardened which i assume is the glue they used to attach it.

To be honest I'm a bit suprised it's not attached by any screws.

The next question, is can i used any type of adhesive to glue it back on? 😂

Edited February 9, 2021 by Graham A

[Aidan63]

Can you contact EBMM support direct with a photo of that and ask them for their advice and copy Thomann in on the email

I'd hope that EBMM would reply pretty promptly and be helpful

[Graham A]

23 minutes ago, Aidan63 said:

Can you contact EBMM support direct with a photo of that and ask them for their advice and copy Thomann in on the email

I'd hope that EBMM would reply pretty promptly and be helpful

I've emailed Strings & Things as i believe that are the UK distributor for Musicman, & responsible for all things Musicman in the UK 👍

I suppose like everything in life glue fails, but looking at the serial number the bass was only manufactured in November 2020 so i had hoped it would have stayed stuck together a bit longer!

Edited February 9, 2021 by Graham A

[pineweasel]

Hopefully EBMM will recommend a suitable adhesive for you to fix it yourself. Annoying but at least you won't have to return it in that case.

[Graham A]

7 minutes ago, pineweasel said:

Hopefully EBMM will recommend a suitable adhesive for you to fix it yourself. Annoying but at least you won't have to return it in that case.

That's what i'm hoping for 👍

[Graham A]

Had a reply from Strings & Things.

They have emailed Musicman in the USA including the photo's i forwarded to them to ask what type of glue is used as their inhouse tech is unsure. They're hoping to get a reply overnight & will let me know, so for now i'll just have to wait.

[Guest]

Wow - I’ve never seen that before. Maybe a bad batch of glue. Hope you get it sorted soon. I’ve always done EBMM customer service to be excellent.

[slojo]

Heat the old glue until it melts then reattach?

[Graham A]

2 hours ago, slojo said:

Heat the old glue until it melts then reattach?

Not sure what I could use to heat the old glue. Don't fancy using a heat gun, probably cause damage to the phantom coil. 

[slojo]

You might have to melt the old glue to get it off anyway.

Maybe a temperature controlled soldering iron with a broad tip turned down to just melt the glue and no more?

[Graham]

To be honest, in this situation I'd hope for a replacement pickup from EBMM

[Graham A]

15 minutes ago, Graham said:

To be honest, in this situation I'd hope for a replacement pickup from EBMM

I'll see what they come back with.

They maybe of the view point that it could have possibly occured in transit, although no damage to boxes or case.

Looking at the photo again, it does appear that the coil has a lot of glue on the left hand side, & hardly any on the right as you look at it, so has it been glued correctly in the factory?

[Graham]

Be it damage in transit, or a poorly produced pickup in the first place is almost by the by. It should be in EBMM's reputational interests to ensure a new instrument - of any value, but particularly one >£2k - reaches the customer in the condition it left the factory.

If I worked at the manufacturer, I would also not want the customer to make remedial repairs to the instrument, it just leaves open the possibility of a product with my name on it, being out in the world and not being of the required quality.

The simplist solution here is to pull a pickup from stock, send it to the distributer and ask them to arrange for the pickup to be changed and the bass set-up again to factory standards.