Sterling Stingray intermittently conks out

[Little Helios]

I have an issue with a brand new Sterling Stingray Ray4 and am trying to decide what to do about it. I don't tinker with bass innards myself, but I would like to understand what the problem is. I'm completely new to the world of active basses and trying to figure them out!

 

It always works fine when first plugged in, but then it dies on me after a while. It might be three minutes, or it might be an hour. Some days it seems to behave itself and is fine. The sound usually starts to go a bit crackly and distorted for a minute or two before it conks out, and it doesn't just cut out suddenly, it fades away as if someone was turning the volume down. There's no sound at all once it's gone, but after being left alone for a few hours it magically works again.

 

The battery seemed like the obvious thing to try, but a new one makes no difference. I've also tried different cables.

 

Although it was sold as B-stock it is under warranty, and the retailer has offered to courier it back and fix it for me. But it also crossed my mind that if it's simple to fix I could just save the hassle and take it to a local tech, and get a proper set-up done at the same time.

 

It's such a lovely bass, I definitely want to hang on to it.

 

[BabyBlueSound]

If the new battery gets drained rather quickly, you might have a short that depletes the charge over time.

 

Or a busted capacitor in the electronics. Or some wire/solder joint with a hairline crack.

 

I know you said you don't tinker, but I have a suggestion. Open it up, try to verify visually if nothing is touching together or broken. If you have isopropyl alcohol, spray some gently on the electronics and wipe everything over a few times with a gentle brush. Make sure the alcohol doesn't touch the body/finish, not sure if it can damage it but better be safe. If nothing changes, get it to that tech and let us know what it was! 

[ezbass]

5 hours ago, Little Helios said:

Although it was sold as B-stock it is under warranty, and the retailer has offered to courier it back and fix it for me.

Send it back, get it fixed. It is tempting to try and see if it’s a simple fix, but if this is on offer, just do it. It hopefully removes the fault returning if you manage a seemingly easy repair.

[BabyBlueSound]

Oh sorry I missed the warranty part with my morning eyes, yeah just do that then!

[itu]

You have tried a new battery so opening few screws is not a problem.

 

Open the covers and take a few (sharp) pictures. You may be able to see what was fixed afterwards.

[Hellzero]

The "It's certainly not a big deal and an easy fix" is a sentence I can't here anymore as I've heard it too many times when I had my own workshop (as well as my father when he was an independent mechanic, so nothing new here).

 

At the end, my answer was always the same: "Go on, help yourself, the tools are there."

 

And guess what the embarrassed answer always was...

 

If it's under warranty and you know nothing about electronics, but have done all you could do, which is putting a new battery and it's still not working, do what's been proposed to you by the store: Send it back and get it fixed.

 

This is what warranty is for. 😉

[Little Helios]

Thank you for your very sensible responses. I have had some anxiety about sending it off, but I accept it is the only reasonable option.

 

I was just curious as to what might be wrong, for the benefit of educating myself. My experience of passive basses is that they cut out suddenly rather than fading out, so I wondered why it is that active basses do that. But I appreciate there could be any number of causes for it.

 

 

[mcnach]

9 hours ago, Little Helios said:

I have an issue with a brand new Sterling Stingray Ray4 and am trying to decide what to do about it. I don't tinker with bass innards myself, but I would like to understand what the problem is. I'm completely new to the world of active basses and trying to figure them out!

 

It always works fine when first plugged in, but then it dies on me after a while. It might be three minutes, or it might be an hour. Some days it seems to behave itself and is fine. The sound usually starts to go a bit crackly and distorted for a minute or two before it conks out, and it doesn't just cut out suddenly, it fades away as if someone was turning the volume down. There's no sound at all once it's gone, but after being left alone for a few hours it magically works again.

 

The battery seemed like the obvious thing to try, but a new one makes no difference. I've also tried different cables.

 

Although it was sold as B-stock it is under warranty, and the retailer has offered to courier it back and fix it for me. But it also crossed my mind that if it's simple to fix I could just save the hassle and take it to a local tech, and get a proper set-up done at the same time.

 

It's such a lovely bass, I definitely want to hang on to it.

 

 

Did you try other basses, to make sure it's not the amp?

[Little Helios]

7 hours ago, mcnach said:

 

Did you try other basses, to make sure it's not the amp?

 

Yes. Amp is fine.