Hope you can help with my stingray problem!

[Amazoman]

Hi,
Recently took delivery of my Stingray 4 (second hand off e-bay). Initially had a problem with crackles, weak and fading sound. I removed the control knob cover and gave the pots a squirt of switch cleaner. Also inserted a brand new battery. It appears to have cured some of the issues ie It plays, no crackles, volume knob controls the volume, BUT! The other three knobs seem to do absolutely nothing and makes no differenct to the tone or bass of the note being played.
Is it possible for the pre amp to have shot it and yet still play with reasonable volume? I expected the sound to be much punchier than it is.
When I opened up the control cavity all of the wires looked fine and attached but then again I am no expert and would not know how to test them.
Any suggestions what to do next?

[dub]

I wouldn't start trying to repair it yourself.
The best idea would be to take it to someone who is a guitar/bass tech.
There are a lot of variations of the musicman preamp see [url="http://www.musicmanbass.org/default.htm"]http://www.musicmanbass.org/default.htm[/url]

An alternative would be to buy a john east preamp and get that installed.

[Beedster]

[quote name='dub' post='626638' date='Oct 15 2009, 07:36 AM']I wouldn't start trying to repair it yourself.
The best idea would be to take it to someone who is a guitar/bass tech.
.[/quote]

+1 to the above, but i would recommend that you also contact the ebay seller and inform him/her of the problem and ask if they were aware of the problem and if they have a solution. Be polite and friendly in the first instance, but make it clear that you will contact Paypal with an 'Item not as described' claim if you do not get a satisfactory response. A good seller should suggest that you take it to a tech and establish exactly what the problem is and take it from there. Do not et any work done until you've mafe contact because if he says "OK, I'll refund you" it could get complicated if you have modified the instrument.
Of course, there may not be a problem, or it might be very simple to resolve, but it's best to be covered in case you need a new preamp, which will be at least £100 plus installation (£200 for an East, but the East Stingray preamp is actually better than the original so it's justified)
God luck
Chris

[GreeneKing]

Whereabouts are you? Someone may be able to give it a look.

Peter

[Amazoman]

Thanks for the advice.
I have contacted the seller who said that they would give me a full refund if required.

Because I really like the bass, I asked them about repair. I had already spoken to Strings and Things ,Brighton the UK ditributor for Musicman who have not given me a quote as such but an off the head figure of around £75.00 to replace a pre-amp. When I told the company who I bought the bass from this, they agrred to pay up to £75.00 towards the repair as long as the invoice was made out to them, for accounting purposes. They would then send me the money. If it comes to more than that I would have to stand the difference. If they are true to their word I think they are being fair as they are simply a company who deals in bankrupt stock and would have no idea if the guitar was faulty.

Strings and Thigs advised that I send it to them via a local .to me. music shop. I live between Derby and Nottingham and am going to talk to the people in Rattle and Drum, Derby.