Ibanez SRX400 issue

So, my 199-something SRX400 bass is having an issue, and I'm not sure whether it's just me needing to fuck with my amp EQ or what.

The top E string when played through the pickup is super loud, boomy, and distorted, and the other strings are quiet and tinny. Even though the action is perfect (except one dead spot) every note through the goddamn thing is buzzy.

What should I do? I might replace the pickups, but I won't trash the thing altogether. Me and Westley have been through a lot, I'm attached.

EDIT: Tried EQ. No bueno.

Dumbass response: check pickup heights! It looks like a big old MM style p'up with a couple of adjuster screws to either side. Make sure something... (person, contact, pressure) has not pushed the top end further into the body.

I noticed a slight loss in tone on my Stratocaster once... a band mate prompted me to look down and I had smashed the pickguard, shoved the neck p'up into the body cavity and the guitar was covered in blood...

What? It happens!

Troubleshoot this by winding the top end closer to the strings and the bottom end further away... if tone regulates, this could be a fix... if not, check wiring to pickup, or how notes change while playing an open string and turning the tone and volume pots... further... tap on the poles of the pickup while plugged in... tinniness is caused from being further from the source, you could be picking up the top string volumes through the lower end poles of the pickup.

Good Luck!

that's a weird problem, a short in the windings would kill all your strings... or should

are all your control pots functioning normally? is it a battery bass with active crap in it?

battery bass from the 90s. single MM pickup. the volume knob works, but the plastic piece shattered years ago.

Obviously you have checked the battery isn't dead. Have you tried wiggling the battery while strumming notes to see if you get better reactions to suggest possible loose or broken wire in battery clip?

Yep. I just put a new 9-volt in, the wires all looked ok.

change the battery again just for the hell of it.... is there a little PCB with the active circuitry on it? because if there is maybe a semiconductor became unseated -- OH! and are the pots mounted to the PCB if there is one? gut her and really look it over to understand where the potential PHYSICAL failure points are besides just wire runs, those are the places that may be causing the problem...

9 times out of 10 you are looking at wear and tear on stuff like this and the weak links are the ones that break... active electronics are pretty simple circuits like a guitar boost pedal, not a lot to fail electrically speaking, but there are knobs and flimsy sockets and boards to get stressed

ok, i'm gonna take him apart later.

by any chance, could it have to do with output jack?

make a tube of fine grade sandpaper and poke it in your hole and give it a tickle... I live near a beach and get some issues with salt corrosion...

I mean the hole of your output jack...

have you been particularly PUNK with this bass recently, or on the other side of the coin, have you been playing a different bass for a while and neglecting this one?

by any chance, could it have to do with output jack?

maybe, I don't know what the circuit looks like in an Ibanez bass.... tis a weird symptom for an output jackissue on a passive, but on an active? not sure! I don't usually see a lot of these for teching as I mainly tech for friends and they're not into this sort of thing

make a tube of fine grade sandpaper and poke it in your hole and give it a tickle... I live near a beach and get some issues with salt corrosion...

good thought.... he could also tighten the jack up and retension the inner TR clip part while he's at it, never hurts

I mean the hole of your output jack...

ahaha... Iw as about to say that as I was reading the the 1st sentence

Is there a clue in this?

Ibanez SRX400 Bass SRX Soundgear Xtreme basses were designed for players who want an easy-to-play bass with simple controls and "beyond massive" pickups that can pump out loud, heavy rock. Period. However, for players for whom simple and powerful just aren't simple and powerful enough, we've added the new "plug in and pulverize" SRX400's. Loaded with a single PFR-AL alnico magnet pickup and the new PHAT II active bass boost, SRX400 basses prove that ridiculously loud and great tone aren't mutually exclusive terms.

Series Features: Powerful and simple. Designed for the heavy rock bassist.

Super high-output passive full-range pickups with exposed pole pieces give a new meaning to the word loud.

Simple to operate 2-band EQ or PHAT II active bass boost. So you play more bass and less with the tone controls.

no, i haven't wrecked it, and i got a new bass almost exclusively because of this issue, so it was going on when it was still my only bass.

Never said wreck. It sounds a bit like I am annoying you the way you responded then. Trying to help here....

You mentioned a broken plastic knob on a volume pot.

I asked in case this occurred during a live setting, perhaps an impact that caused the knob to break. This level of impact would place stress on the pot. In looking at wiring diagrams and images of SR 400 basses, (yes I know yours is a SRX400 and they are different, but the volume and tone pots seem to be mounted through a circuitboard.

http://www.kolumbus.fi/juha.seppanen/musa/evki/ibabass/ib05.jpg

It there was enough impact to crack a knob, the board could have been fractured also.

I have broken and fixed a ton of gear over the years and used to work in a guitar shop and have been exposed to all kinds of damage and issues...

If you do not mind me asking, how long has it been like this and how long since you played it on a regular basis?

The knob broke 'cause I dropped it, like an idiot. It's been doing this since... September? Last time I played it was three weeks ago. Stopped playing it regularly around Christmas. I dropped it... a year ago? year and a half?

EDIT: I had it checked then and the pot was fine.

found this

Sound Quality: Ive ran this one thru several different types of amps and cabs and ive recently settled on a Lab Systems Mosfet Powered Semi Valve Amp and a Lab Systems quad box. I like a tone thats not too bright yet cuts through the mix and bass is not merely a presence but the notes can be heard clearly without being twangy and i get it through this bass. Now through my current rig im able to get this . The original pickup on this bass was very wooly with the lows being dull and boomy, i changed the pickup to an EMG 35DC and lo and behold its got nice deep lows that cut through great. Also the original strings on it were elixir and they were always very bright without a punch , making it sound like a big guitar rather than a bass. I always keep trying different strings but everything else has sounded better than the original strings.

interesting. the lows were fine for quite some time.... i wonder if i had a fluke one. i want to put either an EMG into it, or if i can save more, a Seymour Duncan?

Not sure otherwise.

If wires are clear intact and crackle free, the battery doesn't wig out if shaken while playing notes, the volume pot doesn't wiggle or feel loose, the strings are constant with a brand you always used on this bass, and your pots aren't crackling, there is no surface corrosion on either the battery clip or the input jack, short of adjusting the pickup angle to pull away from the E and closer to the G, and if the issue is constant and not something that comes or goes, I cannot find anything else to suggest.

Would pay to ask a local guitar shop for the number of a repair guy, or hope that someone else on here has more experience with actives and Ibanez basses that may be able to shed more light.

The volume pot does crackle, but the GC tech told me it was just dust and to clear it out daily with a spray. The spray was $50 per tiny can, so I didn't buy it. I did use a cleaning cloth, and it stopped for a bit. Then it resumed and I can't stop it.

NOTE: it resumed BEFORE the knob cracked.