BSR4EG Electronic issue? Need Help!!

[jeremy jones]

I'm having some strange things happen with my BSR4EG.. It started cutting out like the battery was dying. It sounded like alot of static and the bass volume would go up and down.

I took off the back panel and replaced the battery.
Now when I plug my bass in no sound comes out at all.. unless I pull up the volume knob then it sounds perfect.

I took the battery back out and there was some crud on the contact so I cleaned it off. It worked until I unplugged it from the amp and replugged it in. Now the same thing is happening! It seems like the contact on the battery might not be working right. Its def not my amp or any cords.. I tried several different ones with the same results..

Any suggestions?

[Tim Bishop]

Have you cleaned and/or checked out your input jack on the bass?

[Tim Bishop]

Originally Posted by jeremy jones

.... unless I pull up the volume knob then it sounds perfect.
....

This makes sense: This will bypass the pre-amp and put you in Passive Mode and explains why you are getting sound.

[Tim Bishop]

Originally Posted by jeremy jones

....I took the battery back out and there was some crud on the contact so I cleaned it off....

What exactly does this "crud" look like? Makes me wonder if there was a bad battery leak at some point. I would check out the battery wiring and surrounding areas carefully and determine if there is any corrosion damage.

[jeremy jones]

Thanks Tim!

Ok here are some pics..If i touch the battery contact while its plugged in it makes static noise.. It even came back on once and then died again.






I think the wiring may have gone bad on the connection. You can see the bluish green corrosion and also a brow ring around the negative side. I do have a soldering iron.. this seems like it could be an easy fix

[Tim Bishop]

Ahh, that's what I suspected. I would replace the battery cap and wiring. It is an easy fix and if you are comfortable doing it, you'll be good to go before you know it.

[jeremy jones]

So cleaned off the contact with a machinist stone and they defiantly need to be replaced...The connections are all loose but I got it working again..the connections seem really touchy.

I think I'll take it into a local shop and have them solder it I don't have the tools to do this.

Thanks for looking into this for me!

[Ken Smith]

First off, be careful when you take it into a 'shop' as they are not trained on this circuit. They can only fix the obvious. How is your Jack? Some cabels wear out the inner spring from having oversized tips. Then, normal jacks are loose and cut out from the inner spring being stripped. What brand cable have you used most with this bass?

[Tim Bishop]

Originally Posted by jeremy jones

So cleaned off the contact with a machinist stone and they defiantly need to be replaced...The connections are all loose but I got it working again..the connections seem really touchy.

I think I'll take it into a local shop and have them solder it I don't have the tools to do this.

Thanks for looking into this for me!

Why not just locate a new battery cap with new wiring?

All you would need to do is cut far enough behind the damaged battery cap (including a determined amount of the original wire behind the damaged cap). Then just splice on the new cap and new wiring to the good/remaining wires. Make sense? It would be a very easy fix, however, if you are not comfortable doing this, then find someone qualified that is.