Hi all,

I'm having a problem with my S1 S2 Hybrid Graphite Bass, it's distorting like mad, it happens with both pickups.
Does anyone know if this is the pre amp or one of the pots?

Thanks,
Darren

The King bass circuit has a trim pot. It is generally set really high, however you can take off the electronics cover and wind it back a little. I had to do this to mine for my old Ashdown rig

I don't know if you have a similar preamp circuit. but might be worth taking a look

Thanks for the reply Garbo but my circuit doesn't have a trim pot. Nothing looks to be blown on the circuit, a GMT Pre-Set 1, the pots seem to work ok, volume, balance and tone even with the distortion present. I did have a lot of oxidisation on the battery connectors that I've now cleaned up. The sound is clean and very quiet without the batteries in.

Does sound like a battery/connection issue, my S2 distorts like mad when the batteries are running low. I guess you'd need to put it on a meter to see if 9v is running through the wires.

Without the batteries in do all the pots still work ok?

Thanks Danny,

I did exactly this and found there was no voltage. I opened up the battery connectors and the oxidisation had rotted the negative wire in both connectors. I've managed to solder it back together but the wire is very brittle and constantly snaps when I try to strip it back. The same goes for the earth wire from the bridge and one of the earth wires on the jack socket which also snapped off while I was inside the electrics. The wiring needs an overhaul but at least it working until I get the parts and some free time next week.

Thank you both for your help.

Hey that's great, I'm no expert but I do like to tinker on the basses, mostly how I've learned. Just replace the wires, it'll be a fun little project and I bet it will sound great afterwards.

Yup, it's caught me out a couple of times with my Empathy too. Once, I was convinced it was a problem with the tweeter in my combo - it sounded like a physical issue with the driver. Took the whole thing to bits, all to no avail. I forget what prompted me to try changing the battery, possibly using another amp and the problem was still there. New battery, no problem!