Schecter Active Electronics Problem

Wonder if someone can help me out--my nephew has a Schecter Diamond Series Omen bass with active pickups. It has been giving him problems since the day he bought it last December, with fuzzy, distorted output that is maddeningly intermittent. We thought it was a bad battery and in fact when he made the first battery swap, it fixed the problem, but now if he replaces the battery it doesn't help. Any ideas as to what's going on? I looked inside and didn't see any obvious loose wires or anything like that, but things are so miniaturized in there that I really don't know what I'm looking for.

I'm also wondering if the bass can just be rewired to be passive--it's got a 2-band treble/bass EQ and I don't know if the pickups need to be actively powered or if they'll work passively.

Might be the connection points inside the 9V battery clip. They install the battery, then go inside the main compartment and ziptie everything TIGHT at the factory. This leaves barely any free wire for battery changes in the battery compartment. It's possible for the clip's solder connection to be broken/damaged while making a battery change. You might also wanna go inside the rear compartment and create some slack in the wires. There should be plenty. There is on mine.

Also, when I read your post 2 nights ago I looked at mine and noticed I'd left the cord plugged in again! :) This drains the battery in just a few hours. Perhaps that could be your culprit too.

I have an Omen 4 & Omen 5. Love them. I bought my 1st one at a Guitar Center in Chicago while repairing a damaged oil pipeline on the road. I knew buying it meant dragging it around in the work truck for several weeks to get it home but it sounded THAT good. :grin: The basswood used in these is so lightweight. My 4 string is 7 3/4lb, with the 5 string being 8 3/4. Great tonewood no matter what anyone says...and they've been using it in the near-$2K MusicMan Bongo's many years now too and they rarely get complaints.

I hope you can get it fixed.

Well, my nephew contacted Schecter and they were great--they said since the guitar was bought new it has a limited lifetime warranty and he could either send the bass back to Schecter or they'd send him a new preamp, which they suspect is the problem, ang he could take it to the GC where he bought it to get it fixed. He went for the latter option so as to not risk shipping damage.

I have a Schecter XXX guitar, made in Korea, probably about 5 or so years old, and it is superb in every respect. In fact, I am amazed at how good the quality is for something I got for $299 at a GC closeout!