Active Preamp seems to have Failed, Looking for Advice

Has anyone else ran in to this issue with active preamp basses?
I have had an active sterling ray4 for about a year now and for some reason out of the blue I get a very ugly distorted sound every time I play lower notes.

I have tried both changing the battery and lowering the pickup height, this happens through a 400 Watt ampeg as well as practice amps, and does not happen with my passive J-bass. It has a bit of road wear from gigging.

Has anyone else ever had a similar thing happen to a bass with an active preamp?