I don't know about the system in your guitar specificly, but a dead battery in an active pre amp will make a guitar produce similar crappy sounds. Try dropping a new 9v battery into it and see what happens. If you don't have one on hand, you can atleast check the battery- if it doesn't make your tounge hurt a little bit and leave a bad taste on it, it's no good. Seriously, a $3 battery is much better than spending... well, a lot of cash just to get it checked out. If it still sounds the same way, atleast you only spent $3 on it.