niceguyhomer Posted September 10, 2010 Share Posted September 10, 2010 My lovely Shuker has started eating batteries and goes through a set every 3-4 weeks. I've sent an email to Jon about it asking for his advice but haven't had a reply yet. I'm thinking of ditching the preamp and converting the bass to passive. I asked Jon to convert a series/parallel switch to a preamp bypass when he put my Wizard pups in and I often use the bass in passive mode cos it sounds wonderful. Only problem is I don't have any EQ when I do. Has anyone else gone down this road? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted September 10, 2010 Share Posted September 10, 2010 (edited) I run East pre's in both. One of my basses goes through batteries in less than 2 weeks - the other lasts months and months- and I need to sort the circuit out at some point. I have lived with it for long enough though and it is only as battery. I will get round to it, though. Some say, don't run the bass as full pickup output volume, but I haven't tried that. I take two basses out anyway. Passive? it works like a normal Fender but sounds much better than most anyway. You have a tone control but I always have that wide open. I would never have a problem finishing off a gig in passive as the basses sound inherently good, IMO. That is the ptroblem with exotic woods and combinations and relying too much on a pre amp... you might miss the fact that the bass doesn't sound too hot without a pre. I think builders should always build a bass that will work well through the woods alone. Sadowsky, for example, is normally good at picking and sticking with his core woods, IMV. Although, having said that, a recent example I heard was nothing to write home about and could definitely could have done with a decent pre amp in it to give some ...err distinction, or anything..!! Edited September 10, 2010 by JTUK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted September 10, 2010 Share Posted September 10, 2010 The battery for my Bartolini's is good for at least 150 gigs. Obviously there is a problem which needs to be fixed, but I'd get the bass looked at before you do anything drastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toasted Posted September 10, 2010 Share Posted September 10, 2010 I've never had a preamp drain the battery that fast... stupid question - you're not leaving the cable plugged in are you Al? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deep Thought Posted September 10, 2010 Share Posted September 10, 2010 Actually I've sent Jon several emails lately that he's not replied to-I thought it was just me. He's always been very good in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niceguyhomer Posted September 10, 2010 Author Share Posted September 10, 2010 [quote name='Toasted' post='951524' date='Sep 10 2010, 09:44 AM']I've never had a preamp drain the battery that fast... stupid question - you're not leaving the cable plugged in are you Al?[/quote] No Joe - I'm really anal about stuff like that, as soon as I stop playing I always whip it out...ahem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niceguyhomer Posted September 10, 2010 Author Share Posted September 10, 2010 [quote name='Deep Thought' post='951563' date='Sep 10 2010, 10:06 AM']Actually I've sent Jon several emails lately that he's not replied to-I thought it was just me. He's always been very good in the past.[/quote] I got a reply from Jon this morning - we're just arranging for me to go across to his workshop. Hoping I don't need a new preamp cos I is skint ATM innit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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