Diablo Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 I bought a Hartke, an HK-4 I think, 4 string active bass off this very forum a while and but did nothing with it for a while. I recently dug it out to keep in drop D tuning for "Get Over It". It played horribly but I reset it all for neck, intonation, height etc and wow - what a sound. Compared to both my fenders it punches so well and is really clear. My P-bass plays beautifully in standard tuning but in drop D it just booms and sounds completely muddy. I'm a little upset a £60 second hand bass sounds so much better, but there you go. My only questions are that there are 4 knobs, I believe volume, pup balance, bass and treble - but I cannot find a manual anywhere. Any idea which are which on an active bass? Also the battery seemsto only last around 4 hours playing, is this normal for an active bass? Does it matter if you leave the amp lead plugged in? My other question - I'm worried I'm now an active convert, is it time to buy a decent Fender Deluxe Active PJ...? Cheers, Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiOgon Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 The battery will almost certainly be connected when a jack plug is in the bass - so yes it shortens battery life when left plugged in. As for the rest - up to you - personally I like passive Cheerz, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painy Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 4 hours is a VERY short battery life even left plugged in between uses. I do unplug my bass between sets when gigging etc. to avoid flattening the battery prematurely but, given that this means I'll generally change my batteries once a year if they need it or not, I'd say you may have a short of some sort. Maybe get a multi meter on it? As far as control knob layout is concerned there isn't really a standard as such so best thing to do is turn all the knobs down completely then turn them each all the way up and then down again separately to see what effect they have on the sound (obviously you'll need to identify the volume first and turn that up so you can hear what the others do). Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrammeFriday Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 Excellent advice from Painy. 4 hours! Sounds very much like a visit to your friendly local guitar repairs person is in order. To give you some point of comparison. Aguilar states a battery life of 324 hours for the OPB-3 pre-amp, which is their most powerful model. Something is definitely not right, there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrammeFriday Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 PS that's 324 'jack socket plugged in' hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowieBass Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 Yeah 9v batteries ought to last about 6 months if an active bass is played a couple of hours daily (and the instrument lead taken out afterwards) so the 4 hour lifespan means there's definitely something wrong. Unless the active tone controls don't do much it ought to be abundantly clear what does what, same for the volume and blend. I've got 4 active basses and a single passive and I like both types of tone control though I reckon if I were to get another Jazz it'd be a passive and obviously an active with a Stingray type... I can recommend the Squier Deluxe Jazz Active IV if you want an active bass with (on mine) totally silent single coil pups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 I swap my batteries and strings once a year now, all three at the same time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diablo Posted September 29, 2014 Author Share Posted September 29, 2014 Cheers all, something is clearly wrong. I know the knobs should be obvious, the main volume is but the others not so much. I guess that coupled with the battery issue means it is multimeter time. Hopefully a loose wire, dirt shorting something out etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 First thing to check is the Jack socket, make sure it does disconnect the battery when the lead is out as some basses don't, fit one that does if not for a few quid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molan Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 If the active treble and bass aren't obvious and the battery is running out so quickly then it sounds like there's a wiring fault somewhere. I've never really heard of a battery losing charge so quickly but I've definitely experienced tone controls that don't appear to do anything. In fact we had a, very expensive, bass in the shop recently with a balance control that was either all one pickup or the other or both in full. Effectively a pickup flick switch rather than a gradual blend. One of the pickups was really weedy and thin as well. Turned out to be a relatively simple re-wire and, I think, a pot replacement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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