9 volt Battery

[BassLine4Jesus]

HI Bass Chat, I just bought my entry level Ibanez and It's great but it takes a 9 volt battery. Replacing the battery isn't so much a problem but I was wondering if the sound of the guitar will slowly diminish as the battery gets low or will it 'conk' out all at once..so to speak?

Shed some energy  on this battery question!

Thank You

[Silvia Bluejay]

On my basses a dying battery causes the sound to begin resembling a fart, and the output volume decreases. Perhaps others just experience the decrease in volume. Always best to put in a new battery at the beginning of the gig, if you are in any doubt.

Unless you're gigging for three hours every night, batteries do last quite a while, but do remember to unplug the lead from your bass (after muting the amp) every time you stop playing for more than a few minutes. Active electronics are connected to the bass' socket, and when the lead's jack is in, it will power them and discharge the battery even if you're not playing.

[BreadBin]

It's also worth noting that batteries should be removed before putting a bass into storage as they can leak over time.

[dmccombe7]

I always use Duracell batteries and tend to get a good few months before i change a battery that's with me playing every night at home, rehearsals and gigs.

I don't check the battery when i remove it.

My basses are a little different. With some i notice a tone change altho very slight and not sure i would notice it on a gig but def at home.

Other basses the volume starts to decrease or i hear a little distortion in the tone. At that point i have checked the battery on removal and they are down below 9V off load. A new battery is typically 9.5V or more off-load.

Some basses i can simply put into passive mode and i have no active EQ other basses simply don't work without a battery. Best to know that before you gig. If the latter then replace battery far more regularly as you will have no fallback position if battery goes.

Dave

Edited April 4, 2018 by dmccombe7

[Cato]

3 hours ago, Silvia Bluejay said:

 

 but do remember to unplug the lead from your bass (after muting the amp) every time you stop playing for more than a few minutes. Active electronics are connected to the bass' socket, and when the lead's jack is in, it will power them and discharge the battery even if you're not playing.

This is the single most important bit of advice when it comes to batteries in basses.

As long as you follow it a new battery should be good for several months.

I've heard people on here say that they change batteries once a year whether the bass needs it or not but I suspect that those people are using more than one bass over the 12 month period, if you're using the same bass all the time I'm not sure that you'll get that much.

Edited April 4, 2018 by Cato

[bubinga5]

Like BlueyJay said. Unplug when not in use. The jack into the socket will activate the preamp, regardless of if your playing it or not.. Thus draining the battery. 

[Delberthot]

1 hour ago, Cato said:

This is the single most important bit of advice when it comes to batteries in basses.

As long as you follow it a new battery should be good for several months.

I've heard people on here say that they change once a year whether the bass needs it or not but I suspect that those people are using more than one bass over the 12 month period, if you're using the same bass all the time I'm not sure that you'll get that much.

I'm one of those people who use one bass for rehearsals and gigs and change the battery once a year. Apart from Hogmanay and auditioning drummers I've only been using my Sterling. I checked the battery at the last gig a couple of weeks ago and it still read 8.79 volts.

It will be getting its yearly battery change, polish and cleaning of the fretboard on Friday night along with a new set of strings

[Tokalo]

One thing I discovered is that not all 9v batteries are equal.

When I got my used Squier Jag (the full length version, with active bass boost), I found the battery cover kept popping open and poking me in the belly. A few months later, I changed the old Asda battery for a branded one. Suddenly, i could play the bass without being stabbed. On inspection, the asda battery is a couple of mm wider than the Energiser, just enough difference not to fit in the compartment.

Who knew?!

[Silvia Bluejay]

True. I think Duracells and Energizers are slightly oversized too, IIRC.

[BassLine4Jesus]

Thank you. I didn't expect all these replies. I thought it was going to be like "dead battery means you can't play" 

Lots of ideas here. I most likely will never gig. But it will be at the top of my mind to unplug the instrument cord from the bass when I set her down. 

 

[musicbassman]

49 minutes ago, Tokalo said:

On inspection, the asda battery is a couple of mm wider than the Energiser, just enough difference not to fit in the compartment.

Some PP9's are made up of 6 x AAA batteries, others are made from 6 flat cells. This might explain the slight difference in size.

https://www.quora.com/Why-is-a-9V-battery-made-of-6-AAA-batteries

 

[Delberthot]

I always use Duracell Industrial batteries in my basses and wireless transmitter. Musicman recommend Duracell (or at least they used to) - despite this, my bass came with a cheap battery presumably installed by the UK distributor

[LITTLEWING]

This is exactly why I don't ever want an active bass. 

Picture the scenario of finding a great tone, battery dies, grab your spare and suddenly have a crap sound and everything goes tits up and ruins the evening.

No thanks, volume and tone and a decent amp are my bag.

[Woodinblack]

On 04/04/2018 at 17:57, BassLine4Jesus said:

HI Bass Chat, I just bought my entry level Ibanez and It's great but it takes a 9 volt battery. Replacing the battery isn't so much a problem but I was wondering if the sound of the guitar will slowly diminish as the battery gets low or will it 'conk' out all at once..so to speak?

Almost all my basses (and pretty well all of the basses that I actually gig) are active and it hasn't ever happened. I just change them when I remember, which is every few years and everything is fine.

What would happen is that they would seem quieter before they went as they are all analogue.

[Maude]

I just use rechargeables. I only have one active bass and two rechargeable batteries,  every couple of months I'll swap the battery over and put the one that came out on charge. 

The charger and a pair of batteries is only the price of three or four decent 'normal' batteries. Some people say the rechargeables don't last as long on a single charge as a standard battery but, erm, well they're rechargeable so who cares.

[dmccombe7]

I tried the rechargeable batteries few yrs back and found they didn't charge to same voltage as a new Duracell but that was quite a while back.

At that time they simply didn't last too long but batteries have come a long way since.

Dave 

[mcnach]

On 4/5/2018 at 19:39, LITTLEWING said:

This is exactly why I don't ever want an active bass. 

Picture the scenario of finding a great tone, battery dies, grab your spare and suddenly have a crap sound and everything goes tits up and ruins the evening.

No thanks, volume and tone and a decent amp are my bag.

 

That scenario is a LOT easier to avoid that you seem to imply... but fair enough, some prefer to avoid another possible failure point.

I don't wait for batteries to die, I replace them regularly (once a year for me and my Stingray), and that does the trick. Except that, of course, one time I did forget. And the battery died on the first set at a beer festival. A few seconds later I realised what the cause of the no-bass situation was, so I pulled my volume knob (I have a bypass switch installed) and carried on playing. Then I replaced the battery during the first break. 

If a gig is ' specially important' or I'm recording, the battery gets replaced regardless... it's not that expensive

[mcnach]

On 4/5/2018 at 19:50, Woodinblack said:

Almost all my basses (and pretty well all of the basses that I actually gig) are active and it hasn't ever happened. I just change them when I remember, which is every few years and everything is fine.

What would happen is that they would seem quieter before they went as they are all analogue.

 

Some do show some distortion before they finally die, so you get some warning... but others just work, until they don't. It depends on the preamp design.

[dmccombe7]

The more i think about it i've changed the battery in my Overwater maybe twice since buying it in 2010. My Warwick i've had since 89 and i think i might have changed that maybe 6-8 times in 29 yrs. To be fair i haven't used the Warwick a lot since mid 90's and the Overwater is mostly used at home.

My Precision Deluxe i've replaced once in last year mainly to be on safe side and my other Overwater J4 i've replaced battery 2-3 times in about 6-7 yrs but i was using that bass a lot during 2012-2014.

Looks like my batteries have been lasting 2-3 yrs on average. My Precision has a passive switch which is always a good fall back to have.

Dave 

[Dad3353]

4 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

I tried the rechargeable batteries few yrs back and found they didn't charge to same voltage as a new Duracell but that was quite a while back.

At that time they simply didn't last too long but batteries have come a long way since.

Dave 

Most rechargeables have a lower voltage, just by their technology; some devices don't appreciate this and work less well. Not the case, in my experience, with instruments; sometimes an issue with pedals, however.
Some will remember clock-radios, with their 'back-up' PP3 for the alarm, which got forgotten about until either the alarm failed, or runny stuff oozed from beneath (or both...). Smoke alarms. Anyone got one, that uses a battery..? The 'trick' as a reminder is to systematically go around all of these devices at Christmas, having bought a job lot.
I use rechargeables everywhere, even in my Sony flashgun and the wall clock. It's been a long time since I bought a battery.

Edited April 7, 2018 by Dad3353

[dmccombe7]

I change my smoke alarm batteries every Xmas too but use Duracells.

My SLR battery is a rechargeable one and i've had that a while. 

Regards my basses i'll just keep changing them every couple of years. My goto bass is my Jazz so not a problem there. My next goto bass is my PJ deluxe but it has a fallback passive switch so i never really worry too much about it.

Dave

[TrevorR]

On 05/04/2018 at 19:39, LITTLEWING said:

This is exactly why I don't ever want an active bass. 

Picture the scenario of finding a great tone, battery dies, grab your spare and suddenly have a crap sound and everything goes tits up and ruins the evening.

No thanks, volume and tone and a decent amp are my bag.

#bassurbanmyth 

30+ years of playing active basses, changing batteries every 9-12 months whether needed or not. Neither this nor any of the rest of the “I’d never have an active bass...” horror stories have ever happened to me.

[Axe Bender]

I had a Ibanez five string Sound gear. It ate a 9 volt every month. I took it apart and found that one of the Intense knobs had a faulty solder joint!
I repaired it ,but still did not have the power that I was used too. (cheap plumbing)

[Geek99]

You can buy two kodak 9vs from pounshop for £1, just keep a few handy and remember to unplug 

[dmccombe7]

A TV experiment showed that LIDL long life batteries actually lasted longer than Duracell.

They usually have 2 brands but i think its the Varta ones that were better but couldn't be 100% sure so best check.

Dave