Maude Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 I know it's easy to unplug the lead but at a gig once sound checked, and between sets, I'd rather just flick a switch and leave everything connected. I'm fairly OCD with the routing of my cables so no risk of anyone tripping over them. It's fairly irrelevant for me anyway because at the moment I either gig my passive Rick or my Variax which is powered up the cable, but just saying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caitlin Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 Now I want to build a wireless doodle that ALSO powers the bass through the socket, half the batteries half the failure modes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 6 hours ago, NancyJohnson said: Didn't someone come up with having an interior rechargeable battery? You just had something like a phone charger but it had a 1/4" jack on the end, plug it in et viola battery charged. Fishman Fluence pickups have this option, but I think the batteries are built into rear cavity plates. very clever, but only for certain guitar models At the mo I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 The new Warwick Masterpiece basses also have a rechargeable battery inside. You can also use this if your amp doesn't feature a phantom power through a stereo lead : http://www.zampower.com/produit/zam/ I know it's in French, but make an effort. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky 4000 Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 How about a dummy jack made of plastic, so folks could keep their Stingrays connected without draining the battery? The dummy cable could be made from cooked spaghetti, which would break if somebody caught their foot in it. 👍 1 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoo Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 Connect your battery via a toaster timer switch..... Give the dial a twist at the start of each song and then you've got 5 minutes before the battery automatically disconnects itself. Obviously not suitable for metal, or any other genres with songs longer than 5 minutes! 2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 Would mean all Prog songs being reduced to 5mins. Drummer will be going heck for leather to achieve that 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 22 hours ago, NancyJohnson said: Just a quickie. If you leave an active bass plugged in 24/7, is there any evidence this will this cause the 9v battery to drain? Does the jack plug create a circuit that is always on or does something in the circuit just cut out, deactivating it? Certainly does on my Jack V, even if the active is switched off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 I’ve been playing my sandberg today and you don’t have to unplug it all the way to save the battery, it has a 2 click jack socket, the first click disconnects the battery but the lead stays plugged in , and the second click takes the lead right out . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 21 minutes ago, Reggaebass said: I’ve been playing my sandberg today and you don’t have to unplug it all the way to save the battery, it has a 2 click jack socket, the first click disconnects the battery but the lead stays plugged in , and the second click takes the lead right out . Do you mean a stereo jack like on most of all other active basses ? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky 4000 Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 1 hour ago, stoo said: Connect your battery via a toaster timer switch..... Give the dial a twist at the start of each song and then you've got 5 minutes before the battery automatically disconnects itself. Obviously not suitable for metal, or any other genres with songs longer than 5 minutes! This^^^^^^^^^! 😄 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 1 minute ago, Hellzero said: Do you mean a stereo jack like on most of all other active basses ? I’m not sure what it’s called Hellzero, it’s the only active bass I have , all my others are passive 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolo Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 I change batteries on my active basses annually when I put fresh strings on. The old battery goes in the smoke detector and serves flawlessly for another year (so far, only been doing this for two decades). I get the batteries from Lidl, 2 for €1,84. Never failed. From soundcheck to breakdown the bass is plugged in, also during rehearsal, 4 hours every week. Unplugged at home unless I'm practicing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 44 minutes ago, Bolo said: I change batteries on my active basses annually when I put fresh strings on. The old battery goes in the smoke detector and serves flawlessly for another year (so far, only been doing this for two decades). I get the batteries from Lidl, 2 for €1,84. Never failed. True bass-a-holic. Puts his sound before his personal safety... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steantval Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 Unplugged unless it’s being played, simples. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorks5stringer Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 8 hours ago, DJpullchord said: What you need is a little wind turbine on the headstock. Position yourself near the drummer’s fan and hey presto. Silly suggestion, whereas a solar panel incorporated into the bass headstock, placed seperately on the stage or on even top of the amp would solve this issue completely. This would harvest light from amp 'on' switches, audience camera phones, stage lighting displays and the audience holding up lighters ( do they still do that?). Surprised no-one has thought of this before.... 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted October 14, 2019 Share Posted October 14, 2019 12 hours ago, Reggaebass said: I’m not sure what it’s called Hellzero, it’s the only active bass I have , all my others are passive 🙂 It's a stereo one. Sandberg still recommend removing the jack completely though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Steve Posted October 14, 2019 Share Posted October 14, 2019 19 hours ago, Hellzero said: The new Warwick Masterpiece basses also have a rechargeable battery inside. All the Master Built and Custom Shop bases come set up for an actual battery and a rechargeable battery which you connect via a lead to a USB socket Came as a surprise when my Custom Shop bass turned up a couple of years back - I'd missed the bit on the website announcing this, and the Custom Shop itself didn't mention it when I was placing an order. Not being as environmentally friendly as some people, it took a little bit of fannying about to get the electrics connected to the right battery (it runs off one or the other and you have to wire it up to the one you want) - my main issue being that there doesn't seem to be any way to tell how charged the internal battery is, and i know it'll give out half way through a rehearsal or gig if I try to use it They also carve out an extra cavity for it, and I'd have preferred not to have that done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted October 14, 2019 Share Posted October 14, 2019 Inspired me to order a pair of USB-rechargeable PP3 batteries off eBay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caitlin Posted October 14, 2019 Share Posted October 14, 2019 9 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said: Inspired me to order a pair of USB-rechargeable PP3 batteries off eBay. LINK PLS! are they the same actulol volts though? An alkaline PP3 is 6 AAA batteries or sutin, so the chemistry is 1.5V * 6 = 9V The boring rechargies are usually a 1.2V chemistry so you'd need 7.5 batteries to hit a real 9V Lipos are 3.9V are they? so anyway, they all fall out at different nominal numbers of voltsies and I don't know how much guitars really care... "insert all the stuff about batteries affecting the tones in pedals or whatever" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTractor Posted October 14, 2019 Share Posted October 14, 2019 29 minutes ago, caitlin said: LINK PLS! are they the same actulol volts though? An alkaline PP3 is 6 AAA batteries or sutin, so the chemistry is 1.5V * 6 = 9V The boring rechargies are usually a 1.2V chemistry so you'd need 7.5 batteries to hit a real 9V Lipos are 3.9V are they? so anyway, they all fall out at different nominal numbers of voltsies and I don't know how much guitars really care... "insert all the stuff about batteries affecting the tones in pedals or whatever" Don't know the theory about this, but did read that the 1.2V was specifically chosen so as to compensate for the rechargeable batteries' ability to produce a high Amperage. This is done so the Wattage remains roughly the same. I'm sure I'm using the terms amateuristically here, and likely wrong, but also guess that one gets the idea. From what I read, you then wouldn't need 7.5 batteries normally speaking. Though: some gear indeed specifically demands one type, and the manual then warns against using the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted October 14, 2019 Share Posted October 14, 2019 https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=9v+rechargeable+USB+PP3&_sacat=0&_sop=15 "Stable discharge Voltage from 8.45v down to 7v to supply power for device " 7V should be plenty for most applications. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted October 14, 2019 Share Posted October 14, 2019 50 minutes ago, BassTractor said: Don't know the theory about this, but did read that the 1.2V was specifically chosen so as to compensate for the rechargeable batteries' ability to produce a high Amperage. T No, it's a result of the chemistry. The (9v NIMH cells use 7 cells to give 8.4V as an approximation to 9V) The original zinc carbon cells had six nominal 1.5V cells, but they typically drop to about 6V before most applications give up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted October 14, 2019 Share Posted October 14, 2019 Found these: Alkaline cells, typically ending around 6-7V: Comparison of various chemistries: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted October 14, 2019 Share Posted October 14, 2019 Yes. 7.6v is what most batteries deliver under load. Could always replace the standard volume control with a push/pull (on/off)/ volume control. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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