Schoolboy error..............

[ProfJames]

Went for a lesson yesterday, plugged in my Sandberg Bullet...........no response.......active bass.......I had left the cable in the jack plugged in at home....flat battery........30 quid for nothing............bugger

[Dad3353]

So, no spare, new, battery in the pocket of the gig-bag, eh..? There's the £30 lesson to be learned..! 

...

 

[Hellzero]

Another lesson : an electric bass can be played unplugged...

Buy a passive one, easy to carry, with 30.5 inches scale in Trans Red and the problem will be solved. 

[TheGreek]

Sometimes we need to pay for our education - you spent £30 but you'll never do it again.

[ProfJames]

Just going out to stock up on batteries as well.........one per bag/case!

[peteb]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-Duracell-9V-Industrial-PROCELL-Alkaline-Batteries-Smoke-Alarm-LR22-MN1604-BLOC/113707992641?epid=9032157047&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item1a79864641:g:rzQAAOSw32lY0nAA&amdata=enc%3AAQAFAAACcBaobrjLl8XobRIiIML1V4Imu%2Fn%2BzU5L90Z278x5ickkAgU0umhwUTmgTFbE5cu7zfLzqGgP6VCouLVsERdqNSMXWquzW8FbJ9EZ8RT2qj017oWIhbCviPb62cgfGk7ESSzROJ0PuerrLbLLDzlvvYR4jjfW%2BZ6a%2BgWSJtZmDncbDifiSr267J006N2%2F%2FSOzmP%2Fgdsv6V1kEKVzJhNlMCCvScjPunBIhLLFfkI9optzCAs376BduorIvNz4jxmjAs9Z1euU%2B2%2BcAsaczY9PctEfJ8f8qQFEl2xC8BNR5PL0a1Ev2uVlzwui3pp0h%2FRwFkAUTD%2FRl%2BicRv54vkzo3jCJ1X3U9iJpeQ8pgu1q04YBixh6pfI0sHoYrU6yQQFb9zzte2x2DV5jolR5ZKmsXCkmDdVTb7SuConXHOxrAFJ6lqe6Flag%2FW%2F6LFssAa8zAMu3oi87wJbu42iIU3Ev4BwcPWa0k1Itv%2FFH%2BFmrGkoNNRxh%2FlQP31JhrinpsiviHrGAC2iM5g25bJLADmY0Jk0prXuLXhMezW1NjeQVaXaogi3pmwOqc8cyo30SlZKLyyXn6xeq%2B3iccUwDcemfE%2FrPHoT0AzRpj9yvDDEdhSr3VrHbo5KKXpsUiX3U5Jtbr%2B%2BQ6u72OqNbnfsr7OqPA2ikXvtYYdu%2BzbCawSD7ftFP7pzC9aY8oMi0BKEFX%2BrK9TnmmfFT5xgbULpW%2BUkpTR4ArjFfXBuA7uX99g83liinr65M%2BE1XlB0TthccsyeEBYEg6hZ9x1y9YQggBU%2FHJZ52ZYWCtJAWd7fNnfkoiUgCe0XhodtNHCwrw%2FZFbisgxuw%3D%3D|cksum%3A11370799264147d6fa20ddb0459a8684336bd551ecde|ampid%3APL_CLK|clp%3A2334524

 

[peteb]

Sorry for the long link...!

I have one box in the gigbag that I actually take out for gigs and another on my desk at home. 

[drTStingray]

3 hours ago, ProfJames said:

Went for a lesson yesterday, plugged in my Sandberg Bullet...........no response.......active bass.......I had left the cable in the jack plugged in at home....flat battery........30 quid for nothing............bugger

I've carried two in my lead box for years - so long that I've rotated them into basses and put new spares in the lead box.

Ive had three failures of active bass batteries in 40 yrs of using them - and non were mid gig - you get more warning than that - each time has been before the start of a gig. One was in a situation where I didn't have spares - luckily the singers had a box of spares for their radio mike equipment.

Avoiding active basses because the battery might run out is about as invalid a reason as refusing to use lighter than a 50 gauge G string on a bass in case it breaks!!! (Or not using radio mikes!) 

I find the batteries in my Musicman basses last for several years - so much so that I replace them on a rota basis. 

The moral is carry spares and don't leave the bass plugged in for lengthy periods when not in use 👍

 

Edited October 18, 2020 by drTStingray

[paul_c2]

3 minutes ago, drTStingray said:

I've carried two in my lead box for years

 

That must be really heavy to carry around...

[ProfJames]

35 minutes ago, peteb said:

 

 

Just now, drTStingray said:

I've carried two in my lead box for years - so long that I've rotated them into basses and put new spares in the lead box.

Ive had three failures of active bass batteries in 40 yrs of using them - and non were mid gig - you get more warning than that - each time has been before the start of a gig. One was in a situation where I didn't have spares - luckily the singers had a box of spares for their radio mike equipment.

Avoiding active basses because the battery might run out is about as invalid a reason as refusing to use lighter than a 50 gauge G string on a bass in case it breaks!!! (Or not using radio mikes!) 

I find the batteries in my Musicman basses last for several years - so much so that I replace them on a rota basis. 

The moral is carry spares and don't leave the bass plugged in for lengthy periods when not in use 👍

 

@drTStingray     hence the name of the topic....... schoolboy error..............

[Bolo]

Lidl: 2pack for under two quid.

Dark day to spend all the effort and no results though!

[ProfJames]

Just now, Bolo said:

Lidl: 2pack for under two quid.

Dark day to spend all the effort and no results though!

We live an learn..........unlike me to leave a bass plugged in.......worse things happen I suppose........only came here for sympathy!!!

[Stub Mandrel]

I have two in the door pocket of my car, just in case.

But in my view the schoolboy error is designing an active bass that won't switch to passive.

 

[lowdown]

You should have kidnapped the Tutors partner in exchange for a Battery.

Edited October 18, 2020 by lowdown

[ProfJames]

Just now, lowdown said:

You should have kidnapped the Tutors partner in exchange for a Battery.

He lives with his dad!!!!  However.........he is also a fine bass player!

[pbasspecial]

Just had a low battery warning light fitted to my active bass. Not worth the worry if the batteries will go flat at the gig. A local pro gave me this tip, he changes his battery on 1st Jan each year. 

Edited October 18, 2020 by pbasspecial

[Dad3353]

23 minutes ago, pbasspecial said:

...he changes his battery on 1st Jan each year. ...

S'my 'top tip', too; a Christmas present for your bass (and any other stuff that has batteries of the same sort, such as the reserve power for the alarm clock, or the TV remote control...). It's a simple way of reminding oneself, for those thinking of Christmas presents. For any Grinches out there... Serves you right for being such a curmudgeon when the bass fails..!  

...

[Crawford13]

I find it hard to believe that your "tutor"  couldn't have taught you something else during the lesson.  I know some of the best lessons I have ever had I barely touched my bass, and when I did I could have done it with out being amplified. 

[ProfJames]

Just now, Crawford13 said:

I find it hard to believe that your "tutor"  couldn't have taught you something else during the lesson.  I know some of the best lessons I have ever had I barely touched my bass, and when I did I could have done it with out being amplified. 

He offered,  it was my decision to leave as there was a track I was working on and that was what we were going to be practising.  My tutor is excellent for me, the best I have experienced.

[dmccombe7]

My VM4 works in passive mode when battery removed.............i think. Pretty sure i tried it when i bought it.

Dave

[drTStingray]

7 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I have two in the door pocket of my car, just in case.

But in my view the schoolboy error is designing an active bass that won't switch to passive.

 

@Stub Mandrel and the four likes - a number of active basses around currently were designed at a time when it was the direction of travel for basses - fatter, more lively sound altogether, and more hi fi if desired - back then (the mid/late 70s/early 80s), the idea someone would want to pay the extra price and then play say a Wal, Alembic or Musicman in passive mode would have been somewhat laughable. Look at the trouble Marcus Miller went to make his 77 Jazz usable for his requirements at the end of the 70s!! The pre amp was often, in any case part of the whole system design, and the pick ups may have been lowered in output to compensate, thus rendering switching out the pre amp (if anyone had taken leave of their senses) somewhat a solution to a largely non existent problem (battery failure), because the drain on the charge (in most basses) is so small - and the bass may not have worked as well without it switched in. 

Frankly if my active basses did have an active/passive switch, I wouldn't use it (same as if my car had some gizmo to turn off the turbo - it does have one to turn off the aircon part of the heating/ventilation system but I've never pressed the button once).

If I felt the need to aim for the exact sound of a bass designed 60+ years ago into a scenario where bass was a barely audible component of popular music, then I wouldn't be playing an active bass designed to get the all together more beefy bass sounds of the later 70s-late 90s at all 😏

So it's a largely non-existent problem which only arises if you make a c*ck up, as per @ProfJames - best bet is carry spares like you and I 👍

Edited October 18, 2020 by drTStingray
Correction owing to profanity filter silliness

[ProfJames]

@drTStingray        a royal pink torpedo up !!

[drTStingray]

1 minute ago, ProfJames said:

@drTStingray        a royal pink torpedo up !!

Haha!!! It doesn't like the work D*ck either - heaven knows what you do if you want to quote Richard Van Dyke haha!! 

[pete.young]

8 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

But in my view the schoolboy error is designing an active bass that won't switch to passive.

 

Well, either you're right, and I'd better throw my BBNE2 into a skip.

Or ...

[Stub Mandrel]

13 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

S'my 'top tip', too; a Christmas present for your bass (and any other stuff that has batteries of the same sort, such as the reserve power for the alarm clock, or the TV remote control...). It's a simple way of reminding oneself, for those thinking of Christmas presents. For any Grinches out there... Serves you right for being such a curmudgeon when the bass fails..!  

...

This year I will give everyone a PP3, four AAs and eight AAAs, which I think is more than a tad generous.