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

[pbasspecial]

If memory serves me right I bought it from Tomas (zvirus) on here. 

[Thunderbird]

1 hour ago, pbasspecial said:

I bought it from here on BC! 

Ah cheers nice one 👍

[mcnach]

On 18/10/2020 at 21:38, dmccombe7 said:

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

Dave

 

My VM4 doesn't, unless it's switched to passive.

I found out the day I went to replace the battery and... forgot to put a new battery in. It took me a few minutes to realise the error, when I saw TWO batteries on my desk.

 

[Tubster]

Learnt the same lesson with a StingRay many moons ago.

Replaced by a G&L L2000 which gets along fine in active or passive.

Like others have commented - why would a manufacturer set us up for a failure like this? Which basses, other than G&L, work just fine without on passive when the juice runs out?

[drTStingray]

23 minutes ago, Tubster said:

Learnt the same lesson with a StingRay many moons ago.

Replaced by a G&L L2000 which gets along fine in active or passive.

Did they back in the early 80s? 

A spare battery is an essential part of the kit if you have an active bass - the batteries in my Stingrays last for year's (but I never leave them plugged in when not in use).

I suppose I should recount a story of my long divorced she who should be obeyed persuading me to buy a cheapo battery for my Stingray back in about 1985 as I wanted a brand new battery as we were playing a prestigious gig with a massive PA and sound guys (the cheapskate approach was so she could buy some ciggies as well) - the net result was it started to fail mid gig - but i never twigged what was going on and neither did the PA guys - who thought there was something up with the PA channels - I took the bass to a shop later thinking it was f*cked whereupon the guy put a Duracell in and Bob's your uncle - perfect Pre EB Stingray again - moral - I've never since bought cheap replacement batteries 😏

When I went in the shop for the repair, for those Stingray officianados - they had a brand new EB one hung up in the shop in fire engine red - it was not far short of twice the amount of paid new for mine in 1979-80 😧

Edited October 20, 2020 by drTStingray

[ProfJames]

Just now, drTStingray said:

Did they back in the early 80s? 

A spare battery is an essential part of the kit if you have an active bass - the batteries in my Stingrays last for year's (but I never leave them plugged in when not in use).

I suppose I should recount a story of my long divorced she who should be obeyed persuading me to buy a cheapo battery for my Stingray back in about 1985 as I wanted a brand new battery as we were playing a prestigious gig with a massive PA and sound guys (the cheapskate approach was so she could buy some ciggies as well) - the net result was it started to fail mid gig - but i never twigged what was going on and neither did the PA guys - who thought there was something up with the PA channels - I took the bass to a shop later thinking it was f*cked whereupon the guy put a Duracell in and Bob's your uncle - perfect Pre EB Stingray again - moral - I've never since bought cheap replacement batteries 😏

When I went in the shop for the repair, for those Stingray officianados - they had a brand new EB one hung up in the shop in fire engine red - it was precisely twice the amount of paid new for mine in 1979-80 😧

Aah, divorce rears it's ugly head again (and ex wives in my case!).  Some lessons to be learnt in that experience above.

[Hellzero]

The low battery indicator could be found here, if @zvirus is still selling them : 

 

[mcnach]

2 hours ago, Tubster said:

Learnt the same lesson with a StingRay many moons ago.

Replaced by a G&L L2000 which gets along fine in active or passive.

Like others have commented - why would a manufacturer set us up for a failure like this? Which basses, other than G&L, work just fine without on passive when the juice runs out?

 

A little dramatic (setting us up for failure0  but I agree: a bypass switch should be stock.

Unless you like 'active pickups' where a bypass is not possible, but carrying a couple of 9V batteries in your gigbag is a pretty easy insurance policy, in addition to replacing batteries regularly (in my case, once a year). Disclaimer: no, I'm not perfect and my Stingray died on me, on stage, once. I had forgotten to replace the battery and it was almost 2 years going. Fortunately, I had a John East preamp that I asked to have a bypass switch installed. I finished the set, and put a fresh battery in during the break. 

 

[visog]

Not sure about this but you'll all correct me... One way of tackling this might be a lead with an on off button like a Planet Waves or D'Addario? Would the active circuit in a bass still see that as connected if it were switched off?

[Hellzero]

Good question !

[Woodinblack]

38 minutes ago, visog said:

 One way of tackling this might be a lead with an on off button like a Planet Waves or D'Addario? Would the active circuit in a bass still see that as connected if it were switched off?

Yes it would. What is the problem unplugging it?

[visog]

3 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Yes it would. What is the problem unplugging it?

Ugh! Unplugging! I bet you take shampoo and conditioner into the shower...

[Dad3353]

1 hour ago, visog said:

Not sure about this but you'll all correct me... One way of tackling this might be a lead with an on off button like a Planet Waves or D'Addario? Would the active circuit in a bass still see that as connected if it were switched off?

It's the physical presence of the barrel of the jack plug that acts as 'on/off' switch for active basses. As long as there's a jack in the socket, the pre-amp is switched on. An 'on/off' in the lead will not affect this, so the battery would still go flat over time. 

[paul_c2]

What about carving a bigger compartment so 2 batteries can fit into it - but only having one connected? So you can keep a spare handy. To ensure you can always gain access to change it, have a tiny holder containing the allen key to unscrew the compartment's cover, neatly placed on the reverse of the head?

Don't forget to swap the discharged battery for a fresh one each time you forget to unplug it, and have to swap the dead battery with the handy spare.

Edited October 20, 2020 by paul_c2

[ProfJames]

Forget batteries.............let's go electric!!!!!!!!

[chris_b]

Unplug the lead. Carry spare batteries. Replace the batteries before they run out. Carry a screwdriver if you have to take the back plate off. Managing active basses is as easy as learning a U2 song!

Edited October 20, 2020 by chris_b

[Woodinblack]

Interestingly (or not, depending on your interest), on the Railboard, the pickup block (which is switchable stereo / mono) is passive, unless you connect either XLR output on it to a phantom power source, in which case, it becomes active.

Don't see why you couldn't do that on a bass.

[mcnach]

12 hours ago, paul_c2 said:

What about carving a bigger compartment so 2 batteries can fit into it - but only having one connected? So you can keep a spare handy. To ensure you can always gain access to change it, have a tiny holder containing the allen key to unscrew the compartment's cover, neatly placed on the reverse of the head?

Don't forget to swap the discharged battery for a fresh one each time you forget to unplug it, and have to swap the dead battery with the handy spare.

 

Hmmm... Let's go one better and have both batteries installed, but with a switch for one or the other. When running low, switch to the other battery. Replace at your earliest convenience.

Should be easy... although not as easy as leaving things as they are

 

[Woodinblack]

Or a magazine of 6 batteries, and a mechanism that ejects the old one and puts the new one in place, like a pump action.

[paul_c2]

What about a small solar panel on the headstock? It could be angled to point directly at the guitarist's tiara during rehearsals and gigs.

[Stub Mandrel]

This is the solution:

One low-output pickup produces a pathetic puny, but aesthetically winsome signal that goes into the preamp.

The other two pickups are actually bare-chested humbuckers whose crude phenomenal output is rectified and used to power the preamp.

The preamp than carefully processes the output from the puny pickup, and makes it sound like a humbucker.

[Stub Mandrel]

2 minutes ago, paul_c2 said:

What about a small solar panel on the headstock? It could be angled to point directly at the guitarist's tiara during rehearsals and gigs.

You could angle it under the singer's backside if it needs a power boost...