NancyJohnson Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 I shall try and word this properly. It's known that leaving an active bass plugged in effectively keeps the circuit open and drains the battery. Is there any way to leave the bass plugged in? Over the last few weeks all my basses have gone into hibernation except for a Spector. Can't leave it plugged in, so I was wondering whether there was something like a kill switch that I could go through to just leave it plugged in. Doesn't matter if it's a mini footswitch pedal with an in/out and a button. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiram.k.hackenbacker Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 It seems like an awful lot of bother to go through to just to have the same effect as simply unplugging it. I like to have leave them unplugged as it’s one less trip hazard. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorris Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 30 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said: I shall try and word this properly. It's known that leaving an active bass plugged in effectively keeps the circuit open and drains the battery. Is there any way to leave the bass plugged in? Over the last few weeks all my basses have gone into hibernation except for a Spector. Can't leave it plugged in, so I was wondering whether there was something like a kill switch that I could go through to just leave it plugged in. Doesn't matter if it's a mini footswitch pedal with an in/out and a button. Assuming you don't want to fit a switch to the bass itself: the connection is made by the sleeve connection of the TS jack plug. If you had a TRS jack plug at the instrument end you could look at fitting a switch between the 'R' and 'S' connections. Might be a bit trick / cumbersome though depending on your priorities. And I suppose you could build a box to do the same thing by running the TRS cable to it and switch there. With cable to amp running from the switch box to amp. Is it worth the bother ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nekomatic Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 It ought to be possible to hack something together from a standard jack plug and a little diecast box or something. Maybe someone who makes custom cables could knock up a prototype. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiOgon Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 32 minutes ago, nekomatic said: It ought to be possible to hack something together from a standard jack plug and a little diecast box or something. Maybe someone who makes custom cables could knock up a prototype. No it's not possible as far as I can see because the switching is done on the socket inside the guitar, if there's a plug in - it's on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorris Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 28 minutes ago, KiOgon said: No it's not possible as far as I can see because the switching is done on the socket inside the guitar, if there's a plug in - it's on! True for a standard guitar jack plug is a TS. But if you use a TRS 'Stereo/Balanced' jack plug you can move the switching outside the guitar. I do think it's a bit inelegant though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiOgon Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 47 minutes ago, rmorris said: True for a standard guitar jack plug is a TS. But if you use a TRS 'Stereo/Balanced' jack plug you can move the switching outside the guitar. I do think it's a bit inelegant though. How? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nekomatic Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 (edited) The battery negative is connected to the ring contact of the jack, and the circuit ground to the sleeve. When you insert a mono plug it shorts ring to sleeve thereby connecting power to the circuit. It's certainly possible there are other ways of doing it such as an isolated switch, but I think the above method is fairly standard Edited June 16, 2021 by nekomatic added a bit 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted June 16, 2021 Author Share Posted June 16, 2021 2 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said: It seems like an awful lot of bother to go through to just to have the same effect as simply unplugging it. I like to have leave them unplugged as it’s one less trip hazard. It's just a pfaff to be honest; especially as sometimes I just want to have a noodle for a few minutes. I forget to unplug it the cable is on the floor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorris Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 7 minutes ago, KiOgon said: How? Basically what nekomatic said. The jack socket in the bass has three terminals - TRS - and so using a 2core + screen cable (ie a standard 'balanced' cable) you can effectively extend those connections and so be able to connect / disconnect the R+S connections to power (or not) the electronics. I can see a possible issue in that you can't afaik get the 'low noise' type cable usually used for connection to passive instruments with Hi-Z pickups in a 2core/twisted pair format. This wouldn't be connecting to a passive instrument so it might not be a problem but the output impedance of an active bass might not be as low as we would want - depending on the electronics detail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorris Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 9 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said: It's just a pfaff to be honest; especially as sometimes I just want to have a noodle for a few minutes. I forget to unplug it the cable is on the floor. I know what you mean. I've previously used a switch on the bass to switch on/off rather than the jack socket. But I had a spare switch position after changing the pickup to one that didn't have series/parallel switching. I don't suppose you really want to fit an extra switch to the bass ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nekomatic Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 Thing is, if you get a switch to solve the problem of forgetting to unplug the bass whats to say you won’t forget to switch the switch off? (I hasten to add, I know I would!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted June 16, 2021 Author Share Posted June 16, 2021 11 minutes ago, rmorris said: I know what you mean. I've previously used a switch on the bass to switch on/off rather than the jack socket. But I had a spare switch position after changing the pickup to one that didn't have series/parallel switching. I don't suppose you really want to fit an extra switch to the bass ? Given the tech that's inside the Spector (or any other active circuit), the major stumbling block is battery life. Call me an old fart, but I love me a switch with a little LED; I suppose these things exist already in other basses, but really, how difficult would it be to have the bass wired for a two-way/three-way mini toggle, that's wired to light a small LED when the bass is active and properly off/circuit isolated when the bass is passive (or off)? Mini/micro-toggle switches are £10 for 12 on Amazon, mini-LEDs are pennies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorris Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 13 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said: Given the tech that's inside the Spector (or any other active circuit), the major stumbling block is battery life. Call me an old fart, but I love me a switch with a little LED; I suppose these things exist already in other basses, but really, how difficult would it be to have the bass wired for a two-way/three-way mini toggle, that's wired to light a small LED when the bass is active and properly off/circuit isolated when the bass is passive (or off)? Mini/micro-toggle switches are £10 for 12 on Amazon, mini-LEDs are pennies. Does the bass have a 'Passive' option - as opposed to being either active(powered) or no sound ? In any case the electronics is relatively simple. I'm thinking physically fitting the switch and led would be the biggest thing to sort ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiOgon Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 (edited) 2 hours ago, rmorris said: True for a standard guitar jack plug is a TS. But if you use a TRS 'Stereo/Balanced' jack plug you can move the switching outside the guitar. I do think it's a bit inelegant though. Here's one I made earlier, after thinking it couln't work! This works, but the housing won't fit on in one piece, (it could be butchered!) As said already, remembering to switch it off is the thing 😊 Edited June 16, 2021 by KiOgon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 Switch is a possibility but remember that turning the electronics on usually makes a loud thud. Please include some soft start to it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 Guess it depends upon the bass in question - but if you have a rear cavity cover, a little flush slider switch would suit the bill quite nicely. (Assuming that you don't forget to slide it to turn it off!) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nekomatic Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 (edited) 46 minutes ago, KiOgon said: Here's one I made earlier, after thinking it couln't work! Nifty! I was thinking one could fit that in a small box with the plug bit sticking out, and secured with a nut of the same thread size as the jack plug cover. Unfortunately you can’t add a ‘power on’ LED to this design because when the bass is powered on there’s no voltage available to run the LED. The real answer to this would be a circuit in the bass that put the electronics into an ultra-low-power mode if you didn’t play anything for more than an hour or something like that. I’m sure that’s feasible but it would need to be pretty titchy, so probably a surface mount design not something one could knock up on some stripboard (unless there’s more space in an active bass than I realise) Edited June 16, 2021 by nekomatic coda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 I've thought of quite a cool solution - sometimes the most obvious ones are the ones that are overlooked. How about changing a pot to a push pull pot to break the circuit to the battery. Done. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorris Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, KiOgon said: Here's one I made earlier, after thinking it couln't work! This works, but the housing won't fit on in one piece, (it could be butchered!) As said already, remembering to switch it off is the thing 😊 Excellent stuff. I knew someone in Sussex would be able to do it 🙂 Could maybe use a larger jack body - Neutrik or Switchcraft ? I think Neutrik make one for speaker cable sized cable - it might be bigger internally. Not sure. and a cutout in the metal shell for the switch ? Edited June 16, 2021 by rmorris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorris Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 (edited) 32 minutes ago, EBS_freak said: I've thought of quite a cool solution - sometimes the most obvious ones are the ones that are overlooked. How about changing a pot to a push pull pot to break the circuit to the battery. Done. Yeah - why didn't I think of that option ! I had thought about the rear cavity cover option if the bass allows it. But this is better imo. Excellent stuff. Make it pull out to power off so you won't accidentally turn it off mid solo ! Now, of course there'll be the question of a suitable value / taper / mechanical size / shaft size and type... Edited June 16, 2021 by rmorris Completeness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorris Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 35 minutes ago, nekomatic said: Nifty! I was thinking one could fit that in a small box with the plug bit sticking out, and secured with a nut of the same thread size as the jack plug cover. Unfortunately you can’t add a ‘power on’ LED to this design because when the bass is powered on there’s no voltage available to run the LED. The real answer to this would be a circuit in the bass that put the electronics into an ultra-low-power mode if you didn’t play anything for more than an hour or something like that. I’m sure that’s feasible but it would need to be pretty titchy, so probably a surface mount design not something one could knock up on some stripboard (unless there’s more space in an active bass than I realise) Mmmm...this is getting proper complex now. And you'd need to reliably sense the bass being played - take a signal direct from a pickup ? MEMS device ? At this rate I'll be suggesting Phantom Power 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 I can't help but think this thread is going end up making an appearance... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 I mean, pulling a jack out of a socket is pretty radical, right? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorris Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 2 minutes ago, EBS_freak said: I mean, pulling a jack out of a socket is pretty radical, right? It's 2021. We need Bluetooth connectivity, Retina Recognition and GPS on all basses at a minimum. Oh hold on - that's mobile phones. I'll go with the push-pull pot switch... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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