itu Posted June 18, 2021 Share Posted June 18, 2021 If this was a real issue, there would be a system that puts the bass electronics to sleep. Just like your phone turns the display off to save energy. A similar system would be possible but needs quite a few components and someone to design it. Not an impossible task at all, but the need seems to be limited (referring to the previous posts). I think a modern solution would be based on an acceleration sensor and a few components around it. This also consumes some energy if the wire was connected. Every microamp counts. And a more complicated system usually equals even more complicated problems. I might not put together some cheapo pots and modern sensors. My choice is still disconnecting the cable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nekomatic Posted June 18, 2021 Share Posted June 18, 2021 On 16/06/2021 at 16:39, rmorris said: At this rate I'll be suggesting Phantom Power 🙂 Actually taking this seriously for a minute, if the active bass has battery negative wired to the jack's ring contact, expecting the mono plug to short that to the sleeve, then you should indeed be able to power it through the cable by shorting the battery connector in the bass and supplying +9V on the ring of a stereo plug instead. This seems so obvious that I must have made a mistake somewhere, otherwise why isn't it commonplace? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloke_zero Posted June 18, 2021 Share Posted June 18, 2021 I know many of the suggestions here are toungue in cheek but this reminds me of the thread on a cycling forum about getting cold hands cycling, followed by 13 pages of ingenious heating ideas with the final post being a picture of a pair of gloves. I sympathize and have done the same several times, but after you change the battery 3 or 4 times you'll remember to unplug - if only for the sake of the planet. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks but I think that is defeatist nonsense! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted June 18, 2021 Share Posted June 18, 2021 6 minutes ago, nekomatic said: Actually taking this seriously for a minute, if the active bass has battery negative wired to the jack's ring contact, expecting the mono plug to short that to the sleeve, then you should indeed be able to power it through the cable by shorting the battery connector in the bass and supplying +9V on the ring of a stereo plug instead. This seems so obvious that I must have made a mistake somewhere, otherwise why isn't it commonplace? Because the current from typical phantom power units won't be enough. EBS use it from their amps so you can power a pedal. There's nothing stopping you from using a similar mechanism for powering your bass if you have a proper power source. I have such a unit for sending power to my LEDs through the jack on one of my basses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Passinwind Posted June 18, 2021 Share Posted June 18, 2021 7 minutes ago, EBS_freak said: Because the current from typical phantom power units won't be enough. EBS use it from their amps so you can power a pedal. There's nothing stopping you from using a similar mechanism for powering your bass if you have a proper power source. I have such a unit for sending power to my LEDs through the jack on one of my basses. In the case of EBS that's not actually phantom power in the classic sense, just outboard power on a dedicated conductor. It works fine in my experience, but it still has the same potential issue with switch-on transients blowing stuff up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted June 18, 2021 Share Posted June 18, 2021 Just now, Passinwind said: In the case of EBS that's not actually phantom power in the classic sense, just outboard power on a dedicated conductor. It works fine in my experience, but it still has the same potential issue with switch-on transients blowing stuff up. Sorry - yeah, it's a 9v feed on the EBS are requires a 3 core cable into your bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Passinwind Posted June 18, 2021 Share Posted June 18, 2021 (edited) On 18/06/2021 at 07:44, EBS_freak said: Sorry - yeah, it's a 9v feed on the EBS are requires a 3 core cable into your bass. IIRC even EBS have called that phantom power at some point, no worries. My current daily driver bass actually has a 4 pin XLR output and could use +/- 15V external power if I needed it to. Right now I still just have a 9V battery in the breakout box and plan to do a quasi Ric-O thing as soon as my DIY tube amp finally gets finished. Edited June 22, 2021 by Passinwind 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamg67 Posted June 19, 2021 Share Posted June 19, 2021 Keep your bass sightly further away from your amp than the length of your lead. Looked at another way, have a lead that's shorter than the distance from your amp to your bass. Or, have one either side of the door so you can't get out without tripping over the lead. If that doesn't work in your room, move house so that it will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Starr Posted June 19, 2021 Share Posted June 19, 2021 19 hours ago, nekomatic said: Actually taking this seriously for a minute, if the active bass has battery negative wired to the jack's ring contact, expecting the mono plug to short that to the sleeve, then you should indeed be able to power it through the cable by shorting the battery connector in the bass and supplying +9V on the ring of a stereo plug instead. This seems so obvious that I must have made a mistake somewhere, otherwise why isn't it commonplace? Don't try this at home! The ring is connected to the negative part of the circuit which is also connected to earth so your power supply would be seeing a dead short. If you did rewire so that the ring was connected to the positive supply rail you'd have to stick to a stereo TRS Jack (so no guitar leads allowed) and only switch on the power supply after inserting the plug to stop applying 9V to the amp input and shorting things as you moved the plug in and out. Since the problem is forgetfulness I don't think this is something you should patent 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moldsight Posted June 19, 2021 Share Posted June 19, 2021 (edited) With several people mentioning trip hazards I want to highlight this as I took a tumble this morning answering the door in haste. Bass was pulled off stand and very luckily fell onto soft chair edge and my Ashdown Mibass amp crashed on floor. Gear ok and just a sore wrist for me luckily, us old fossils don't bounce as well as we used to. Do take care everyone. Edited June 19, 2021 by Moldsight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorris Posted June 19, 2021 Share Posted June 19, 2021 (edited) 7 hours ago, Phil Starr said: Don't try this at home! The ring is connected to the negative part of the circuit which is also connected to earth so your power supply would be seeing a dead short. If you did rewire so that the ring was connected to the positive supply rail you'd have to stick to a stereo TRS Jack (so no guitar leads allowed) and only switch on the power supply after inserting the plug to stop applying 9V to the amp input and shorting things as you moved the plug in and out. Since the problem is forgetfulness I don't think this is something you should patent Yeah - was just going to post similar about the battery connector. And 'Phantom Power' as usually used for powering microphones + doesn't really match well with jack plugs due to the inevitable shorting you mention. Usually only on XLR connections where Pin1 connects first. And it still presents some design challenges to avoid problems. I'd be surprised if current demand were a problem - depends on the circuit of course, but I run a Sansamp Bass DI from Phantom and no issues. I forget the 'official spec'' for Phantom Current atm. The circuitry might need more complexity to use / regulate the nominal 48V. Edited June 19, 2021 by rmorris Clarification of technical detail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nekomatic Posted June 20, 2021 Share Posted June 20, 2021 22 hours ago, Phil Starr said: Don't try this at home! The ring is connected to the negative part of the circuit which is also connected to earth so your power supply would be seeing a dead short. I’ve obviously not explained correctly what I was thinking of, but you’re right that the arrangement I was thinking of would risk presenting 9 V to the amp input as you inserted or removed the plug at the instrument end, so is probably… unwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Starr Posted June 20, 2021 Share Posted June 20, 2021 If you wanted to do something like this you can get Jacks with switches on, you used to be able to get ones with change over/2 way switching but I've not seen those recently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted June 20, 2021 Share Posted June 20, 2021 (edited) On 18/06/2021 at 15:24, nekomatic said: Actually taking this seriously for a minute, if the active bass has battery negative wired to the jack's ring contact, expecting the mono plug to short that to the sleeve, then you should indeed be able to power it through the cable by shorting the battery connector in the bass and supplying +9V on the ring of a stereo plug instead. This seems so obvious that I must have made a mistake somewhere, otherwise why isn't it commonplace? Because it solves a problem that almost no-one has ever had, by making something that is easy for most awkward and problematic. Also not all active basses are wired with negative on the ring and earth on the sleve, it doesn't matter if it is that way round or the other way round, and some do it the other way round (ibanez often have). So that way you blow up the preamp. On 18/06/2021 at 13:08, itu said: If this was a real issue, there would be a system that puts the bass electronics to sleep. Just like your phone turns the display off to save energy. A similar system would be possible but needs quite a few components and someone to design it. A lot of work and would probably take more power to do than just leaving the battery plugged in! Edited June 20, 2021 by Woodinblack 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfretrock Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 On 16/06/2021 at 16:40, EBS_freak said: I mean, pulling a jack out of a socket is pretty radical, right? Especially if you have one of those silly locking jack sockets on your bass, which are not easy to remove. As I don't gig but usually have a bass lying around on the sofa, i'm too lazy to keep unplugging. Neutrik make some interesting stuff like the silent plug: https://www.neutrik.com/en/neutrik/products/plugs-jacks/plugs/professional-1-4-plugs/silentplug and the timbre plug: https://www.neutrik.com/en/product/np2rx-timbre Maybe they can be persuaded to make a switched plug? Neutrik might be the only jack plugs worth using! (see what I did there, a plug). Actually decent quality locking sockets may not be a bad idea, my Mex P failed after one year and a Squier Telecaster is loose after a few months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 https://www.emgpickups.com/accessories/power-supplies/es-918.html External power supply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geek99 Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 (edited) On 16/06/2021 at 16:40, EBS_freak said: I mean, pulling a jack out of a socket is pretty radical, right? When I was young and foolish and thought money grew on magic trees, I shelled out at least twice for batteries when I stupidly left my bass plugged in and found the battery was dead. after those two occasions I learned not to do it. I’m with @EBS_freak Are you sure you’re not overthinking a fairly simple problem? I mean unplugging a bass lead, thus isolating the battery is actually no harder than flicking a switch, thus isolating the battery. Edited November 4, 2021 by Geek99 Missing word 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhoss32 Posted November 4, 2021 Share Posted November 4, 2021 Not sure if i'm missing something along this journey... but if im not mistaken older Wal basses used to just use a Volume with a click switch at 0 So you wind down the volume to 0, then the switch disconnects the battery. might be worth looking into but not sure how easy it is to get hold of them in Audio Tapers Other option is to get a push pull knob and link the battery connection to that. My last custom bass had the battery pack wired up that way, and its a doddle to re-wire. no need for more holes or anything 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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