Johnebass Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Hi Dave, Can you help me please, I have a Shuker bass with 18v electronics/pickups and my main nighmare situation is for the batteries to fail in front of a theatre full of people. To that end I change batteries way more often than I need just to be on the safe side which is getting a little expensive. Is there any way of fitting anything to the bass, maybe an LED to the rear of the battery cover which would identify when the batteries are getting low? I know that a 9v system is available at [color="#0000FF"][url="http://www.guitarelectronics.com/product/PMTLBAT/9_Volt_Low_Battery_Indicator_for_Active_Pickups_Electronics.html"]http://www.guitarelectronics.com/product/P...lectronics.html[/url][/color] unfortunately they do not do an 18v version. Help would be much appreciated. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHA Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 [quote name='Johnebass' post='98537' date='Dec 3 2007, 11:49 PM']Hi Dave, Can you help me please, I have a Shuker bass with 18v electronics/pickups and my main nighmare situation is for the batteries to fail in front of a theatre full of people. To that end I change batteries way more often than I need just to be on the safe side which is getting a little expensive. Is there any way of fitting anything to the bass, maybe an LED to the rear of the battery cover which would identify when the batteries are getting low? I know that a 9v system is available at [color="#0000FF"][url="http://www.guitarelectronics.com/product/PMTLBAT/9_Volt_Low_Battery_Indicator_for_Active_Pickups_Electronics.html"]http://www.guitarelectronics.com/product/P...lectronics.html[/url][/color] unfortunately they do not do an 18v version. Help would be much appreciated. John[/quote] Hi John, It should be possible to design a circuit that detects when the voltage drops. It will be an op-amp and voltage ref (zener diode). I will have a look into it for you. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 [quote name='DHA' post='98624' date='Dec 4 2007, 09:32 AM']Hi John, It should be possible to design a circuit that detects when the voltage drops. It will be an op-amp and voltage ref (zener diode). I will have a look into it for you. Dave[/quote] Replace the jack socket on your bass with a stereo jack and wire one of the stereo pair to the input on the preamp. On the other end of the cable, put one into the amp, one on to an 18v feed. Job done, you won't need to be scared again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremen Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 [quote name='EBS_freak' post='98695' date='Dec 4 2007, 11:41 AM']Replace the jack socket on your bass with a stereo jack and wire one of the stereo pair to the input on the preamp. On the other end of the cable, put one into the amp, one on to an 18v feed. Job done, you won't need to be scared again.[/quote] +1 just make sure you always have a spare stereo lead though; you won't be able to borrow one like you can an ordinary lead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wil Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 Wouldn't it have a stereo jack anyway, being an active circuit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremen Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 [quote name='Wil' post='98701' date='Dec 4 2007, 11:45 AM']Wouldn't it have a stereo jack anyway, being an active circuit?[/quote] If it's like the EMG system, yes. The sleeve is connected to the battery -v and is shorted to ground when a mono jack is inserted. To make an EMG work like Ebs suggests you'd need to remove the battery and reconnect the sleeve to where the battery +v was. Not all active basses work that way though. Some use switched contacts in the socket that aren't connected to the outside world, ie a switch that's activated by the action of putting a (mono) plug in the (mono) socket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnebass Posted December 4, 2007 Author Share Posted December 4, 2007 Thanks for your posts, I'll check later to see what jack I have, momo or stereo. I can print this off and let the local technical bod have a look. Will let you know what happens, as I can't be the only one that gets this problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John-E-Retro Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 [quote name='Johnebass' post='98537' date='Dec 3 2007, 11:49 PM']Hi Dave, Can you help me please, I have a Shuker bass with 18v electronics/pickups and my main nighmare situation is for the batteries to fail in front of a theatre full of people. To that end I change batteries way more often than I need just to be on the safe side which is getting a little expensive. Is there any way of fitting anything to the bass, maybe an LED to the rear of the battery cover which would identify when the batteries are getting low? I know that a 9v system is available at [color="#0000FF"][url="http://www.guitarelectronics.com/product/PMTLBAT/9_Volt_Low_Battery_Indicator_for_Active_Pickups_Electronics.html"]http://www.guitarelectronics.com/product/P...lectronics.html[/url][/color] unfortunately they do not do an 18v version. Help would be much appreciated. John[/quote] I have a 9V /18V battery low indicator, you can see a post about it in the retro forum [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=4862"]low battery indicator thread[/url] It's a circuit board about 1" square, currently. The way it works is very simple: * It sits there taking a tiny amount of current, a few millionths of an amp when the battery is good. * When the battery system (9V or 18V) starts to decline, but there is still some life, a high brigthness LED starts to flash around once per second. But again the power consumption for the LED is very tiny since the LED is on for just a few millionths of a second. The eye sees that and image retention of the human eye makes it seem to be lit for longer and can easily see the flashing. So unlike some systems, where a low battery LED is turned on full, which drains the battery much faster and may even take more current than the electronics, my unit takes on average, a few 10s of millionths of amps, still an insignificant drain to indicate the battery is low. Have them in stock £25.00, with black or chrome LED surround. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnebass Posted December 12, 2007 Author Share Posted December 12, 2007 [quote name='John-E-Retro' post='102035' date='Dec 10 2007, 09:57 AM']I have a 9V /18V battery low indicator, you can see a post about it in the retro forum [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=4862"]low battery indicator thread[/url] It's a circuit board about 1" square, currently. The way it works is very simple: * It sits there taking a tiny amount of current, a few millionths of an amp when the battery is good. * When the battery system (9V or 18V) starts to decline, but there is still some life, a high brigthness LED starts to flash around once per second. But again the power consumption for the LED is very tiny since the LED is on for just a few millionths of a second. The eye sees that and image retention of the human eye makes it seem to be lit for longer and can easily see the flashing. So unlike some systems, where a low battery LED is turned on full, which drains the battery much faster and may even take more current than the electronics, my unit takes on average, a few 10s of millionths of amps, still an insignificant drain to indicate the battery is low. Have them in stock £25.00, with black or chrome LED surround. John[/quote] Sounds good, will have to take the electronic cavity lid off to see if the unit will fit, there's certainly no room in the battery compartment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
largo Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 I asked Jon Shuker to fit one of the J-East low battery indicators to me Shuker Jazz I just had built. Instead he designed a circuit himself (someone did say he has an electronics degree) and I now have a little LED that will pulse if the battery is getting low. At least I hope it will because being honest I haven't had a low battery yet. He fitted it to the battery compartment on the back of the bass, so it's hidden well away. Don't want to take work away from Mr East though, as he's a very nice man and I love his J-Retro preamps. S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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