Hi, all.

I just got a Trace Elliot T-Bass 5 and there's an LED that goes on when I plug the bass in. The only other basses I've seen with that feature are cheaper Hohner basses.

I'm also concerned that I'm losing some tone because the LED is feeding off the batteries (It's an 18 vold system).

Should I have the LED removed? It has a nice visual appeal, but I'd get rid of it in a heartbeat if I got better battery efficiency and tone. Thanks.

I wouldn't worry much about it. LEDs consume so little power that it really makes no difference.

Depending on how things are wired, your preamp might lose a little juice. Voltage drop across most micro LEDs I have seen is 1.8V. It's doubtful that the LED is wired in series with the preamp. They do draw current, though. Your battery life will go down, but either way I doubt you are losing much headroom or boost to the LED.

I've got an Alembic Distillate (for a few more days) that has a battery LED in it. The battery has lasted way over a year, and as far as I can tell, I'd say it doesn't have any impact on the tone, as it sounds like a great Alembic ought to. Of course, I haven't heard it without the LED, but it sounds fine, and doesn't seem to inordinately drain the battery.