Bass wont play

[MCJesus]

I've run into a slight problem. I've been practicing a year with no amp, (I had been using a friend's, but he had to sell it for financial reasons) but now that I have a new one my bass wont work in it. I know the amp isn't the problem, because I tried my old Squire in it and it plays like a dream.

The Squire is passive, so I figured the battery was probably dead in my LTD, but I changed it and it's still not working. Then I opened up the back to check all the soldering, and it all looks fine, as does the jack. I haven't had any power running through the bass for about a year, so I don't see how the electronics could be fried.

My only two guesses are that the amp won't accept input from an active bass, or the battery just isn't good. (The new battery was a cheap dollar store one.)

The amp is a Roland Cube 30 Bass. Does anyone know what the problem might be?

[B-string]

IF the battery is good some active basses will need a TRS cable to the amp instead of a normal 2 conductor one.

[5port]

There is a chance that the battery on/off switch contact on the 1/4" jack located inside the bass is contaminated/oxidized. These contacts are out of site inside the 1/4" jack. Try spraying contact cleaner inside the female jack on the bass. These contacts may have failed all together.

[JimmyM]

You can also just run a plug in and out of the jack several times really fast and can usually dislodge corrosion if you have any. But cheapo batteries will let you down when you need them, and I don't know of any active preamp maker who recommends using anything but quality alkalines. You can try licking the battery terminals to see if there's still juice in it (WARNING: It will give you a mild shock if it has any juice left), or maybe try it in something else in your house that uses 9v's. I'm betting it's the battery.

[MCJesus]

Originally Posted by B-string

IF the battery is good some active basses will need a TRS cable to the amp instead of a normal 2 conductor one.

And you nailed it.

Can't believe I forgot about this.

[5port]

Originally Posted by MCJesus

And you nailed it.

Can't believe I forgot about this.

and his prize is? (B-string)...(holiday season cough,cough)

[dmusic148]

That was IT? I've NEVER owned a bass that needed a TRS cable, and I've had plenty of active ones. News to me.

[B-string]

Originally Posted by 5port

and his prize is? (B-string)...(holiday season cough,cough)

Solving someone's problem is a prize (gift?) in itself

Originally Posted by dmusic148

That was IT? I've NEVER owned a bass that needed a TRS cable, and I've had plenty of active ones. News to me.

It is not so much the basses need as the way the amp handles the input.

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by B-string

IF the battery is good some active basses will need a TRS cable to the amp instead of a normal 2 conductor one.

I never knew LTD basses require TRS plugs. It's just weird. I'm curious as to which other brands of active basses require a TRS plug. I own 15 active basses of various brands, and none require TRS plugs. If you include all the active basses I own or have owned, the brands are:

Breedlove
Ernie Ball
F Bass
Fender
Fodera
Jerzy Drozd
Lakland
LeCompte
Pedulla
Sadowsky
Yamaha
Zon

[scottfeldstein]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

You can also just run a plug in and out of the jack several times really fast and can usually dislodge corrosion if you have any.

I'm betting this was the real issue all along.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by scottfeldstein

I'm betting this was the real issue all along.

5 cents says it's the battery.

[murphy]

Many years and many many active basses.
Never heard of using a TRS cable
and played through a Roland Cube...no issues

[Jazz Ad]

Actually active basses typically refuse to work with a TRS cable, precisely because the link to the battery isn't achieved.
I've played several LTDs and none of them required a TRS.

[bongomania]

Originally Posted by B-string

some active basses will need a TRS cable to the amp instead of a normal 2 conductor one.

Name one factory-produced example of such a thing.

[Stealth]

Originally Posted by B-string

IF the battery is good some active basses will need a TRS cable to the amp instead of a normal 2 conductor one.

Negative, if anything, a TRS cable will make it stop working because the ring contact on the cable won't close the circuit the way the longer shield contact on a TS cable would.

[arai]

Originally Posted by B-string

... some active basses will need a TRS cable to the amp instead of a normal 2 conductor one.

I would like to hear of an example

Originally Posted by Jazz Ad

Actually active basses typically refuse to work with a TRS cable, precisely because the link to the battery isn't achieved.
I've played several LTDs and none of them required a TRS.

Originally Posted by Stealth

Negative, if anything, a TRS cable will make it stop working because the ring contact on the cable won't close the circuit the way the longer shield contact on a TS cable would.

+3

[AlexanderB]

TRS cable + active bass makes sense for phantom powered amps like EBS. 9V is supplied from the amp to the instrument via the TRS cable.

[Zooberwerx]

I do recall the Line 6 Variax requiring some type of weird-ass cable but that's as close as I can come. TRS for a conventional active bass? Nope.

Riis

[bongomania]

Originally Posted by AlexanderB

TRS cable + active bass makes sense for phantom powered amps like EBS. 9V is supplied from the amp to the instrument via the TRS cable.

That only works for EBS pedals--it does not work with any basses or any other brand of pedal.

[Jazz Ad]

It is very easy to make any active bass work with the phantom power of EBS amps, all you need to do is to use a TRS cable and shortcut the poles of the battery plug.
Which is totally off the current subject.