Can I leave this bass plugged in?

[Evil Undead]

I think this is in the right section but apologies if not!

I have a Warwick Corvette $$ which I believe has passive pickups with an active preamp. And a push/pull knob to switch between.

I'm wondering if I leave it plugged in will it drain the battery? I know that's the case for active pickups but not sure in this case. If I leave the knob pulled out maybe it would be ok?

I don't know anything about electronics so would appreciate some advice

[darkstorm]

The vast majority of active basses are passive pups with active preamp. Plugged in activates the battery so yes it will needlessly drain batteries if left plugged in when your not going to be playing it. Though if you switch it to passive mode via the push/pull knob you mentioned, I think the battery is in effect turned off. So no drain then. But I'm not certain of that. Just knows bypass is good if battery goes dead, cause then bass works in passive mode.

[maurilio]

Originally Posted by Evil Undead

....
I'm wondering if I leave it plugged in will it drain the battery?

YES

Originally Posted by Evil Undead

...... If I leave the knob pulled out maybe it would be ok?

NO

what's the problem on unplugging the bass?

[Evil Undead]

Originally Posted by maurilio

YES NO

what's the problem on unplugging the bass?

DON'T SHOUT! lol

There's no problem mate... just curious.

[maurilio]

Originally Posted by Evil Undead

DON'T SHOUT! lol

There's no problem mate... just curious.

Sorry........

[sound of bass]

I have an active mik Fender J. I left it plugged in once for a day or two, then while playing it, it went dead. Told myself to replace the battery cuz I probably drained it. Did that the next day....and nothing! Several batteries, nothing! Turns out I fried the "module". The tech told me thats what happens when the battery gets left in. Fender had an upgraded replacement module, whereas, if you leave the battery in, it wont fry. The battery will still drain, but you wont fry the circuit. Thankfully it was still in the last month of warranty and covered. My advice...just unplug it, always,no matter the make, it only takes a fraction of a second. Ive never done it again!

[jsh008]

****! And I thought my wife was LAZY!

[Evil Undead]

Originally Posted by sound of bass

I have an active mik Fender J. I left it plugged in once for a day or two, then while playing it, it went dead. Told myself to replace the battery cuz I probably drained it. Did that the next day....and nothing! Several batteries, nothing! Turns out I fried the "module". The tech told me thats what happens when the battery gets left in. Fender had an upgraded replacement module, whereas, if you leave the battery in, it wont fry. The battery will still drain, but you wont fry the circuit. Thankfully it was still in the last month of warranty and covered. My advice...just unplug it, always,no matter the make, it only takes a fraction of a second. Ive never done it again!

Oooooh bad times! I'll be sure to unplug then.

The reason I was curious is that I left it plugged in for a couple of hours yesterday by mistake... haven't plugged it in again since so maybe I should go check it still works!

[sound of bass]

Originally Posted by Evil Undead

Oooooh bad times! I'll be sure to unplug then.

The reason I was curious is that I left it plugged in for a couple of hours yesterday by mistake... haven't plugged it in again since so maybe I should go check it still works!

Yes, go check it. You would think that in todays modern age the circuits would be protected from such a simple thing. My bass was mfgd. in 2008, needed the new module in 2010. Why they didnt have or use that technology in 2008? Its only a 2 year difference. But, If I didnt fry the "module" (whatever that is anyway) I never would have known about it. And it was a help being under warranty, but it still cost me 60.00 bucks in shipping, and I was without my main player for approx. 10 weeks. Like I said, I ALWAYS unplug now.

[Evil Undead]

Just out of interest, did the tech tell you how much a new module would have cost if it wasn't under warranty?

[baron665]

I owned mostly passive basses, and I still unplug them. Who knows what might happen? Pets chewing on cables, drunk friends tripping over the cables, etc.

[sound of bass]

Originally Posted by Evil Undead

Just out of interest, did the tech tell you how much a new module would have cost if it wasn't under warranty?

Yes, it was a few hundred dollars, I believe $300.00's range. It was an $800.00 dollar bass to begin with! And it should have been protected from numb skulls like me from the beginning!

[sound of bass]

Originally Posted by baron665

I owned mostly passive basses, and I still unplug them. Who knows what might happen? Pets chewing on cables, drunk friends tripping over the cables, etc.

Very wise!

[Stealth]

Originally Posted by sound of bass

I have an active mik Fender J. I left it plugged in once for a day or two, then while playing it, it went dead. Told myself to replace the battery cuz I probably drained it. Did that the next day....and nothing! Several batteries, nothing! Turns out I fried the "module". The tech told me thats what happens when the battery gets left in. Fender had an upgraded replacement module, whereas, if you leave the battery in, it wont fry. The battery will still drain, but you wont fry the circuit. Thankfully it was still in the last month of warranty and covered. My advice...just unplug it, always,no matter the make, it only takes a fraction of a second. Ive never done it again!

Hold on right there. A properly connected onboard preamp should not eat the battery if the cable is unplugged - the exception being older MusicMan Stingrays because it was deemed the SR pre didn't use up that much power. Either way, the entire shebang should be properly connected to a switching mono output jack or a standard stereo output jack (tip - pickup/vol/tone output, ring - battery+, sleeve - ground), so the battery is literally pulled ouut of the circuit when the cable is unplugged.

I had to fix one of my cheap basses because it had a miswired output jack like that - now it uses one 9V battery each half year, and the bass doesn't collect dust, believe you me.

[Evil Undead]

Originally Posted by sound of bass

Yes, it was a few hundred dollars, I believe $300.00's range. It was an $800.00 dollar bass to begin with! And it should have been protected from numb skulls like me from the beginning!

Wow, jeez. I've tested my bass, seems ok, no loss of sound so I'll keep my fingers crossed!

It was only left plugged in for a couple of hours at most, so I'm really hoping it will be ok... can't afford to shell out any cash right now!

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Originally Posted by sound of bass

Yes, it was a few hundred dollars, I believe $300.00's range. It was an $800.00 dollar bass to begin with! And it should have been protected from numb skulls like me from the beginning!

Learn to solder and how to read schematics, saves a load of money!

(also, can't believe you had to pay for the new board when they clearly were aware it was a fault with the original!)

[Febs]

Is anyone else skeptical of the claim that leaving the bass plugged in will "fry" the preamp?

[i_got_a_mohawk]

I am, but have no experience with the preamp he is talking about.

[GreggBummer]

Pre-Amp aside, leaving a bass plugged in increases the chance of someone tripping over the cord and having the bass tumble to the floor. My guitar player had the neck broken off his Guild that way.

[Arvin]

Originally Posted by GreggBummer

Pre-Amp aside, leaving a bass plugged in increases the chance of someone tripping over the cord and having the bass tumble to the floor. My guitar player had the neck broken off his Guild that way.

+1

Always unplug.