When does the bass use battery?

Tecfan · #1 08-16-2008, 07:13 AM

I'm kinda new to active basses, so I have a basic question:

When does the bass actually use battery?

Is it when I'm playing? All the time? When the amp is on and connected?

Does it use more battery when you have higher volume on the pickups?

My bass is Spector Legend 5 Custom if that matters. (9V EMG pickups)

**Eric Perry** · #2 08-16-2008, 07:14 AM

You'll drain from the battery whenever a cord is plugged into the bass.

Ask and ya shall receive!

Tecfan · #3 08-16-2008, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric618

You'll drain from the battery whenever a cord is plugged into the bass.

Ask and ya shall receive!

even when the amp/whatever is off?

**Eric Perry** · #4 08-16-2008, 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tecfan

even when the amp/whatever is off?

Yep. Plugging in the cord to your bass completes the circuit and it draws power. It doesn't matter if the amp is off, unplugged, in the next room, or engulfed in a house fire. If there is a cord in that bass, it'll draw current from the battery, even if the other side of the cord is dangling at your feet.

Ric5 · #5 08-16-2008, 07:29 AM

When you plug a 1/4" jack into your active bass it plugs into a stereo cable. There is the normal + and - and a third connection that completes the battery circuit. When the circuit is complete the battery drains. Unplug the bass and the circuit is incompleted and the battery does not drain.

Tecfan · #6 08-16-2008, 07:31 AM

oh ok... I should have know! I've taken one year with electronics at school

kyral210 · #7 08-16-2008, 11:02 PM

Quote:

oh ok... I should have know! I've taken one year with electronics at school

Yeah. I recommend using an 18V supply for better tone and a longer time period between changing batteries. I play mine ALLOT and can manage one change every 2 years!

Tecfan · #8 08-17-2008, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kyral210

Yeah. I recommend using an 18V supply for better tone and a longer time period between changing batteries. I play mine ALLOT and can manage one change every 2 years!

wouldn't that mean that I'd have to change pickups?

ZonGuy · #9 08-17-2008, 09:45 AM

For whatever reason, my Peavey Cirrus 6 eats batteries. I think the power drains whether it s plugged in or not.

NKUSigEp · #10 08-17-2008, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tecfan

wouldn't that mean that I'd have to change pickups?

Nope. Are you familiar with wiring schematics? I can email you a .pdf file of how to wire a second 9V battery into your controls. I got it from EMG but it will work for everything.

And wiring it for 18V won't necessarily mean you'll have better tone. Personally, I prefer 9V. There's sufficient headroom and I hit the strings pretty hard with a pick. I don't know much about slapping but I can't imagine it requiring more juice than the way I play. I may need to change a battery twice as often but there's only one in there so I'm not spending any more money than if there were two.

...PS - buy batteries in bulk and you'll save a few bucks. 9V come in handy for LOTS of stuff!

Tecfan · #11 08-17-2008, 10:18 AM

yea I am familiar with that.. I'm not sure I want to try to do anything with my bass, but it could be cool learning how.. somvaan@hotmail.com is the mail

**Eric Perry** · #12 08-17-2008, 11:05 AM

Depending on how you 1wire it, you can wire it for 9 volts from two 9 volt batteries (the batteries will last longer), or you can wire it for 18 volts which will give you more headroom, but you won't get any additional battery life.

Can't have yer cake and eat it too

rarisgod · #13 08-17-2008, 11:07 AM

If the battery dies, does the bass still play?

If it doesn't, how do passive basses work? I have both types, but I still don't understand it :S

Revvv · #14 08-17-2008, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rarisgod

If the battery dies, does the bass still play?

If it doesn't, how do passive basses work? I have both types, but I still don't understand it :S

What kind of bass? If it is an active / passive bass you will be able to play in passive mode with a dead battery. If it's like my Peavey, you have to have batteries all the time. Only active.

Trevorus · #15 08-17-2008, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rarisgod

If the battery dies, does the bass still play?

If it doesn't, how do passive basses work? I have both types, but I still don't understand it :S

Passive basses don't use any electronics that require an external power supply. Basically, an active bass uses extra electronics that allow for shaping the tone more. A passive bass uses simple components that require no power to manipulate the tone/volume. Basically just resistive and capacitive components.

4StringTheorist · #16 08-17-2008, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric618

Depending on how you 1wire it, you can wire it for 9 volts from two 9 volt batteries (the batteries will last longer), or you can wire it for 18 volts which will give you more headroom, but you won't get any additional battery life.

Can't have yer cake and eat it too

Incorrect with a bass preamp or pickups.

This is the case with circuits where the current sink will take as much as it can get (lightbulbs for instance) But the preamp on a bass takes current as demanded by the musical signal provided by the pickups and the output resistance seen to the amplifier, etc. Simply put, a bass preamp that sees 18V as opposed to 9V won't draw twice the current like a light bulb will. If it did, then you would be right.. stepping up to 18V wouldn't increase battery life one iota.

Wiring two batteries for 18V is something of a best of both worlds approach. You get increased headroom for high level transient signals, but you also get the milliamp-hours of a pair of batteries.

You will get longer life with two batteries/parallel/9V than you will with two batteries/series/18V, but you are incorrect to state that the 18V option won't increase the battery life of the bass as measured between battery changes. It may not be a clean double like parallel/9V, but it is markedly extended from a single battery.

CapnSev · #17 08-17-2008, 01:30 PM

As long as I don't leave a cable plugged into it for a long time, my bass can live off of one 9v battery for 8 or 9 months easily.

NKUSigEp · #18 08-17-2008, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tecfan

yea I am familiar with that.. I'm not sure I want to try to do anything with my bass, but it could be cool learning how.. somvaan@hotmail.com is the mail

Emailed.

+1 to what 4StringTheorist said too.

**Eric Perry** · #19 08-17-2008, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4StringTheorist

Incorrect with a bass preamp or pickups.

This is the case with circuits where the current sink will take as much as it can get (lightbulbs for instance) But the preamp on a bass takes current as demanded by the musical signal provided by the pickups and the output resistance seen to the amplifier, etc. Simply put, a bass preamp that sees 18V as opposed to 9V won't draw twice the current like a light bulb will. If it did, then you would be right.. stepping up to 18V wouldn't increase battery life one iota.

Wiring two batteries for 18V is something of a best of both worlds approach. You get increased headroom for high level transient signals, but you also get the milliamp-hours of a pair of batteries.

You will get longer life with two batteries/parallel/9V than you will with two batteries/series/18V, but you are incorrect to state that the 18V option won't increase the battery life of the bass as measured between battery changes. It may not be a clean double like parallel/9V, but it is markedly extended from a single battery.

I did not know that, and I stand corrected. My bad.