Why are these batteries in my bass!? (Hamer Cruise)
 

I bought a used 5-string Hamer Cruise from Guitar Center a year or two ago. I've been gigging with it consistently since then, I love it, it's my favorite bass ever, the neck is fantastic, it sounds great, etc etc. On a whim I decided to check out the electronics cavity and was surprised by what I found.

There are 2 batteries in there, 1 in a clip that appears to be stock, the other just kind of laying there with some foam padding surrounding it. They appear to be wired directly into the volume pots. There is no preamp to speak of and the controls work similarly to a passive jazz bass (VVT). No sound comes out if I remove the batteries.

Can anyone shed some light on what purpose these serve? I know that some Hamer Cruise basses came with active electronics but I can't find any pics of the electronics cavities to see if this is the stock config. Maybe a previous owner had a preamp in there and then took it out to sell the bass?

Probably b/c your pickups are active.

Definitely active pickups.

--Silvie

This is shocking!!!!!:eek::eek:

Okay someone is getting a charge out of this. :rollno:

It's the Tone Gnomes I tell ya !!

Yes... Basslines are active pickups. You'd do well to slap a preamp in there as well!

Those are probably Duncan Pro-Active pickups. Those are very nice active pickups.

Not all BassLines pickups are active... but these are!

Those must be the Duncan AJB-5 active pickups, as they are the only SD actives available in the 5-string length. Plus they look EXACTLY like them.

I had a Cruise5 , and you appear to have the stock passive V-V-T configuration. The dual battery pack appears to be an aftermarket upgrade, as I have never seen a stock CruiseBass with more than one battery. My factory Cruise (4 string) has only a single battery clip and it has active pickups AND active preamp.

They put batteries in it so you wouldn't need an amp.
Just plug right into a speaker and you are all set!

Which batteries would you like to be in there? :hiding:

I've always thought of basses with active pickups and passive circuitry to be awkward.

Though those Cruise basses sound and play great!

This might be a dumb question , but, what if you have a completely dead battery in yer active bass , would it still complete the circuit and be used passively or distort and go silent , just wondering?

It's the same as if you unplug your amp from the wall.

But it takes a long time for the battery to go dead in most active basses. The OP had no idea he even had batteries, and he had the bass for "a year or two"!

Before the battery(s) goes dead, the sound would get distorted.

I've been using active basses since 1976, and never had a battery go dead on me during a gig. I just check or change them when I change my strings.

Thats why i asked the question, i have two actives that have never gone dead, just curious.

Might be a previous owner's attempt at making an 18v mod to the preamp. Some preamps can take the extra 9 volts with no issues, it's supposed to add more headroom and sometimes more output.

A good active pickup through a passive control system is ALWAYS better than a good active pickup through a crappy pre-amp. It's the only way I like EMG's active PUPs on a bass.

John

Thanks for the info guys. I've never had active pickups in any of my instruments before and always associated them with bass & treble boost/cut knobs, hence my befuddlement. That and the decidedly non-stock looking battery floating around.

Is it possible to install a preamp of some sort with these pickups or are they meant to stick with the passive VVT config? There's not a whole lot out there about SD AJB-5's.

And while I'm at it, any recommendations for a preamp? I did a search but found absolutely no informahahahaha just kidding holy cow people are passionate about their preamps

Yes you can install a preamp with those pickups.

Cool bass Man, I use to play those before I got my Sadowskys.