18v pre wired for 9v ?

[Zonked]

Hello all,

Had a question.

If you wire a 18v pre to use one 9v battery, does that mean that the one sigle 9v battery will be cosumed faster?
Thanks for your help, and keep rocking that low end.

 

[FunkMetalBass]

No. 9V and 18V wiring options are going to have similar battery life. The added 9V simply increases headroom of the preamp, but relatively few find that they actually need it.

 

[Zonked]

Thanks.

I was asking because a bass I got recently is wired this way, and seems to consume the battery much, much faster than my MM Sterling. Could it possibly be wired incorrectly?

 

[FunkMetalBass]

Do you leave the cable plugged into the bass when not playing? If so, stop it. Now.

Otherwise it could be wired incorrectly so that the negative lead from the battery is completing the circuit regardless of whether or not a cable is plugged in. Can you post a picture of the control cavity?

 

[Zonked]

Thanks FunkMetalBass!

And no, I don't leave the cable plugged in.....That I know

I will post a pic of the cavity in a bit........

Thanks again... you are too cool.

 

[Zonked]

I don't know how to go about posting a pic on here, but I added it as an attachmemt....

 

[Zonked]

Cool, it worked.

Battery compartment is to the left of the pic if it helps any. Thanks.

 

[Baron Von Vik]

Is that the battery all wrapped up in foil? 'Cause if it is, in the words of Jamie Hyneman, "There's your problem!"

 

[Zonked]

Is that the battery all wrapped up in foil? 'Cause if it is, in the words of Jamie Hyneman, "There's your problem!"

No, the battery has its own compartment to the left of the picture.

 

[FunkMetalBass]

Following the black wire from your battery cavity, does it end on the sleeve prong of your output jack?

Also, how long does your battery usually last?

 

[Zonked]

Following the black wire from your battery cavity, does it end on the sleeve prong of your output jack?

Also, how long does your battery usually last?

I will have to check where the black wire from the battery ends on the output jack. I assume it should connect to sleeve prong.

As far a battery life.......I am guessing a month or so. I also use my MM Sterling, so it's not like I play the hell out of it. In contrast my Sterling needs a battery change once every eight to ten months.

 

[line6man]

I will have to check where the black wire from the battery ends on the output jack. I assume it should connect to sleeve prong.

It should not. The negative terminal of the battery goes to the ring terminal. If you ground it at the sleeve, the preamp will always draw current from the battery.

 

[Zonked]

It should not. The negative terminal of the battery goes to the ring terminal. If you ground it at the sleeve, the preamp will always draw current from the battery.

Whoa! Thanks for the clarification. Now I know what to look for. I will have to check for that.

 

[Zonked]

Ok, so I was able to trace the black cable from the battery compartment to the output jack. That cable is connected to the prong I have labeled with the "#1"

labeled with the #2, is the prong contact for the tip.

#3 is the barrel for the 1/4" out.

The prong contact for the sleeve is in the back and hard to see.

I can't quite make out if the black cable #1 is for sleeve or for tip. Help.

Additionally, this bass has a "pull passive option." Don't know if it matters or not.

Anyway, if it is wired incorrectly, I would have to take it to a tech, as it looks like it's going to take some tight and precise soldering skills which I don't have.

Can anyone shed some light on this from the pic?

 

[FunkMetalBass]

If #1 is the tip (the lug is on the opposite side of the prong), then #2 is the ring. #3 is called the sleeve. Everything looks like it's in order. A month is a rather short period of time, especially without constant play. I can't see anything from the picture that looks like it would be causing a short. Unless someone else can come up with something, you might be best served taking it into a tech.

 

[bassbenj]

Ok, so I was able to trace the black cable from the battery compartment to the output jack. That cable is connected to the prong I have labeled with the "#1"

labeled with the #2, is the prong contact for the tip.

#3 is the barrel for the 1/4" out.

The prong contact for the sleeve is in the back and hard to see.

I can't quite make out if the black cable #1 is for sleeve or for tip. Help.

Additionally, this bass has a "pull passive option." Don't know if it matters or not.

Anyway, if it is wired incorrectly, I would have to take it to a tech, as it looks like it's going to take some tight and precise soldering skills which I don't have.

Can anyone shed some light on this from the pic?

It's kind of hard to tell from the photo, but a jack like that has a lug that goes to the metal "hole" in it (where the plug is inserted) is "ground". Both signal ground and ground for the preamp power. The lug that contacts the very "tip" of the plug (looks like #1 to me) is your bass signal and goes to amp. Finally the lug that goes to the springy piece that contacts the plug RIGHT BEHIND the "tip" is the contact of interest. In a TRS (stereo) setup, this contacts a "ring" terminal on the plug right behind the tip, but on a normal mono bass setup it contacts the grounded body of the plug. Hence it acts as a preamp switch. This terminal goes to the negative of the battery. When you put in a plug the body of the plug shorts that terminal to ground connecting the negative of the battery to ground and turning the preamp on. If somehow that terminal get grounded, then the preamp is always on and does not shut off when you remove the plug. So if you have a voltmeter test between the ring and ground terminals (looks like #2 and #3). With the plug in you should measure zero volts and with it unplugged you should measure some voltage up to 9 volts. If you measure zero with the plug unplugged, you probably have a short somewhere and the preamp is not shutting off.

Let me add that there are a couple of other possibilities depending on how fast the battery goes dead. The first is simply that this bass draws more current than a Stingray. A Stingray draws about the least current of ANY bass! So others may not last as long in comparison. And the other is that in fact somehow the 18volt circuit run on 9 volts is drawing a lot of current due to some kind of bias imbalance in the preamp. This is rare but is possible. The true test for that would be to run the bass on 18v and see how long the battery lasts compared to running one battery at 9 volts. If the 9 volt battery doesn't last nearly as long then you've got a preamp that isn't designed to run on 9 volts.

Good luck!

 

[Zonked]

. If somehow that terminal get grounded, then the preamp is always on and does not shut off when you remove the plug. So if you have a voltmeter test between the ring and ground terminals (looks like #2 and #3). With the plug in you should measure zero volts and with it unplugged you should measure some voltage up to 9 volts. If you measure zero with the plug unplugged, you probably have a short somewhere and the preamp is not shutting off.

Good luck!

Thanks.

Ok, so I put in a fresh battery and tested between #2 (contact for tip/ring of plug), and #3 (sleeve for plug) and got zero readings on the both plugged and unplugged. So I'm thinking that it has to be short. The battery just goes way too fast. Looks like I'm going to have to go see a tech.