AC adapter for active basses

A person or two on TB has wired a stereo cable setup that runs to a box that provides the power. Basically, you feed power into the ring terminal, ground on the sleeve, and get instrument signal on the tip. It's really a pretty easy ssetup if you have a pedal board. Also, you could wire in a switch to allow for use of a passive bass, or a regular active.

 

You mean something like this ?


Yeah, that would be beyond coolness.

 

I thought about using an ac adapter too. Apparently, as I was told, there will be problems with electrical noise, unless you have a really fancy wall-wart.

 

It comes with Lightwave systems.
It basically works like a cellphone.
You have a big battery in the bass that you charge with a wallwart.
Mine will last for 32 hours of playing and charges in less than an hour.

 

Personally I have wondered why bass amps dont have phantom power and XLR cables for bass.

 

Alembic Series 1 and Series 2 electronics can be externally powered with power supply and their 5-pin cable.

 

IHO with the minimal current draw of your typical active electronics, it's akin to hunting rabbits with an elephant gun. Far too much wiring and additional components to go wrong for something I wouldn't even consider an improvement.

Whenever I change by batteries I sharpie the date on them - every six months they get changed whether I hear any sound degradation or not.

 

"Whenever I chance by batteries I sharpie the date on them - every six months they get changed whether I hear any sound degradation or not."

good idea.

so if one plays bass about 10 hrs per week how long will a 9 volt last(like a good quality energizer)?

 

It completely depends on the electronics, not 2 are alike.
With a 2 band Stingray for example you can expect well over 1000 hours.
The Line6 Variax will only go for a few weeks at best.

 

For what it's worth, I did some extensive testing with different brands of Batteries a couple years ago (school project), and found that they basically all last the same amount of time. It's just the cost that's different. That's what I found anyways.

 

As noted by hasadari, the black rectangle next to the 1/4" input is the XLR type port for the 5-pin connector to the external power supply that comes with Alembic Series I and Series II basses. No battery required. On the flip side, if you spring for a Series I or Series II, cost of batteries may not be your top level concern.

For what it's worth, the top space in my rack houses the external power supply for my Alembics. The older models had a smaller floor box in place of the rack mount. I have one of those, too.



Peace,

James