Active Bass Battery Life?

[LaklandLaksNADA]

I'm shocked that some of you have killed batteries that fast! My Schecter has had the same battery for around a year with fairly regular playing sessions.

haha that's the problem here, and the reason for this thread

 

[spade2you]

Fixed it for ya.

oops. my bad.

 

[vince a]

The battery in my SRX is over a year old . . . still reads 8.7-according to the Batt-O-Meter!

 

[ronin614]

My Hohner Jack Bass would kill a battery every week even unplugged if the passive/active toggle was left in the active position.
Even in passive it will drain one in about a month.

 

[GroovinOnFunk]

My Hohner Jack Bass would kill a battery every week even unplugged if the passive/active toggle was left in the active position.
Even in passive it will drain one in about a month.

Pretty sure that's just the way it works with all passive/active basses. Even if the switch is in passive mode, the circuit will still be completed, as everybody's been mentioning, so your battery will still drain.

However, your bass will work (and even have a slightly different tone) in passive mode with no battery at all in there.

As a general rule, regardless of what mode it's in, if your bass has a battery in it, the battery will drain while the bass is plugged in.


That being said.. pretty sure no bass is supposed to drain its batteries in a week.

 

[superdick2112]

Five of my ten basses take 9-v batteries, and each one will go more than a year before the battery is dead. However, the last thing I want is a dead battery 1/2 way through a show, so I change all five batteries 2 times a year - January & July.

 

[AHDBassist]

I have 2 active basses and have never had a battery die. I change them every time I restring though, just to be sure.

 

[jeffbrown]

My 2 active basses seem to keep batteries fairly long - months, anyway - and I always unplug them after a session. Since I'm not gigging on a regular basis, I'll put new batteries in them before a gig. Each takes one battery.

That said, I found 2 9v batts in my kit; I had forgotten they were in there, no idea how old they are. I usually put the plastic thing that comes on new batts' contacts back on ones which may have some life in them. So, I checked these 2 with my voltage meter. Each has 8 volts. My question: how low can I go? Sure, I could run them until the sound degenerates, but why wait?