Do you burn out the stock batteries that come with an active bass before replacing them, or do you replace them immediatly upon recieving the bass with a better battery?
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Batteries?
- Thread starter SGT. Pepper
- Start date
I just leave it in, if its working, its working, you arent going to get better sound, until Tara Labs release a battery that is.
Unless its a stingray or similar that comes with a Duracell, I change right away as they are usually cheap and nasties that come with them.
I always have 9v lying around unused so I just replace it. It save me the trouble of worrying during the gig.
Unless it's a name-brand battery like Energizer or Duracell, I'll typically swap it out for one but save it for my back-up tuner or save to put into a pedal should for some reason my DC Brick come unplugged or otherwise fail on me. I prefer to have name-brand in my active basses (I'm not Eric Johnson, but I can actually hear the difference in the range of my active EQ with an OEM) but I'll always have uses for a spare 9V somewhere. 
- Jun 24, 2006
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- Endorsing Artist: MTD basses and strings; Bergantino Amps & Cabs
I use my trusty multimeter to test them. Or you could get a battery tester for about $10.00 from an electronics shop. An essential piece of kit. I test mine every couple of weeks, and especially before a big gig.
BTW, Ikea has some amazing deals on batteries, and they are as good as any alkaline out there.
C.
I toss a Duracell in regardless and write the month/year on it so I know when to replace with time to spare.
~Mark
~Mark
I usually leave them... Well, I usually check to see if it's leaking, if not, I'll leave it, if it is leaking, I return it, get a new one, and check that one.
New basses with actives usually come with cheapo dollar store batteries. I always used to replace them Energizer Titaniums. HUGE DIFFERENCE!!! believe it or not. Seems to boost the output on the active pickups. Then I recently discovered PowerBugs. Which are specifically geared towards Active instruments. WOW! Insane difference. A 6 pack is around 30 bux. Worth it too. The Energizer Titaniums run around $5.50 as well.
You wouldnt think that a battery could make a difference. I didnt either.
Try them you will never use anything else.
http://www.powerbug.com/
You wouldnt think that a battery could make a difference. I didnt either.
Try them you will never use anything else.
http://www.powerbug.com/
I dunno, I just put whatever I have lying around in my Alembic Epic 5. Radio Shack's, Duracells, Energizer Titaniums, they all sound the same to me. YMMV.
- Feb 24, 2004
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- Endorsing Artist: Phantom Guitars, Eastwood Guitars
Am I understanding this correctly? Someone started a poll asking if people swap out the battery in a new active bass?
+1 on the PowerBugs. If you get your hands on one, try the old trick of putting one your tongue... man, what a difference!
Seems like a trivial topic, but I still managed to learn something new -- this PowerBugs thing -- so it was worth reading.
I usually take them out, and replace my smoke alarm batteries when the time comes, hah.
I have about 40 Engergizer Industrial batteries, I just buy the whole box from a store, with 12 in a box I hardly ever have to buy batteries.
I have about 40 Engergizer Industrial batteries, I just buy the whole box from a store, with 12 in a box I hardly ever have to buy batteries.
I do the rotation as well - 9V from basses go to my EHX pedals. I can often get them dirt cheap though, as I work for a retailer that handles computers & other tech stuff. I just keep an eye out for sell-through items - I once got a half dozen 9V batteries for AUS 47c each 
