Battery confusion

[murphy]

You may already know this but, don't leave you bass plugged in when not in use. It will drain the batteries. I change batteries when I change strings. My SR5's are battery only but the batteries have lasted for years at a time. I probably change them more often than I need to. I had an 80's Ibanez Music Man that ate batteries. I changed the batteries once a month in that bass.

My lakland had that problem...until I found a ground wire attached to the wrong terminal...Fixed it myself to save the warranty shipping and wait

 

[wintremute]

The OP stated that his bass is 18V. The Keith McMillen, and all other versions of this type of meter that I'm aware of, will only work for 9V systems. Unfortunately this solution will not be useful in the OP's case.

If someone ever makes an 18V version I'll buy it immediately to accommodate my 18V Jazz bass.

I was going to ask that. I was wondering if, since his bass takes two 9v batteries, would that McMillen meter work? Thank you for clarifying.

 

[wintremute]

My base has 2 9vbattery plugs in it.
I never know if the batteries are dead or not. The thing works sometimes, sometimes not.
I wish I could just play it without the batteries. I hate anything that relies on battery power when I want to use it spontaneously. Please explain these batteries .

Welcome to TalkBass! That Cirrus is very nice looking. I hope you get your problem resolved soon.

 

[silky smoove]

I was going to ask that. I was wondering if, since his bass takes two 9v batteries, would that McMillen meter work? Thank you for clarifying.

I want it to, but by all accounts (along with the Sadowsky version of the same device) will not. Make 18V and you'll have at least one buyer, aka me.

 

[Iamgoodformetal]

The op does not say that his bass is eating batteries, he says he doesn't know. Sounds to me like it's working intermittently. That means a loose contact, most likely on the input jack. If the op is replacing the batteries all the time there could be a short (assuming it's stored unplugged). Barrel plugs are prone to that. If a technician checks it out and the connections are good, then monkeyland's experience is your remaining option.

 

[Brad Johnson]

I have one of these. You can even just plug it in where you plug in your instrument cable for a quick power reading. Although I did own one bass that wouldn’t work on. No big. I just had to take out the battery to check it in that one.

The angled plug does seem like a bad idea as far as flexibility. Should've used a straight end with a low profile jacket.

 

[mc900ftj]

...can anyone tell me what each of the knobs do?

The four on the headstock make the strings go in tune.

Seriously, sounds like you may have an issue with the input jack. Can you take it to someone to check it out? Where are you located?

 

[3alfa3]

Wrong-that’s one example where “ the numbers work”
You’ve got to load a battery to properly test it.
Different basses/preamps have different impedances.
Volt meters ar all different, but are very high z by design. Ammeters are low z by design.
Measuring the voltage of the battery in the circuit in which it is being used will yield a usable value.
The average person does not do that.
Touching volt meter leads to open circuit battery terminals can display a number— but is not a representation of the battery’s “health”.
I’ve measured 8+ volts on a “dead”, unusable 9v battery. ($300 volt meter)

Of course, your method is how it shoud be done properly, I'm aware of that.
But, my experience with battery in my Warwick is that OCV reading is good enough to roughly inspect Battery, i suppose because current draw is low: 4mA in case of my Warwick which gives me 150-200 Hours of playing Time before Distorsion occurs when plucking hard and then Battery reads 7V loaded, no more than 7,1V unloaded after few Hours of resting time. I use Duracell alkaline, if that matters.

 

[BaileyMan]

@Empire of light, My $0.02... some really good suggestions about managing a bass with batteries (i.e., an active bass) and troubleshooting your current issues, but considering that you don't like having to rely on things with batteries, I think a passive (i.e. no batteries) bass might be the way for you to go.

If you were local to me (SF), I'd say come on over with your bass. I could pretty easily identify the problem and most likely fix it.

But seriously, if you don't like batteries, go passive...

 

[Slevage]

Of course, your method is how it shoud be done properly, I'm aware of that.
But, my experience with battery in my Warwick is that OCV reading is good enough to roughly inspect Battery, i suppose because current draw is low: 4mA in case of my Warwick which gives me 150-200 Hours of playing Time before Distorsion occurs when plucking hard and then Battery reads 7V loaded, no more than 7,1V unloaded after few Hours of resting time. I use Duracell alkaline, if that matters.

My 2 cents: do it right or just replace the battery

 

[Empire of light]

@Empire of light, My $0.02... some really good suggestions about managing a bass with batteries (i.e., an active bass) and troubleshooting your current issues, but considering that you don't like having to rely on things with batteries, I think a passive (i.e. no batteries) bass might be the way for you to go.

If you were local to me (SF), I'd say come on over with your bass. I could pretty easily identify the problem and most likely fix it.

But seriously, if you don't like batteries, go passive...

San Francisco is really far from Buffalo but I so wish I could take you up on the visit!

 

[Empire of light]

I ended up getting the volume wire soldered by a local shop. It works great now.
Thank you all for all the advice. It amazes me how much there is to learn about this stuff.

 

[BaileyMan]

San Francisco is really far from Buffalo but I so wish I could take you up on the visit!

drop me a line next time you're in town. .