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Battery free 5 string?

J

Jonda500

Oct 4, 2018
3
0
#1
Hi all, new to the forum and desperate to find out please please
Does anyone know of a 5 string electric bass guitar that does NOT use a 9 volt battery or batteries?
I used to have a musicman stingray 5 - but it let me down badly at a gig - the sound started cutting in and out - the problem continued even after fitting a new battery and input jack so I sold it for half what I paid. Now I am on the hunt for a batteryless 5 string....
Thanks, John
 
#8
Jonda500 said:
Hi all, new to the forum and desperate to find out please please
Does anyone know of a 5 string electric bass guitar that does NOT use a 9 volt battery or batteries?
I used to have a musicman stingray 5 - but it let me down badly at a gig - the sound started cutting in and out - the problem continued even after fitting a new battery and input jack so I sold it for half what I paid. Now I am on the hunt for a batteryless 5 string....
Thanks, John
Click to expand...

There are a ton of options there... Peavey Grind 5 would be a good option (i've got the Grind 6 which is a 6 string version of basically the same bass). Other than that, there are 5 string P-basses that are passive, J-basses.... really any option you could want. Shop around a little and you should find something pretty easy.
 
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Reactions: saabfender
#10
My Yamaha TRBX505 has a passive/active toggle switch. Without a battery in it, it becomes a passive/mute switch.

A few other clever design features:
  • When toggling between passive and active, the overall output level does not change.
  • It literally takes three seconds to swap batteries, thanks to the quick-swap (pop-in/pop-out) battery compartment.
  • A low battery warning LED indicator.
 
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Reactions: JeffC23
#13
Gorn said:
Is one Stingray with faulty electronics a good reason to write off all active basses? Sounds like the battery wasn't the problem anyway, and passive basses can have faulty electronics too.
Click to expand...
My thoughts exactly. I had a Stingray 5 some years back that had the same issue. Turns out the pickup had a short in it. I had to order a new one from Musicman. But, they wouldn't send it until they received my old one and still charged me $100. Odd company.
 
#17
Like others have said it seems kind of silly to write off all active basses because of one bad one, but it’s your choice.

As others have said there are plenty of passive 5 stringers around. The most common would be a Squier and Fender. Precision and Jazz. Both models from both companies have a passive 5 string. Though if you want the Squier P5 you’ll have to buy used. I have one and I love it. Paid a couple hundred bucks for it and I gig with it fairly often.

The other basses that others have mentioned are all good choices too. I’d suggest looking at the sweetwater link above. If something’s out of your budget your can always get it on the used market for much cheaper.
 

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