battery issues

[Biglb79]

I have a Lakland bass with active pickups that appears to be using the battery all the time. My previous bass' would stop draining the battery when I unplug the input cable, but this one will just drain. any idea as to why that would be happening? I'm getting tired of buying new 9 volt batteries

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Is it a barrel jack? If so, there’s a decent chance it’s the jack. Replace it with a Switchcraft jack. If not, something on the negative side of the battery circuit is touching ground before it gets to the output jack. Inspect the wiring and make sure the ring connection on the jack isn’t touching the shielding.

Do you have a multimeter? That could help with some diagnostics.

 

[Biglb79]

sorry for the delay! so I'm not tech savvy at all with this stuff. I believe it's a barrel jack. I'm attaching some pictures. I appreciate your help! I'm guessing I should just take it somewhere?

 

[MidlifeBeginner]

Undo the two screws of the jack plate. Pull that out a bit and take a picture.

 

[Biglb79]

Undo the two screws of the jack plate. Pull that out a bit and take a picture.

do these pictures work? I wasn't sure how far I could pull it out

 

[MidlifeBeginner]

You will want to use a multimeter and check the resistance between the shorter tab and the ground. The plate is easiest place to touch ground. Active basses use a stereo jack(two tabs). Plugging in a cable shorts ground to the short tab. Long tab is the guitar signal.

It looks like the jack is wired cleanly at the jack. I do not expect a problem there at the jack. Reading resistance there would pick up if battery is shorted to ground somewhere else.

 

[Biglb79]

thanks for your help. I think I'm just going to have to take it to a music shop near me. I don't have a multimeter and all of this talk sounds like a foreign language to me. I just know how to play the bass, but this technical stuff I'm not familiar with at all.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

It’s not a barrel jack so I wouldn’t expect the failure you’d typically see with one of those. The most likely issue is the battery negative is touching ground somewhere before it gets to the output jack.