Battery life in an active bass

[User474755]

I have a new (to me) active bass that I put a new energizer 9-volt into Friday afternoon. I tried playing it this afternoon and the battery is dead. I know this is not normal (I did a search) because I've only played for about 4 hours since then. I leave my bass plugged into the amp even when not playing. Reading through my search results tells me that I should be unplugging my bass when not in use but could that really cause a battery to drain that quick? Is it likely that there's something else causing the battery to drain that fast? Thanks in advance for any help I get here.

 

[FrenchBassQC]

If you do not unplug you let the battery drain itself as you have a constant contact with the jack and that's not good when not using your bass... This way your battery will last for months....

 

[fdeck]

Just making a ballpark estimate: A battery might have 500 mAh of juice, and a bass might draw 5 mA. At that rate, you've got 100 hours, which would be consistent with plugging it in on Friday and having it peg out by today.

 

[line6man]

Just making a ballpark estimate: A battery might have 500 mAh of juice, and a bass might draw 5 mA. At that rate, you've got 100 hours, which would be consistent with plugging it in on Friday and having it peg out by today.

5mA is a LOT of current for a bass, unless there is a short somewhere.

 

[fourstringdrums]

Sounds about right. I've had pedals die on me after a few days when I forgot to unplug.

 

[lowfreq33]

Yep. Unplug it when you're not playing. Otherwise you're just throwing money down the drain.

(goes to unplug bass)

 

[User474755]

Thanks everyone.

 

[fourstringdrums]

Thanks everyone.

BTW, your username is easily misread

 

[User474755]

BTW, your username is easily misread

Ha ha, no, I picked my username cause I used to keep a nasty old sock with my playboys under my bed when I was a kid.

 

[fatillac]

I think that's even worse

 

[walterw]

so no, not being misread at all

 

[Freez]

Ha ha, no, I picked my username cause I used to keep a nasty old sock with my playboys under my bed when I was a kid.

So is crunchy the next step after crusty? That's gotta be uncomfortable...

 

[Rockin Mike]

If you have an active/passive switch on your bass, can you switch it to passive and leave it plugged in to avoid battery drain?

Assuming passive pickups and an active preamp.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

If you have an active/passive switch on your bass, can you switch it to passive and leave it plugged in to avoid battery drain?

Assuming passive pickups and an active preamp.

No. Active/passive switches just take the preamp out of the signal chain.

What kind of bass do you have? I get at least 6 months from batteries in my active basses. Back when I used EMGs, or passive pickups with EMG preamps, I would often forget to unplug my bass when it sat on the stand at home, and after a week the battery was fine.

 

[svtb15]

My sadwosky NYC will go a year.... .... I change it once a year at Christmas time if I remember.... been doing it for 20 years...NEVER had an issue with preamp dying

 

[SGD Lutherie]

been doing it for 20 years...NEVER had an issue with preamp dying

+1

36 years for me. Never had a battery go dead on me.

 

[Datamater]

The manual for my '78 (pre-EB) MM Sting Ray says there's a trickle drainage even when it's unplugged, but that it's so miniscule a fresh alkaline 9V should last 18 months (presumably it would be even longer now since batteries have improved over the decades). I don't doubt their sincerity, but I've never tried to nurse a battery that long during the 33 years I've owned it.

 

[Rockin Mike]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rockin Mike
If you have an active/passive switch on your bass, can you switch it to passive and leave it plugged in to avoid battery drain?

Assuming passive pickups and an active preamp.

No. Active/passive switches just take the preamp out of the signal chain.

What kind of bass do you have? I get at least 6 months from batteries in my active basses. Back when I used EMGs, or passive pickups with EMG preamps, I would often forget to unplug my bass when it sat on the stand at home, and after a week the battery was fine.

Hm? oh I'm not having battery life problems, the OP is crunchysock. I was just asking about the active/passive switch out of curiosity.

I will say I have a set of your SGD Sidewinders in my Ibanez and they are awesome.

 

[walterw]

The manual for my '78 (pre-EB) MM Sting Ray says there's a trickle drainage even when it's unplugged, but that it's so miniscule a fresh alkaline 9V should last 18 months (presumably it would be even longer now since batteries have improved over the decades). I don't doubt their sincerity, but I've never tried to nurse a battery that long during the 33 years I've owned it.

the old music mans did indeed stay "on" all the time, whether plugged in or not. (what, leo couldn't source TRS output jacks?)

the EB ones switch off when unplugged just like any other active instrument.

(also, it would be a trivial matter to wire up the old ones to shut off when unplugged, too.)

 

[cloverkeys]

I've left my bass plugged in for the past 5 months, battery is still fine. ymmv