Battery life in an active bass

[walterw]

"fine" maybe, but i'll guarantee you it's well below 9 volts by now.

 

[Rockin Mike]

Any reason not to set up an active passive switch that also disconnects the battery?

 

[SGD Lutherie]

Any reason not to set up an active passive switch that also disconnects the battery?

It will make a loud pop.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

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

He didn't think it was necessary due to the LM4250 op amp drawing only 250 µA.

Oddly when they did decide to switch the battery off later on, they didn't use a TRS jack to do it.

 

[Boom762]

I have the BQC system and 2 40DCX pickups. I'm only running the 18v system on a single 9 volt. My Ibanez 305dx can use the same battery for a year or more. This bass, a Spector, kills the battery in a few days and it is never left plugged into the amp. Would installing an 18v box and two batteries solve this or is there need for an engineer?

 

[JustForSport]

I have the BQC system and 2 40DCX pickups. I'm only running the 18v system on a single 9 volt. My Ibanez 305dx can use the same battery for a year or more. This bass, a Spector, kills the battery in a few days and it is never left plugged into the amp. Would installing an 18v box and two batteries solve this or is there need for an engineer?

It doesn't matter whether the cable is plugged into the amp or not, only that it is unplugged from the bass.

You've got a serious drain there- but it could be as simple as the jack not dis-connecting when the plug is pulled.

 

[line6man]

I have the BQC system and 2 40DCX pickups. I'm only running the 18v system on a single 9 volt. My Ibanez 305dx can use the same battery for a year or more. This bass, a Spector, kills the battery in a few days and it is never left plugged into the amp. Would installing an 18v box and two batteries solve this or is there need for an engineer?

Adding a second battery parallel to the first (9V operation) would improve your battery life, however, it appears that something is definitely wrong, for you to be be draining batteries that quickly.

 

[Camarillo]

Any experience with a G&L 2500 tribute? How long is battery life on it? Stupid question (zero experience with active instruments, sorry): if you have an active/passive switch, and the battery is dead, can you still play in passive mode? What about an only active instrument?

 

[svtb15]

My NYC Sadowsky would easily get 1 year from a PROCELL 9 Volt..
I dont BOOST at all. I only used the pre as a buffer... same with my Alleva Coppolo LG5... Ive had this one about 8 months now.. Battery is still all JUICE...

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

so no, not being misread at all

I really didn't want to know that.
I need a shower.

 

[line6man]

Any experience with a G&L 2500 tribute? How long is battery life on it? Stupid question (zero experience with active instruments, sorry): if you have an active/passive switch, and the battery is dead, can you still play in passive mode? What about an only active instrument?

By definition, passive means no batteries. Active/passive switches are simply true bypass switches for preamps. When you are in passive mode, the pickups are going straight to the jack, without any connection to anything that uses a battery, so whether the battery is alive or dead is irrelevant.

If there is no active/passive switch, then the preamp is a permanent part of the signal path. In that case, when the battery dies, the active components (transistors, opamps, etc.) cannot conduct, and so there is no sound.