Brawley 4 controls

[Teletodd]

I played a Red Brawley bolt on neck Bass that had 4 controls: Volume, blend, bass and Treble. It didnt have a battery. I also played a higher end Brawley Artemis neck through bass with 5 controls: Volume , blend, treble, mid and bass which did have a battery. The pickups on both basses look the same. At first I thought the red bass merely lacked a mid knob, but it also lacks a battery. Is the red bass passive and the Artemis Active?

 

[Reedt2000]

I don't know the brand at all but no battery means passive. It's not unheard of to have passive with bass and treble cut-only tone controls. I'd assume that's what's happening here.

 

[It's The Groove]

I have both the Artemis and the Artemis Deluxe basses. The Artemis has passive pickups with active bass and treble eq. The Artemis Deluxe has active pickups and preamp for bass, mid, and treble eq.
Some of the early Artemis basses didn't have a separate battery compartment. Try opening the back cover housing the wires and pots and the battery should be located there.