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Forgot to check battery before gig

#41
I have one active electric, which I like a lot, but it takes four screws and a wee Phillips screwdriver to change out the battery. It's not really clear to me why a $20 alarm clock I buy at the grocery store has a battery compartment that requires no tools, but a multi-hundred-dollar bass can't. If no tools are required, this can easily be a battery change between songs.
 
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#43
I have a bass with a preamp that EATS batteries. So I rewired it to use a power supply, but with the ability to swap in a battery if something happens to the PS. And I always keep a battery in my gig bag.
 
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#45
bassdude51 said:
I think (and who am I?) that all active basses should have a passive switch (and some do) in case the battery dies.

We're glad the gig and the battery incident worked out for you...............can you share the band's joke?.....while you changed batteries.
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LOL I dont remember, i was panicking lol Im almost certain it was about the guitar play though =)
 
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#46
Guess I live on the edge... I get the best batteries I can and go a couple years before I change them. Seems they usually pass the toungue test when I do.

Only time I had an issue, Was providing FOH for a grammy winner Christian outdoor concert. The Lady said she had guitar she'd use for the show, but messed around with my Ovation before sound check. She liked it enough that she left her $5000 (freebie) guitar in the case and asked if she could use mine... before the show the 4 year old battery went dead and I had to change a battery that was only accessable by pulling strings.

That did it for me.... no more Christian concerts, or maybe I change batteries more often>?
 
#48
john_g said:
Had a gig last night and decided I would use my Stringray. i thought earlier in the day that i should check the battery and then got sidetracked and forgot. As Im walking out of the house I remembered but everything was already in the car (including me), so I ran back in the house, grabbed a 9V, and took off. I dont remember exactly when i put in a new battery but I didnt "think it was all that long ago". I usually always take two basses too but this is a pretty small space so I only took one. I know...recipe for disaster.

Plugged in and it sounded fine so I didnt put in the new battery. Halfway through the first set it starts distorting. It was weird, I told the singer in between songs and he went out front said it sounded ok...? I finally had to tell them to tell a joke after a song so I can throw in the new battery. Thank god the stingray's battery compartment is like it is so it didnt take too long, but it felt like an eternity.

Learned my lesson.
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Had the same thing happen to me a few weeks ago. Half an hour before a wedding, I plug in my bass and it's all farty and distorty. Went back to my car for a screwdriver, opened up the battery compartment. I had a spare battery on me, but . . . . the preamp was 18v. I completely forgot about that.

The guitar player had a couple batteries on him. One expired in 2020, the other in 2019. I tried the 2020, no dice. There must have been a little juice left in the 2019, because that worked . . . . until the last 45 minutes of the gig, where I just played with crap tone the rest of the night.

That night I swore off active basses on gigs.
 
#50
I would have thought it would be possible for manufacturers to fit the battery compartment with a small push button which would illuminate a green LED if the battery is ok or a red LED if the battery is running low?
 
#51
I have more than a few basses that use 9v batteries, so I check them all every so often. The batteries that I've not had to replace because they tested as "good" have paid for this (Made In USA!) tester many times over.

Screenshot 2023-12-11 at 11-40-12 ZTS Mini Multi-Battery Tester (MINI-MBT).png
 
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#53
john_g said:
Had a gig last night and decided I would use my Stringray. i thought earlier in the day that i should check the battery and then got sidetracked and forgot. As Im walking out of the house I remembered but everything was already in the car (including me), so I ran back in the house, grabbed a 9V, and took off. I dont remember exactly when i put in a new battery but I didnt "think it was all that long ago". I usually always take two basses too but this is a pretty small space so I only took one. I know...recipe for disaster.

Plugged in and it sounded fine so I didnt put in the new battery. Halfway through the first set it starts distorting. It was weird, I told the singer in between songs and he went out front said it sounded ok...? I finally had to tell them to tell a joke after a song so I can throw in the new battery. Thank god the stingray's battery compartment is like it is so it didnt take too long, but it felt like an eternity.

Learned my lesson.
Click to expand...

Been there, but my battery bonked during sound check / pre-gig rehearsal so I could do a quick swap. Always have at least one spare and the tools I need to swap (small screw driver to remove back panel).
 

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