Gig nightmare - bass drops out

[c-ba55]

Did a little 3 night tour this weekend. That was great, but the second night, in the second set, we suddenly have no bass coming through.
I go through possibilities
Is it my in ear mix, I go over to my phone and futz with that. nope.
Knobs on my bass? No.
Wireless? My pack is on.
I run to the green room and get a 1/4". Always think about having one on stage just in case, but didn't.
That's not it either though.
Turn HX Stomp off and on, nope.
Soundguy finally shows up on stage. Hey, where you been all my life. He checks the routing, nothing there.
Finally I remember my bass has a passive mode, I kick that in and we're back! Band played about a song and a half without me.

Brought my battery tester with me, so that night I check the 2 batteries and one battery is full and the other one is totally dead.
I had JUST switched to Pale Blue rechargeable batteries like a week ago. Because I think one of my batteries had drained and I was tired of buying batteries. When batteries have died before, what happens is the signal level drops a bit and then the gain-sensitive things in my effects, like overdrive and synth, stop triggering. It never just completely cut out before. So I hadn't thought about that as I was going through the possibilities. My stuff actually sounded hairier than usual and I kind of wondered why. I guess that's how these batteries die maybe.

I suspect I also have some short circuit or something where the one battery is draining all the time instead of just when a cable is plugged in?

 

[DonaldR]

Lithium rechargeable batteries?
I always use regular Duracell 9v Alkline because as you said, you hear it coming before it stops completely.

 

[DWBass]

Bro. Ditch those batteries. Get some 9v's (4pk) from Harbor Freight for $7.99. I buy 2 boxes a year.

 

[brianrost]

I got caught once when the battery voltage dropped too far. Of course, checking the batteries was the last thing I tried after cable swaps, etc. The bass has no passive bypass so I didn't have that option. Now I check the battery voltage before heading out to gigs if it’s been more than 3 months since the last battery change (I normally swap batteries on New Year’s Day and July 4th). I wish bass makers would all add a low voltage LED like some stomp boxes do.

I’ve also gotten caught without a spare cable on stage with me when the cable I was using failed about 3 songs into the set. So now I make sure a spare is nearby at all times…I keep at least one spare cable in the instrument bag and also one in the bag for my amp heads. I recently got caught with dropouts and it turned out it was the nut on the input jack to a stomp box was loose.

I’ve gotten so anal that I keep a cheap Korg plug-in tuner in every instrument bag, even though I use clip-ons with all my basses.

 

[Gopherbassist]

Rechargeable 9vs are not good. They don't provide 9 volts and they NEVER store as much power as advertised.

Stick with regular disposables.

 

[Gopherbassist]

When batteries have died before, what happens is the signal level drops a bit and then the gain-sensitive things in my effects, like overdrive and synth, stop triggering.

Lithium ion batteries provide much more stable voltage than conventional batteries. The drawback is that once they can't sustain that amount of power, the voltage drops off a cliff. So for systems that are more sensitve to lower voltages, sudden cut outs result.

 

[c-ba55]

I was tired of having my digital effect presets not act the same over time as the battery drained. So rechargeable batteries seem great. I just have to actually charge them. And then I'm always at the same spot.

 

[JamesGrant]

Sorry to hear it! That’s the reason I moved away from active basses. I don’t think anyone in the audience or the band knows the difference, except when the inevitable happens. Then people notice!

 

[RattleSnack]

Every couple of weeks, during a normal bass guitar check routine, I would bring out multimeter and check voltage. So, I never had that kind of problem.
ATM I only play passive bass guitars, but that coincidental, not because they need battery.

 

[Captain Comet]

Like others have said, disposable batteries are better for a low drain long term situation.

I don't know what the numbers are for a 9 volt, but for 1.5 volt batteries, a lot of time the target actual usage range for the voltage is 1.25 for a lot of devices. A regular disposable will start at 1.5 and slowly coast down at a steady pace. A rechargeable will start at 1.5 and drop pretty fast to 1.25 and then live there for a much longer time, and then they seem to fall of a cliff fast. Hope this makes sense.

I uses regular batteries in my active bass and once you know what to look for, with mine it is subtle, buy I notice I am fighting with the tone, etc. as the battery is getting close to end of life.

 

[Nuisance]

Would never use rechargeble batteries in a bass.....but that's just me. I want time to hear the battery is getting low, then change it out. While I hate dealing with the hassle and cost, most of my basses are active........so it's a necessary evil.

 

[JazznFunk]

This fear of regular alkaline batteries is hilarious. I play mostly active basses. The majority of them are. I've owned the same basses for close to (or over) 20 years. In that time, I have had ONE battery failure on a gig. And that was when I was gigging/recording/rehearsing regularly with those basses every week. A single battery would often last at least a year (or more). I would replace/swap the battery for a fresh one before a high profile gig or a recording session as preventive maintenance. It's not hard folks. Rechargeables are great in theory, but pose problems in practice in an application like a bass which need a constant, steady voltage.

 

[murphy]

One of my Lakland 5502s came with a ground wire soldered to body..causing a battery drain.
Fixed myself as Dealer could find no problem.
It took some work til I found and fixed it.

Also agree re rechargeable batteries...Always let me down in basses

 

[Nuisance]

This fear of regular alkaline batteries is hilarious. I play mostly active basses. The majority of them are. I've owned the same basses for close to (or over) 20 years. In that time, I have had ONE battery failure on a gig. And that was when I was gigging/recording/rehearsing regularly with those basses every week. A single battery would often last at least a year (or more). I would replace/swap the battery for a fresh one before a high profile gig or a recording session as preventive maintenance. It's not hard folks. Rechargeables are great in theory, but pose problems in practice in an application like a bass which need a constant, steady voltage.

The fear isn't of "regular akaline batteries". It's of rechargeable batteries, that usually go from full strength to dead in about 10 seconds (with no prior warning that they need to be recharged).

 

[tpaul]

I got tired of battery failures so I had the back of my bass routed for a small generator and a hamster wheel. There's a little hole on the upper bout where you drop food pellets in and they land in a mesh net that's just out of reach of the hamster. Two or three pellets keep the little guy running for about an hour. I just have to remember to swap in a fresh hamster on the break so I don't risk wheel fatigue midway through the second set. It's a pretty good system and the bass is much lighter but the case smells funny and cats keep wandering up on stage during our shows.

 

[JazznFunk]

The fear isn't of "regular akaline batteries". It's of rechargeable batteries, that usually go from full strength to dead in about 10 seconds (with no prior warning that they need to be recharged).

You obviously haven't seen the threads documenting the absolute dread that a 9V battery strikes in the hearts of people on TalkBass, who swear off active basses forever because changing a non-rechargeable $2-3 alkaline or lithium battery maybe once a year is just too hard, or it's 'tiring' buying batteries...? They sell them everywhere. Even in grocery and convenience stores. As far as rechargeables go, they aren't ever ideal for using in basses.

 

[RattleSnack]

You obviously haven't seen the threads documenting the absolute dread that a 9V battery strikes in the hearts of people on TalkBass, who swear off active basses forever because changing a non-rechargeable $2-3 alkaline or lithium battery maybe once a year is just too hard, or it's 'tiring' buying batteries...? They sell them everywhere. Even in grocery and convenience stores. As far as rechargeables go, they aren't ever ideal for using in basses.

Agreed, I guess the guys that complain about an idea of battery in a bass guitar don't use remote for a TV. They have strings they pull from couch and flip channels that way.

 

[covermego]

I got tired of battery failures so I had the back of my bass routed for a small generator and a hamster wheel. There's a little hole on the upper bout where you drop food pellets in and they land in a mesh net that's just out of reach of the hamster. Two or three pellets keep the little guy running for about an hour. I just have to remember to swap in a fresh hamster on the break so I don't risk wheel fatigue midway through the second set. It's a pretty good system and the bass is much lighter but the case smells funny and cats keep wandering up on stage during our shows.

I sure hope you're replacing those tired hamsters with brand new, hi-alkaline hamsters. I've been that route and trying to rest/recuperate a hamster is just not worth it. I know it sounds frivolous, but it's well worth the peace of mind. Meanwhile, the park across the street has a very high "used hamster" population. Just trying to be humane.

 

[Nuisance]

You obviously haven't seen the threads documenting the absolute dread that a 9V battery strikes in the hearts of people on TalkBass, who swear off active basses forever because changing a non-rechargeable $2-3 alkaline or lithium battery maybe once a year is just too hard, or it's 'tiring' buying batteries...? They sell them everywhere. Even in grocery and convenience stores. As far as rechargeables go, they aren't ever ideal for using in basses.

No I've seen them. I was just stating that the comments above were regarding rechargeable batteries.....which imho have no business being in a bass that is gigged.

 

[Bass4ThePublic]

And that’s why I gig a passive p or j.