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How can I save batteries? Or my sanity

This post is a joke right?

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I just don't get how come some of us leave their instruments wired. when I'm done playing I put the bass back in its case.
There nothing more painful to me than a bass sitting alone in the cold and take dust. Especially this very last point!
 
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No power drain to fear. A simple status led will consume less than 1 mA. Its impact on battery life is neglictible, a 9V battery could keep it lit for more than 10,000 hours.
On piezo preamps like Fishman, a LED is often used to indicate you must change the battery. It turns on after the battery is considered drained.
Remember these Pulse Pink Floyd CDs ? They blinked for years and were powered by a single AAA battery.
 
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I was the opposite with my first active bass. I unplugged it all the time.

Later i got a Jazz Plus with a Kubicki preamp that featured a four way switch that turned the bass off so the battery wouldn't drain if the cord was plugged in. In the years since then i've pretty much gone back to passive basses. I've still got my old J Plus and i still love being able to switch it off and leave it plugged in.

I got nothing in the way of solutions for you though, other than make a point of telling yourself to unplug your bass.
 
It may be a moot point, but... the SR505 does NOT have active pups. They are Bartolini passive pickups. One way to distinguish actives is a pc board on the bottom side of the pickup. Sometimes it's not so easy to distinguish.

The SR505 has preamp that requires a battery, and leaving the cable in continuously will kill the battery. The only thing to solve this problem is discipline. That means that every time that bass gets set down, the cable comes out of the bass, whether at home, practice or between set breaks. Sure there are other solutions, but they ALL require you to do something, and if you aren't going to disconnect the cable, you sure aren't going to flip a switch. So, no mods, just pull that cable out of the bass when it is set down. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Need help? Put your stand farther away than your cable can reach.

I've got a Schecter with active pups AND an preamp, and that combination would eat you alive in dead batteries if you didn't always unplug that cable from the bass.
 
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I know that this has been the standard design for a long time now, a stereo jack that connects the battery when you plug it in. Nice and simple and no extra switch. But with so many active/passive preamps nowadays I think it's very silly that switching the bass to passive doesn't also disconnect the battery.

As for your problem, I think training yourself to just unplug it when not in use is the easiest way.
 
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