I failed it up live...

[Fassa Albrecht]

went to jam with a friend and took my (active) Yamaha bass with me.

After a while a few of his mates came round and we decided on giving a little showcase.

About halfway through a song, my bass just cut out. No warning, the sound just died.

To make matters worse, some active basses won't work AT ALL without a battery.....




and mine is one of them.

Didn't have a spare battery either....

 

[David Jayne]

No video, no fail......

 

[two fingers]

Lesson learned. I would be willing to bet it won't happen to you again (because you will ALWAYS have spare batteries and check your battery before a show). Don't sweat it. If that's the worst thing that ever happens during your whole music career, you'll be lucky. Just prepare for the worst, and keep on thumpin.

 

[Fassa Albrecht]

No video, no fail......

why would I film what was supposed to be a practice?

Lesson learned. I would be willing to bet it won't happen to you again (because you will ALWAYS have spare batteries and check your battery before a show). Don't sweat it. If that's the worst thing that ever happens during your whole music career, you'll be lucky. Just prepare for the worst, and keep on thumpin.

The strange thing is that the battery had been working 10 min previously....

Oh well, lesson learnt. It could have been worse, it could have happened in church...

 

[Phalex]

When I played an active bass, I 1) Always had extra batteries and 2) changed the battery every month or so. Batteries kinda suck IMHO.

 

[Fassa Albrecht]

I should really go and stock up on batteries now...

 

[JansenW]

I should really go and stock up on batteries now...

Either that or on passive basses.

 

[COOL AND DEADLY]

I have an Audere with the blue light feature. It tells you your battery is good, or low.

 

[baba]

Unplug your bass when not in use. I replace batteries in my active basses every one or two years.

 

[Fassa Albrecht]

Either that or on passive basses.

Which is why I'm saving for a new bass right now...

 

[Jools4001]

I'm still waiting for a thread full of joy and upbeat optimism from you...

Hurry up, I'm getting old and may not live to see it.

 

[J. Crawford]

Either that or on passive basses.

Or on a push pull active/passive.

You didnt throw up on it afterwards, right Fassa?

 

[Kwesi]

Like everyone else said carry an extra battery or two in your case or gigbag at all times. I suspect that your bass just cutting out the way it did is more common among the lower end of the bass spectrum. Higher end basses, IME, die out over time and you can tell when that is happening because they start to sound thinner and the preamp become less effective.

I've never had a battery cut out on me ike than but after hearing some horror stories I started carrying around a mini tool kit to adjust and do minor fixes on my bass including 2 spare batteries. The only thing it's missing is a extra set of strings but I've never broken a string so I'm not sure if I'll make that a practice yet.

 

[CrispyDelicious]

For a second, I thought the thread title was "I failed at life".

Makes you think.

 

[Fassa Albrecht]

Spae battery in case now...

 

[Banana_phone]

That´s why my ESP LTD D-4 went to the doctor active and came out passive...(it sounds better now by the way) No more money spent on batteries!

 

[AwesomeMcBadass]

why would I film what was supposed to be a practice?

I've filmed a few of my band practices.
You can go back and watch it later and find various things to work on.

 

[Stumbo]

Maybe have a switch installed to cut out the battery so you don't have to worry about keeping it plugged in.

 

[NickInMesa]

Active basses should be powered by the awesomeness.

 

[Korladis]

I carry spare batteries, but for pedals, not basses. My basses are old, obsolete technology and hence don't require batteries to make their obnoxious one-trick-pony sounds.