Ive been considering this for awhile. I'm sick and tired of worrying if its the battery and having to change it all the time. And maybe I'll like the sound better. Who knows? Does anyone have experience on a bb614 with installing in a passive switch? I'm currently in school for electronics so Ive acquired some intermediate knowledge, but thought I should get some feedback before I start hacking away. Thanks for reading.
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installing a passive switch for Yamaha BB614
- Thread starter Willie_the_Pimp
- Start date
- Aug 21, 2008
- 10,386
- 253
- 68
- Disclosures
- Owner, SGD Music Products
I can't help you as far as that particular bass...
But two things, one is I've been playing active basses since 1977, and I never had a battery go dead on me. Not once. I would just check them every now and then, or put in a new one when I changed my strings. Most of the time your battery will last about 6 months... and I used to leave the bass plugged in at home all the time.
The other thing is adding an active passive switch will not stop the battery from draining when you have the bass plugged in, since it doesn't disconnect the power. It only removes the preamp from the signal chain, which generally makes the pickups sound duller in the high end. Some people equate that with warmth.
Just make sure you unplug the bass when you aren't playing it.
But two things, one is I've been playing active basses since 1977, and I never had a battery go dead on me. Not once. I would just check them every now and then, or put in a new one when I changed my strings. Most of the time your battery will last about 6 months... and I used to leave the bass plugged in at home all the time.
The other thing is adding an active passive switch will not stop the battery from draining when you have the bass plugged in, since it doesn't disconnect the power. It only removes the preamp from the signal chain, which generally makes the pickups sound duller in the high end. Some people equate that with warmth.
Just make sure you unplug the bass when you aren't playing it.
You say you're "worrying if it's the battery" What is wrong with your bass that makes you consider it might be the battery? That's the first problem I would try to fix.
Dave's advice is good and he knows a lot about pickups. I've got active and passive basses and I never have a battery problem. They never go dead on me unless I'm forgetful and leave the bass plugged in for a long time when not in use. I replace them usually about every 6 months unless I happen to be playing a lot of gigs with that bass, in which case I might change them a little more often. Once every 6 months or so doesn't seem to me to be changing it all the time and isn't much of a hardship. There's still plenty of life left in them so I just put them in my tuner where they last a long time and get replaced with another used battery before they go dead.
Once in a while you'll find an active bass that has a wiring problem where the batteries go dead rapidly. If that's the case you need a tech to fix it for you.
Wiring in an on/off switch would be a waste of time in my experience.
