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Power Over Instrument Cable

M

monkey87

Aug 26, 2007
4
0
#1
Hi,
is there a way how to run power (9V or 18V) for bass active electronics over instrument cable? I wan't to get rid of annoying batteries.

I've come across some adaptor kits meant for this on the internet, but can't find them again.

Any ideas how to DIY? Links to existing products? Any experience?

Thanks,
.monkey
 
#3
Yep exactly - I would like external box (that would be permanently in my rack) that will "add" 9/18volts to instrument cable & somehow modify electronics in bass to make it work. I don't wan't to get rid of guitar's inbuilt active el. - cause I really like the sound.

Doesn't phantom power for mics. work somehow like this?

thanks, .stepan
 
#4
Yes, it uses the third wire in a three-wire cable. You can do this by converting the "ring" connector point of the bass's output jack from it's present role (on/off switch for the onboard preamp) to a power connection. You'd then use a TRS (stereo) cable instead of a regular instrument cable, and you'd have to build an external battery box (or an adapter box connected to a 9VDC or 18VDC wall wart) which would interface between your bass and the rest of your rig.
 
#7
Jazzdog: PedalSnake - seems just special cables that combines more wires into one cable - so you can have power & audio in one, but you'll need to add another "power in" jack to your bass.

el_Kabong: EBS 9v phantom power - yes, that seems exactly like what I want - in the manual they say - if you want to use it, just remove battery from your bass and shorten + & - of battery socket, also have to use stereo TRS cables. However I didn't find any mention what electronics support this, and I'm almost sure that not every type.

But this seems to be the feature I'm looking for. I need to find some wiring schemes how to DIY (I've SWR amp and definitely don't want to switch for EBS because of this :) ) "phantom injector" (switchable 9 & 18V) & how to check/modify wiring of my active electronics.

I'm no electro guy, so if anyone could help with this / any ideas - more than welcome. I thing I should be able to find standard 48V phantom power wiring scheme, so possibly simplest way would be to modify it to 9V/18V.

thanks everyone for help, as soon as any progress I'll put it here (maybe more people would be interested in this.)

thanks, .stepan
 
#8
monkey87 said:
EBS 9v phantom power - yes, that seems exactly like what I want - in the manual they say - if you want to use it, just remove battery from your bass and shorten + & - of battery socket, also have to use stereo TRS cables. However I didn't find any mention what electronics support this, and I'm almost sure that not every type.
Click to expand...
Pretty much every active bass that disconnects batteries when you remove the plug. I won't go in to details, but it's a really clever way to exploit the rather primitive power circuit of active basses.
Just be sure to remove the batteries from the bass before connecting this, or there's a real risk of blowing the electronics if you're on 18 volts.
 
#9
Rune Bivrin: Thanks, this seems fine. I've got Fodera active el. and it does this, so I suppose it should work.

I've found some interesting links about building 48V phantom power boxes:

Invalid Link Removed
http://www.tangible-technology.com/power/Phantom_Power_connect.html
http://www.new-line.nl/default.asp?i=61
http://www.epanorama.net/circuits/microphone_powering.html

Now it seems quite clear how to get power to the cable, 'll try to to build the box modified to 9V/18V & try it with my bass.

thanks, .stepan
 

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