confused.
why would you only get an hour in passive mode when your battery dies. passive is passive. no battery required.
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USB rechargeable onboard preamp power- Why not more common?
- Thread starter krfoss
- Start date
why would you only get an hour in passive mode when your battery dies. passive is passive. no battery required.
Why not a phantom powered preamp instead? Change your instrument jack to an XLR and be done with it.
I trust regular batteries more than rechargeable ones.
What happens if your output jack goes wonky? Does it fry your preamp?
An onboard rechargeable power bank would be nice, but as an add on option. Still have a place for an old fashioned battery. You might not have time to charge the power bank if you forgot earlier. And power banks go bad after awhile, so I’d want it easily replaceable without messing with the preamp. And meanwhile have options for battery and passive mode. A simple switch should do it.
I’m happy with my all passive basses. Just for simplicity. I wouldn’t play an active bass unless my sound required it.
I was looking for 9v batteries and read a review that they used a rechargeable battery like this (where you plug the cable directly into) in one of their guitars and they said there was a lot of added hiss/hum. I don’t recall if this was the same brand, but I opted for the more traditional kind with a cradle and so far don’t have any issues
Rather than a usb, I'd use a standard 9 v barrel conector like the ones used in pedals. You can plug your bass to your regular pedal power suply to recharge it!
But yeah, it's not that great an idea. Rechargeable batteries don't last that long, and there's no model that seem to remain in production more than a few years. I would not want to have to look for months all over the internet for a NOS li battery for a 10 year old bass.
That should have happened 40+ or probably 50 years ago, we are no longer in the nineties; but doing it would have meant that you couldn't use your active bass in any older, non phantom powering, amp or pedal. I think the standarized 1/4 ts plug is just too good to ditch it.
An external power supply like the old Alembic one could be great, but I wouldn't go for it if the bass didn't have also the option to run passive through a 1/4 plug.
Anyway, I can't avoid thinking that passive instruments are simply a superior design.
But yeah, it's not that great an idea. Rechargeable batteries don't last that long, and there's no model that seem to remain in production more than a few years. I would not want to have to look for months all over the internet for a NOS li battery for a 10 year old bass.
That should have happened 40+ or probably 50 years ago, we are no longer in the nineties; but doing it would have meant that you couldn't use your active bass in any older, non phantom powering, amp or pedal. I think the standarized 1/4 ts plug is just too good to ditch it.
An external power supply like the old Alembic one could be great, but I wouldn't go for it if the bass didn't have also the option to run passive through a 1/4 plug.
Anyway, I can't avoid thinking that passive instruments are simply a superior design.
I was going to say I would never depend on USB charging to get me through a gig, but then I realized: I already do. I read charts on my iPad.
I still feel like 9V batteries are the worst way to power an onboard preamp except for every other way.
I still feel like 9V batteries are the worst way to power an onboard preamp except for every other way.
Weight??
Doesn’t have to be a phone size. Just something very small. Wood is removed to make room for it too. Just a possible option.
Warwick implemented this, I thought it was a cool option.
I’m sure you’ll get many responses telling you how great 9v’s are and how easy they are to replace,
but to your question I think it’s hard to teach old dogs new tricks. I’d go for rechargeable if it was a standard option.
Well… I dunno. In theory it sounds less wasteful, and nice and convenient..
but when I think about it at all, I’m stuck considering a) the tendency for rechargeable batteries to get less and less time between charges over time, and their tendency to hold a lower charge when you charge them from higher than dead and b)the switch from changing batteries like twice a year to having to constantly charge it (because of the ‘a’ issues)
I don’t play a lot of active basses these days, but I DO need to consider exactly where I want to stand as far as the economics and ecological considerations at hand. Perhaps it just further inclined me to avoid batteries altogether…
Yes you are right Barticus. I am one of the old dogs and I like it !Warwick implemented this, I thought it was a cool option.
I’m sure you’ll get many responses telling you how great 9v’s are and how easy they are to replace,
This thread has been a bunch of old dogs telling me their current tricks are fine. All old tech was a new innovation at some point. Also, to all the people who say they don't trust a rechargeable battery, I'll remind them they use a rechargeable battery in their pocket computer everyday without a problem. And that battery is getting worked harder and longer than a preamp ever will in one day.Warwick implemented this, I thought it was a cool option.
I’m sure you’ll get many responses telling you how great 9v’s are and how easy they are to replace,
But I'm with you. If it's an option, I'd do it. I'd even settle for a little light that came on when it was low. I guess if leo didn't do it, some people won't care.
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And furthermore, if we are going to en Masse commit to rechargeable preamps… certainly there’s something better than charging it like a cellphone.. chargeable swappable banks sounds like a MUCH smarter arrangement for, say, an actual gigging musician.
I’ve seen the Warwick thing, and to be frank it seems ridiculously goofy to make that kind of a technological ‘leap’ while keeping it as minimally convenient as possible!
A flimsy USB connector (though they wi be common enough, certainly a plus) which, FOR SOME UNGODLY REASON JUST STICKS OUT THE MIDDLE OF THE BACK OF THE INSTRUMENT
and, to my understanding, cannot be played while charging? Correct me if that last part is wrong, but good lord that’s a clumsy attempt, considering that we have existing technology that beats that currently. I just don’t get it, and it’s a feature on their Uberschmart top of the line German engineered mega bass line.. and that’s the best we came up with?
I’ve seen the Warwick thing, and to be frank it seems ridiculously goofy to make that kind of a technological ‘leap’ while keeping it as minimally convenient as possible!
A flimsy USB connector (though they wi be common enough, certainly a plus) which, FOR SOME UNGODLY REASON JUST STICKS OUT THE MIDDLE OF THE BACK OF THE INSTRUMENT
and, to my understanding, cannot be played while charging? Correct me if that last part is wrong, but good lord that’s a clumsy attempt, considering that we have existing technology that beats that currently. I just don’t get it, and it’s a feature on their Uberschmart top of the line German engineered mega bass line.. and that’s the best we came up with?
This would work great for me.
One reason I've shifted to all passive was with a dozen or more instruments one might sit for a year or more between getting played and then the battery would be dead. Charging just for the day would be awesome.
certainly not impossible, but like a lot of the other issues at hand, it’s hard to convince me the juice is worth the squeeze.
In 1988 I scratch-built a "portable" 30-inch-scale headless bass that was basically a 3/8th thick slab of black gaboon ebony joined to a neck-thru of 7/8th thick rock maple. I had to use custom mil-spec lowprofile pots and switches, and just barely could rout for the EMGs. No depth at all for a 9V though! I toyed with the idea of using some low-profile Ni-Cad cells, but figured I would be doomed if I was on the road and had a battery failure. XLR wouldn't fit, so I used a slightly more proprietary 3-pin connector that was cabled to an aluminum outboard Hammond 9v battery box / output jack, to "Phantom power" the bass. Worked perfectly well! 
....
A flimsy USB connector (though they wi be common enough, certainly a plus) which, FOR SOME UNGODLY REASON JUST STICKS OUT THE MIDDLE OF THE BACK OF THE INSTRUMENT
Elephant in the room?? The future is WIRELESS CHARGING!!! Screw the cables ( I have had two expensive phones die due to USB connector failure - switched to wireless charging phones a few years ago and will never go back...)
in this instance, a thin wireless charging pad that pops onto the bass with magnets ( for perfect alignment with the embedded charging coil) would do the trick
People would be shorting them out constantly. We don't treat cables well and we'd blame the amps and guitars when they didn't work.
MY schecter pickup needs 11 volts to operate and my pre-amp (Headway) provides that voltage using TRS cables
