Why aren’t active basses powered by the cable?

[Nev375]

Seems like a good solution for folks like me that never unplug their bass.

All my active preamp basses wanted a new battery about every other day. Sheesh.

 

[axelrod]

I was just going to make a new cable for my active custom custom 5 string. Made a little box that sits on pedalboard and gets 9 volts from power supply and sends it up the little TRS cable to power the electronics on board.

 

[DaveParker39]

The question isn't so much "why aren't" as it is "why is it not the industry standard"...
As other posters have mentioned, it is possible and manufacturers have created power supplies that send power through the same cable that receives signal from the bass.
It is not the industry standard for one or more of the following reasons:
1) With onboard power, there is no need to switch from a mono cable to a stereo cable when you change from passive to active basses, or have an external power supply that you take in and out of your signal chain when you change basses.
2) A 9v battery has relatively long life in a bass, and carrying a pack of spare 9v's in your gig bag is nothing.
3) People using wireless would have to have wireless setups that also provided power to the bass preamp, which would potentially tether the active bass electronics to a proprietary wireless setup that was different than the ones used for passive basses and guitars, and you would essentially lose any benefit gained from the external PSU as you are already carrying a battery pack around with you.
4) Even if you found a solution to problem 1 (a "smart" external power supply capable of powering any 9-18v bass preamp through a TRS cable that could also switch off this function when you plugged in a passive bass) and problem 3 (a universal "smart" wireless transmitter that provided power when needed to any 9-18v bass preamp and could also switch off this function when you plugged into a passive bass) you would have to get all of the major manufacturers of instruments, preamps, pickups, wireless, cables on board with the new standard.

So, we are all using 9v/18v/rechargeable onboard batteries and it's just not that big of a problem.

 

[FRoss6788]

Always…although sometimes I do leave it plugged in for 30-45 mins when I need to do something. I buy premium batteries too. IDK, I prefer passive basses for this and a few other reasons…I can leave them plugged in.

Leaving a bass plugged in on a stand is asking for damage.

Always best to unplug. ALWAYS.

 

[Lovep]

Leaving a bass plugged in on a stand is asking for damage.

Always best to unplug. ALWAYS.

Meanwhile….

 

[FRoss6788]

Just a matter of time...

But hey, you do you...

 

[Steve Slate]

A great idea until you forget the cable at home...story is this happened to john entwistle in the 70s during a concert.

The story I read was one of the pins in the jack on the Bass ( Alembic Explorer) broke or bent when he plugged it in. He punished the bass by sending it to Hardrock Cafe. I believe it was the Live Aid concert. Just glad he didn't do what Townshend would have done HaHa!!

 

[Mrtoodamnsabre]

Alembic has done it that way for few decades, as have I occasionally. IME a 9V battery in the instrument is actually generally far less inconvenient. Sometimes it can be worth the extra hassle for those of us with specialzed wants and needs, but in general, nah.

i assure you the giant power supply and complicated hookup is extremely goofy to do, not to mention looks really silly. batteries are great! unless the power draw is so insane that a battery cant cut it! got to play on a 60s alembic and it was the funniest setup ive ever seen!

 

[Slevage]

Looking at the instructions for the Invalid Link Removed reveals some irony regarding its use. It recommends using 2 9v batteries to power it, instead of a power supply (AC adapter not included).

"Using an AC Adapter is not a great idea.They tend to be noisy. EMG has yet to spec or design an AC adapter. Since the pickup is the first element of the chain it’s best for it to have as quiet a power supply as possible, thus a battery."

It’s pretty easy to make a noise free DC power supply. Industry is loaded with them.
However I prefer a 9v battery in my active basses with the option of running them passive wit the flip of a switch.

 

[chuck1073]

Phantom power for a bass has been done in the past. Bottom line? Battery consumption for active basses is minimal. A 9v...or two if you're doing the 18v thing...is much easier. Replace a battery once a year is more than enough if you're only plugging the bass in when you're using it. Even then, you have lots left with most alkaline batteries. With 60+ shows a year, rehearsals and private practice, the batteries in my basses end up as "just in case" rehearsal spares for our singers mic.

 

[Chrisk-K]

Dealing with another cable is more inconvenient and more prone to failure than using batteries.

 

[Diminishedfilth]

I just replaced a 18 year-old 1/4 stereo barrel jack on an active bass of mine. One of the contacts lost its tension, which I’m speculuming, since I couldn’t see inside it. Pickups still worked as passive, though.
Anyway, I haven’t performed in years, but if that happened on the job, I’d rather have to strap a spare battery than a soldering iron.
Would be funny seeing a ground-lift feature among the controls, though.

 

[BT3]

Sawtooth, active bass, has rechargeable batteries via USB

 

[Paul New]

Why not a bass alternator to power the electronics? It could be spun by the player’s bobbing head or even a hydroolectric model, with a turbine that leverages the bassist’s unbridled saliva?

Conincidentally, I’m in process of designing a solar powered unit now.

 

[jglunt]

A friend of mine custom built me two boxes before we knew about the EMG boxes. The first sits on the floor and uses an 18v adapter. He wired in a protection circuit to protect the electronics in the bass. This takes a stereo cable from the bass to the box and a mono cable from the box to my preamp. Only one extra cord, and that could be 6" long. And of course, there is an extra power cord. I never have a noise problem from the power supply. He then built me a second one that is a simple 18v box using batteries. It has a belt clip on it. I run a short stereo cable from bass to box, then plug my wireless transmitter into the output of the box. Wireless receiver plugs into my preamp. Complete freedom of movement. Why are these methods better than one or two batteries in each bass? I have four active basses. Half of them are converted passive basses, making battery space hard to come by. But I don't need a battery to be active. It also eliminates possible battery leaks onto the electronics of the bass. Plus, it is easily reversible if I decide to sell the bass. To power all my active basses would take 5 batteries. Powering them now takes two if I choose to use the belt clip--zero if I choose to use the hard-powered. I just toss the stuff in my gig bag and go. It sure works for me.

 

[Deleted member 368008]

I was recently thinking about how active bass electronics work and was wondering why no one makes a cable that powers active pickups rather than using a 9v battery? I know it’d have to be a different kind of cable, but many people run a setup where a DI box converts the 1/4 TS to an XLR anyway. So why no specialty cables for active basses? 9volts seem so inconvenient in comparison. Does anyone know if there’s anything electronic wise stopping this from happening, or has it just not been made?

For a number of reasons already stated:

1. First, you can't connect a regular cable and use a sole BATTERY operated tuner (say pedal) to tune the bass off stage, off amp, off electronics. Since the pickups will not work without power. A clip on tuner is the only thing that works which is BATTERY powered. You can use ANY single TS cable. If using a "stereo" cable are you sure it will be wired/soldered TRS or TSR? Or something else? RST? There are no standard for XLR cables either.

2. Although EMG and the like have done measures to buck hum, with their adapters, there's always hum present no matter how little. With any 9 v battery, no such things.

3. If you have options of the active circuitry, to turn if off and run it passive, the extra TRS cable will turn superflouos. If an onboard battery drains, you just flip the switch and continue playing "passive" until song is over, or a set break occurs where you can change battery.

4. If you aren't the "keep it simple stupid" guy and runs into pedalboards, a plethora of pedals can do the same thing as onboard preamps, EQs and stuff. You would still need that breakoutbox "pedal" like with direct lines and ... a box. To me active bass is just a pedal removed the chassis and moved/relocated up into the bass.

I think 9v batteries are ONLY inconvenient considering environmental issues. AND on top of that, how their department onboard any bass are design, which in most cases are silly, inane and very inconveniently placed. 9v batteries are conventient anyway since you do not need to choose cables, and boxes on the floor. That's why always liked putting one cable into any amp and get rid of all pedals. When I play guitar, I want truckloads of multifx and crap on my board, but with bass, just a cable into the amp. As convenient as it gets. Also:

5. It seems you make the assumption that all active basses should be designed the same way but they aren't. However passive pickups/basses are. There's basically only one way to go there. Say, EMG pickups have their circuitry inside the pickup shell and can't be run without batteries at all. Some other designs have just active circuitry ADDED to passive pickups and can be run it the batteries are depeleted and you flick a switch to passive mode. However, EMG pickup draws MICROampere not milliampere which is in the smoke detector range. I had a bass with 2 EMG soapbar pickups and wired them so they put out "longevity" 9 volts for extra years, rather than 18v. I bough a pair of LITHIUM batteries 9v (expensive, yes) and connected them, and first after 9 years I had to change both out. EMG pickups works flawlessly down to 4,2 volts before the starts to go south and you'll hear it. I e more than half of them. And if you use 2 of them the lifespan is extraordinary. Pickups like Fishman Fluence beats me. They are current hungry and eats batteries for breakfast. On top of that, Lithium batteries has long shelf life and does not ever leak in any way. The final spike in the enviromental coffin is that Lithium breaks down naturally in nature, and not as mercury or the other batteries needs to be recycled or taken care of. You can throw them in the METAL bin though still, not in burnable waste. Or special pickup boxes for batteries.

6. Only one bass have ever had the incentive to use PHANTOM POWER. It's the old Peavey Cirrus Bass. Ate batteries before breakfast. Pickups sounded great though. But not for any long progressive rock numbers, like 20 minutes and so on. They were drained before that end.

7. So playing wireless isn't convenient at all to you? (already stated).

 

[Deleted member 368008]

BTW I am about to dodge EMGs now because I want to minimize ALL battery use as much as I can. Because there are passive pickups out there, and a plethora of them, today that I think will soundwise meet my needs. I do not like hum, especially when using single coils, but that train has passed now too. And I do not play any high gain metal on bass that needs 120db noise/headroom range, which EMG sure has.

With passive hum cancelling systems such as Ilitch Hum Cancelling systems and the like, the hum is gone while preserving the timbre of the pickups. The treble is still there plus the dynamics.

 

[Deleted member 368008]

Leaving a bass plugged in on a stand is asking for damage.

Always best to unplug. ALWAYS.

Yes, it keeps the steel from gunking up, and verdigris building up, which eventually leads to scratches. I always turn down volume and tone pots for the same reason. Start from zero. Hygiene I think it's called. Keeps the carbon trace up and smooth.

I've left onboard batteries for all the other reasons than convenience. Even my bathroom scale is mechanical one, like the old days. No electricitry in a wet bathroom standing with wet feet on a posh GLASS bottomed battery powered scale. Smoke detectors? yes. Computer keyboard and mouse? Wired! Not any wireless anywhere, and no bluetooth which drives me silly to no end.

 

[Deleted member 368008]

And then comes the time when you're fed up with that bass and wants to sell it on reverb or reddit or...second hand. Guess how many bids you will get...

 

[Deleted member 368008]

Caveat: If you think LITHIUM batteries will last and work everywhere else, please don't. ONLY on EMG pickups, and not ever anywhere else in other active pickups systems or other active basses. I have yet to find any other system that draws MICROampere, on any bass or external pedal for that matter.