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Just got my baby back...


rageKage77

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I recently had my bass repaired, since I've been playing it long enough now to put some money into getting it amplified. However, I am afraid what was repaired is going to break again, as what I had to get repaired was something I've broken multiple times since having this bass.

 

See, it's got an onboard preamp, meaning I have to have the 9v battery. I very consistently find a way to crush the battery connection wires and whatnot rendering my bass inneffective nearly every time I need to replace the battery.

 

This past repair, the guy who repaired it actually cut away part of the plastic battery compartment, so I'd have more room to tuck the wires away so the battery would fit more nicely in the compartment, hopefully avoiding any more battery connection issues.

 

However, I'm still paranoid about wrecking the 9v connection when I'm replacing the battery, like I'm going to snap the wires as I'm pulling the battery off. What do you guys do to avoid ruining this connection. Maybe it's just me, but I was hoping you'd all have a bit of advice on decreasing the likelihood of having to constantly repair the battery connector.

 

Thanks in advance, Kage

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How often are you changing the battery?

 

Do you leave the plug in the bass all the time? If you do then the bass is always "on". If you pull the plug from the bass when you're done playing the battery should last much longer.

Push the button Frank.
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I practice changing batteries in household items for a week to get me pumped and hone my battery changing skills enough to change the ones in my bass.

 

Actually I've had my active bass (18v...2x9v batteries) for over 6 years and I haven't had to change the batteries yet. I'm stumped as to why that is...I just know that it is what it is. Dig?

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It's not that I change it a ton, but when I do, I can almost guarantee some problems resulting from either my prying off of the battery or from the wires breaking when I try to close the compartment, just from getting squished in there, too much stuff too little room sort of deal.

 

Besides the "fix" done by the last repair, I'm thinking about sliding the plastic battery compartment back a bit in the actual wood cutout its mounted in, but then I'd have to drill some holes in my bass and screw the compartment back in that way... I've got it all lined up and it will look okay, I'm just wondering if this will mess up my bass at all, drilling into it. I feel like it won't, but I've never done anything to a bass before, so I figured I'd best make sure.

 

Hopefully with the combined slide back and the cut out from the plastic comnpartment, I will have no more troubles with not enough room in the compartment, but I still need a surefire way of knowing that I'm not going to keep on messing up the connection when I actually take off the battery... anyone?

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I practice changing batteries in household items for a week to get me pumped and hone my battery changing skills enough to change the ones in my bass.

 

Actually I've had my active bass (18v...2x9v batteries) for over 6 years and I haven't had to change the batteries yet. I'm stumped as to why that is...I just know that it is what it is. Dig?

 

I usually don't like to keep batteries that long in anything. I'd be too worried about leakage.

 

A pic would really help in diagnosing his problem. I hate when you have something expensive or otherwise really well made and then they have a critical component built like something you'll find at the dollar store.

If you think my playing is bad, you should hear me sing!
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I usually don't like to keep batteries that long in anything. I'd be too worried about leakage.

The thought has come up in my head many times and I've checked the batteries many many times to make sure there are no signs of leakage. Nada. I still can't explain it...

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I usually don't like to keep batteries that long in anything. I'd be too worried about leakage.

The thought has come up in my head many times and I've checked the batteries many many times to make sure there are no signs of leakage. Nada. I still can't explain it...

 

Seamy's Warwick has a push/pull mechanism for active/passive setting. Maybe you've been playing passive all these years :idea:

"I'm a work in progress." Micky Barnes

 

The Ross Brown Shirt World Tour

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Seamy's Warwick has a push/pull mechanism for active/passive setting. Maybe you've been playing passive all these years :idea:

You play the same BTB model that I do (except yours is a 5 string). Unless they secretly implemented some way to bypass the preamp and batteries when the knobs are set to center, I don't think that's the case.

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So I just took some pics with my digital camera... but how do I upload them onto the reply box? or must I get something like photobucket or the like in order to show the pics to you guys? I'm pretty sure you'd all have to have facebook in order for me to show you them from there, so that's not really worth doing. Unless I'm missing something here, could someone explain how to get pics up?
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Seamy's Warwick has a push/pull mechanism for active/passive setting. Maybe you've been playing passive all these years :idea:

You play the same BTB model that I do (except yours is a 5 string). Unless they secretly implemented some way to bypass the preamp and batteries when the knobs are set to center, I don't think that's the case.

 

Haha I was just pulling your leg, man :grin: But I have to admit those BTB's can go a looooooooooooong time on batteries. I've had mine for about four years I think and changed them once.

"I'm a work in progress." Micky Barnes

 

The Ross Brown Shirt World Tour

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http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu251/ragekage77/DSCF4448.jpg

So I basically only took this picture to show you my floormat. It's pretty sick, not gonna lie.

 

http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu251/ragekage77/DSCF4450.jpg

Here's the compartment closed. What I'm currently thinking about is unscrewing it, sliding it back in the cut out (to the left in the photo), and then re-screwing it in, which would give me more space in the front of the compartment that has been removed.

 

http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu251/ragekage77/DSCF4451.jpg

That's what the battery looks like inside the compartment.

 

http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu251/ragekage77/DSCF4452.jpg

Here's what it looks like outside of the compartment, to give you an idea of what the cord looks like/how long it is.

 

http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu251/ragekage77/DSCF4453.jpg

And this picture is supposed to show you the slice the repair guy took from the compartment., it's the darker spot on the right I think.

 

There's your pictures guys. Thanks!

 

 

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The most common way to unplug the battery is to put your fingertip under the connector on the opposite side where the wires attach. Lift up until it unsnaps and the lift further until the other connector unsnaps. Don't try to lift up on the end where the wires attach. Never put any pressure on the wires.

Rocky

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb, voting on what to eat for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb, contesting the vote."

Benjamin Franklin

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Rocky, I am appalled at my own lack of common sense. I've always gone at it from the side, probably out of fear of snapping the connector in half in my attempts to take it off, but I'll give that a shot for sure.

 

jeremy c what I envision is a great little compartment in which I simply slide the battery in and out of, simple and easy. I would pay top dollar for this creation if it ever existed, since it would probably save me what could some day amount to a lot of money spent repairing something so annoying and bothersome as ruining the battery connection.

 

Still though, is everyone okay with me drilling into my bass, or are there any hazards there that should be setting off warning signals in my head telling me not to tamper with the machine? I'm about ready to bore into this project (pun completely intended) pretty soon, but if anyone knows any reason as to why that'd be a bad idea, by all means, let me know.

 

Thanks

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what I envision is a great little compartment in which I simply slide the battery in and out of, simple and easy. I would pay top dollar for this creation if it ever existed,

 

Thanks

 

Most 9 volt battery connections are of the dual snap type. Some gadgets have a slide in battery connection. Mostly I have seen it used in smoke detectors. It may not be as good a connection as the snap kind but should work ok. Any good tech, should be able to build you that style if you really wanted it. I would just get comfortable with what you have and learn not to damage the wiring. You can do it, I have faith in you

:thu:

Rocky

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb, voting on what to eat for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb, contesting the vote."

Benjamin Franklin

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My acoustic/electric guitar has a slide-in 9v compartment. Very convenient.

 

Kage, it looks like what the guy did should help avoid the problem if it was caused by the wires getting crushed. Just guide the wires through the hole as you put the battery back in. I don't think anything else is necessary.

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That's what I'm planning on doing now that I've practiced it a few times... seems to be working okay. I guess I'll just have that fear instilled in me for the rest of my life that I'm going to get to a gig only to find out my battery connection has broken because of the compartment minutes before playing time. It's like my old car vs. my new car. The old one always stalled up whenever I stopped, and so I still get nervous in my current car whenever I get to a red light. Even though my bass is for the most part fixed, I'll never be quite sure about how it will perform until I start playing it.

Thanks for the help and advice guys.

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Instead of moving the battery box, how 'bout taking it out, drilling a 1/2" hole at the cord end of it to make more space, then replacing the battery box in the same place? If the terminal connections are too tight there's nothing wrong with spreading out the 'claws' a little bit.

 

PS - love the carpet. My favorite place is the airport, but the church can be fun, too.

- Matt W.
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Procells from duracell are harder to change than most other batteries in my experiance(the tines seem tighter). I also take you prolly get these from work as I do. Try looking at getting a drop in battery box. It may cost few bucks to put in but worth it, if you change batteries alot.

 

Lok

1997 PRS CE24, 1981 Greco MSV 850, 1991 Greco V 900, 2 2006 Dean Inferno Flying Vs, 1987 Gibson Flying V, 2000s Jackson Dinky/Soloist, 1992 Gibson Les Paul Studio,

 

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I may be missing something, but is the failure at the battery connection or inside the control cavity?

 

If it's inside the control cavity, you (or your tech) should consider some type of strain relief (something that stops the wires from being pulled out too far). This could be something "hard" that actually stops the wires before they get yanked from the connection. It could be something "soft" like tape, that you could feel to know you're in the "danger zone", but where you still have some excess wire in the cavity. When you pull the wire loose from the tape, you'd have to keep pulling to ruin the connection.

 

Just a thought.

 

My only active bass has the batteries in the control compartment with lots of spare wire. It is sometimes hard to get the connection off the battery, but I haven't done any damage over the last 6 years.

 

Tom

www.stoneflyrocks.com

Acoustic Color

 

Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars and keep your feet on the ground. - Theodore Roosevelt

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Is this what is meant by a drop-in battery box?

 

http://rocky.digikey.com/weblib/Memory%20Protection%20Devices/Web%20Photos/BC9VPC.jpg

 

Mouser.com lists a ton of 9v holders. The website is a pain to browse, they may have something like this with a cover.

- Matt W.
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Tom, basically, the wires snap right at the base of the actual connection to the battery. However, more times than not, this is a result of too much wire being inside the control cavity with not enough depth to close the cover, squishing everything and straining the wire in such a way that it decides to break to accommodate the spacelessness. So far the repair is looking fine, as it frees up some space around the main connection to the battery so this squishing doesn't occur... Sooo, while I'm satisfied with the repair, I still hate connecting and reconnecting batteries out of fear of destroying the connection again, so to saxofunk, thanks a ton for the site, I'll check it out later today for sure.
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