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Battery life in active Basses


Warwick Fan

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Posted

Hi All,

 

This is my first post on this forum. I am a beginner who has been playing and taking lessons for about 7 months now. I started on an Ibanez GSR 200 then saved up and bought my dream Bass, an active Warwick Corvette Standard with an Ash body (lighter than bubinga with a brighter tone) and a beautiful emerald green finish. The sound of this Bass is silky smooth.

 

The only problem is that I had to replace the 9v battery that came with the bass after only 1 week of use. Is this normal??

 

Also, when I switched into passive mode the tone was very distorted. Is this the Bass' way of telling me that the battery needed to be replaced?? Any advice/help from the wealth of knowledge on this forum is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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Posted
Always remember when you put iot into active mode,turn it off.On mine I have to push the knob down,that happened to me before also ,and unplug your instrument cable after playing because it will run it down fast that way.Take it from me,I know.
Pete Combs...
Posted
Originally posted by Warwick Fan:

Hi All,

 

This is my first post on this forum. I am a beginner who has been playing and taking lessons for about 7 months now. I started on an Ibanez GSR 200 then saved up and bought my dream Bass, an active Warwick Corvette Standard with an Ash body (lighter than bubinga with a brighter tone) and a beautiful emerald green finish. The sound of this Bass is silky smooth.

 

The only problem is that I had to replace the 9v battery that came with the bass after only 1 week of use. Is this normal??

 

Also, when I switched into passive mode the tone was very distorted. Is this the Bass' way of telling me that the battery needed to be replaced?? Any advice/help from the wealth of knowledge on this forum is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

The battery life should be far more than a week, even if you left it plugged in the entire time.

 

As you probably know, inserting the cable into the bass activates the preamp, so unplugging it when not in use will extend battery life. Alkaline cells are recommended, and last much longer than carbon batteries.

 

Have you changed the battery more than once?? Could be the first battery was simply a low quality or already spent battery. If the second battery also dies in a week, you have a problem worth exploring. I have seen jacks accidentally miswired, which causes the preamp to be "on" all the time, and also bent jack wires or conductors touching each other, also completing the circuit and draining the battery.

 

The bass has a stereo jack, with the ring terminal connected to the battery. When you insert a regular mono guitar cord, it completes the circuit, shorting the ring connection to ground. You can visually inspect the jack connection to see if wires or terminals are crossed.

 

Hope this helps.

1000 Upright Bass Links, Luthier Directory, Teacher Directory - http://www.gollihurmusic.com/links.cfm

 

[highlight] - Life is too short for bad tone - [/highlight]

Posted

If you unplug the bass when not using it, a battery should last at least a year.

 

Possibly the battery in the bass was in there for a long time in the store.

 

If it happens again, something is wrong.

 

Welcome to the forum!

Posted

Thank you all for your valuable input, and so quick too!!

 

Does having the jack inserted into the bass even though the amp is off still drain the battery? (see I really am a beginner!) If this is the case I think I have my answer. Also, the battery that died was the one that came with the bass. But since this bass was a custom order, ash bodied Warwicks are not sold in stores in my area (Washington, DC), it would seem the battery should have been OK. But maybe it was just a low quality battery.

Posted
Like I siad earlier this topic no matter what you have to have the chord out of your bass,whether its pluged in the amp,and its not on, the chord in your bass imput activates the active circut and uses the battery because it is told the bass is in used,so after playing un hook your bass from eveerything,remember the cable and bass should not be together when not in use.
Pete Combs...
Posted
I definitely will disconnect the cable from my bass after playing from this day forward. Thanks to all for enlightening me on this subject.

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