anyone using a 9v AC adapter to power their active bass?

[Cleezmo]

+1 to all the posters saying this isn't really an issue. I've been playing active basses since '92, I've only ever had a battery start to go out on me once, in college, when I probably hadn't changed the battery in literally a couple of years. I have to remind myself to change batteries in my G&Ls and Modulus, because, since they get rotating playing time, they can go forever on a set of batteries. I've owned one G&L for 10 years now, and when I changed the batteries in it last month, I think it was only the 3rd or 4th time I've changed them. And even then, it was acting fine, I just felt that since I couldn't remember the last time I changed them, it might be a good idea to... When I was playing with one bass, gigging once or twice a month, I still only changed batteries once a year-ish.

I have both 18V and 9V active basses, and the whole 'batteries will die and leave me stranded' thing is an overblown myth, IME/IMO. Slap in a good Duracell or Energizer and you'll be fine for a long time.

 

[CompleteHack]

You just have to remember to unplug your bass when you are not playing. Honestly I do this now with passive basses, too. It is a good practice. Less chance someone might trip on the instrument cable and topple your bass off of its stand.

I do the same, but everyone makes mistakes.

It will be easier to forget when using my headphone amp, for example. It isn't very big and hangs directly off the bass's port, so there's nothing to trip over to remind me to unplug. Already did that once with the P-bass. I'll have to be extra careful.

The guy at the store claimed the Ibanez would blow through its battery in about 1.5 hours if left plugged in. He's got to be exaggerating greatly. Typical guitar store lore. People would be very annoyed with the model, and I probably would have read about it by now, if they were that power-hungry. You'd blow through a 9V with maybe an hour of intense playing. Which, is why I wanted some feedback from actual active-bass players, so thanks for that.

Even so, I hate buying and feeding things 9V's constantly. I guess we'll see how fast they actually get used up.

 

[Short4since64]

You can but it's not worth the effort. Just use good quality - Energizer, Duracell - batteries and replace every few months. Did remote power some years ago on a preamp I designed myself installed in a Hofner 500 which required +24V, sent over the ring on a TRS cable but the power supply has to be short-circuit protected as it WILL be shorted momentarily when plugging in. Preamps use very little energy, not like some pedals which can suck out a 9V in two shows.

 

[Phreaky Phriday]

Really good option if you are worried - use a rechargeable 9v and charge it quarterly. No environmental guilt about going through batteries and it will always have plenty of power

 

[Killing Floor]

Takes 15 seconds to replace a battery. In 40 years using active basses I’ve never had one fail unexpectedly. Just replace it. No more likely to fail than breaking a string or blowing out the toe of your shoe.
Self made worry.

 

[Esteban Garcia]

It took me decades, but I've finally gotten used to unplugging every time I put my bass down. It's kind of a PITA, honestly. I like leaving it plugged in so I can pick up and play.

 

[darwin-bass]

Has anyone used one of those doohickeys that let you power an active bass off a wall wart, vs. feeding it 9V batteries constantly?

I have considered it. You need 9V power for your pedals (tuner, compressor, OD) so why not just feed it up the cable to the bass as well. Build a power splitter box. Use a TRS cable between the box and the bass with signal between the tip and sleeve and +9 VDC between the ring and the sleeve. You'd have adjust the wiring inside the bass accordingly.

Benefits would be ease of use. No extra cables to your bass. You aren't dumping dead 9V batteries in the land fill. Any issues with potential dead batteries are gone. Down sides include your bass now being custom and not working without the power supply and TRS cable.

After considering it I opted to stick with on-board 9V batteries.

Oh, and this issue of batteries dying on a gig - it is very real. Not for TB members because we're very gear-aware and maybe even anal about ensuring our batteries are in good shape. I run sound as much as play bass and I see at least a couple examples of players whose guitar (acoustic or bass) goes dead before or even during a show. These are not TB folks. They are typically not all that battery-aware or not disciplined enough to remember to unplug. Rehearse on Sat, service on Sun and guess what - the instrument is dead - left it plugged in.

I also see our singers fretting over batteries in their wireless mics and IEM packs. Every rehearsal there is a flurry of battery changing activity and still, mics die during rehearsal.

 

[CompleteHack]

You can but it's not worth the effort. Just use good quality - Energizer, Duracell - batteries and replace every few months. Did remote power some years ago on a preamp I designed myself installed in a Hofner 500 which required +24V, sent over the ring on a TRS cable but the power supply has to be short-circuit protected as it WILL be shorted momentarily when plugging in. Preamps use very little energy, not like some pedals which can suck out a 9V in two shows.

Neat idea.

I feel like there ought to be a way to send power to the bass from the amp, but apparently both bass and amp manufacturers disagree with me.

With your 24V solution, did you have any problems with noise introduced by the power supply?

I can see why active bass mfgs. use a battery. It's a simple, inexpensive, and almost noise-free power source.

 

[CompleteHack]

I have considered it. You need 9V power for your pedals (tuner, compressor, OD) so why not just feed it up the cable to the bass as well. Build a power splitter box. Use a TRS cable between the box and the bass with signal between the tip and sleeve and +9 VDC between the ring and the sleeve. You'd have adjust the wiring inside the bass accordingly.

Benefits would be ease of use. No extra cables to your bass. You aren't dumping dead 9V batteries in the land fill. Any issues with potential dead batteries are gone. Down sides include your bass now being custom and not working without the power supply and TRS cable.

After considering it I opted to stick with on-board 9V batteries.

Oh, and this issue of batteries dying on a gig - it is very real. Not for TB members because we're very gear-aware and maybe even anal about ensuring our batteries are in good shape. I run sound as much as play bass and I see at least a couple examples of players whose guitar (acoustic or bass) goes dead before or even during a show. These are not TB folks. They are typically not all that battery-aware or not disciplined enough to remember to unplug. Rehearse on Sat, service on Sun and guess what - the instrument is dead - left it plugged in.

I also see our singers fretting over batteries in their wireless mics and IEM packs. Every rehearsal there is a flurry of battery changing activity and still, mics die during rehearsal.

I thought the same thing: why not source the (tiny amount of) preamp power needed, by adding a 9V DC signal to the instrument cable, letting the amp supply power?

The idea has merit, and should be technically possible, but as you concluded, there would be much potential for compatibility problems. Maybe this is why such is not offered by amp & bass makers.

 

[Geri O]

I'm not gonna put down the idea of alternatives to 9V batteries or say that over-thinking is going on. It is, but I'm not gonna say it....

All of the alternatives involve a non-standard method of connection and charging. If something breaks, there's not an off-the-shelf solution to get back up and running.

I simply change batteries ever 3-4 months. Yes, it's overkill, but I don't worry about dead batteries. I also maintain a wireless bass belt pack and a wireless in-eear monitor pack. I use rechargeable AAs for both of those, but regular Alkaline 9V batteries in my basses. So I'm used to dealing with batteries.

I had a battery failure once. It was because the battery was bad to start with. The night before I was scheduled to play at church, I installed a new pair of batteries, plugged in the bass to check it, it worked and I went on.

The next morning, I got through the first service and near the end of the second service, my bass went silent. I checked the usual things, no problems there, so I thought, no way, the batteries are brand new, but have a look anyway. When I popped open the battery compartment, one of the batteries was crazy hot! It was actually cooling as I unplugged the cable a few minutes earlier. It had swollen to the point of needing a screwdriver to pry it out of the compartment. Two new batteries and I'm up and running again. I've seen that only once and have never seen it again.

To the Passive Bass Police, no doubt it wouldn't have happened with a passive bass. Beat ya to the punch. The end......

 

[CompleteHack]

Having my bass wired up to the mains would worry me more than having a dead battery. Having played with active basses for decades, just have a couple of spare batteries in your case and swap when needed.

Eh? Your bass IS connected to mains, through the amp.

 

[DaveParker39]

I thought the same thing: why not source the (tiny amount of) preamp power needed, by adding a 9V DC signal to the instrument cable, letting the amp supply power?

The idea has merit, and should be technically possible, but as you concluded, there would be much potential for compatibility problems. Maybe this is why such is not offered by amp & bass makers.

In order for an innovation to make sense, there must be a need.
Avoiding changing a battery 1-2 times per year just isn't something people perceive as a need. We do other care/maintenance on our instruments with the same frequency and that take more time.

 

[CompleteHack]

All my bass ukes are active with 9v batteries. I've been using rechargeable lithium that use a plug-in charger, the ones with their own USB port caused me major interference, and I always keep an extra in the gig bag. Unplug the amp cable to prevent the battery from going down.

That's interesting that the USB-rechargeables caused problems. I would guess it's to do with the built-in charging circuit. Thanks for the tip, won't bother with those.

I have a bunch of NiMH AAA's (Panasonic Eneloop) for my most frequent use, which is headlamps and flashlights at home. Unfortunately, the Panasonic charger won't handle 9V rechargeables. TBD whether I'm annoyed enough by frequent battery swaps to invest in a 9V rechargeable set.

 

[Dominic D]

I use a lot of active basses and it's been a long time since I've had a battery die on me. I replace the batteries in my basses once a year just to be safe.

 

[Gorilla Monsoon]

I never heard the term “wall wart” until now. Another TB first.

You get them from toads in your electric panel.

 

[HolmeBass]

I have considered it. You need 9V power for your pedals (tuner, compressor, OD) so why not just feed it up the cable to the bass as well. Build a power splitter box. Use a TRS cable between the box and the bass with signal between the tip and sleeve and +9 VDC between the ring and the sleeve. You'd have adjust the wiring inside the bass accordingly.

Benefits would be ease of use. No extra cables to your bass. You aren't dumping dead 9V batteries in the land fill. Any issues with potential dead batteries are gone. Down sides include your bass now being custom and not working without the power supply and TRS cable.

After considering it I opted to stick with on-board 9V batteries.

Oh, and this issue of batteries dying on a gig - it is very real. Not for TB members because we're very gear-aware and maybe even anal about ensuring our batteries are in good shape. I run sound as much as play bass and I see at least a couple examples of players whose guitar (acoustic or bass) goes dead before or even during a show. These are not TB folks. They are typically not all that battery-aware or not disciplined enough to remember to unplug. Rehearse on Sat, service on Sun and guess what - the instrument is dead - left it plugged in.

I also see our singers fretting over batteries in their wireless mics and IEM packs. Every rehearsal there is a flurry of battery changing activity and still, mics die during rehearsal.

Wireless stuff def uses a lot more power than active electronics.

I always feel like “man my bass sounds really crummy, what is going on?” Then I realize, oh yeah, change the battery.

 

[fhm555]

I used an active bass for ten very busy years of playing. So I always made sure I had a fresh battery and a screwdriver in the case with my bass. After I had it for a while I figured out it would last at least six months so I would write the date I changed my battery on a piece of the hang card from the new battery and toss it in the case, and just change it out six months later, rinse repeat. Never had my bass go dead.

 

[brianrost]

Imagine plugging a wall wart into a bass, a short flimsy cable plugged into an extension cord….what could possibly go wrong?

I've seen enough keyboard players have their wall warts fail on gigs.

 

[Leigh Semmens]

If you must, you could get one of our erstwhile members (can't remember who, at the moment) to make a custom Y cable for you. One lead for your amp, and the other to a quality power supply. That way, you only have one cable to worry about!

 

[CompleteHack]

If you must, you could get one of our erstwhile members (can't remember who, at the moment) to make a custom Y cable for you. One lead for your amp, and the other to a quality power supply. That way, you only have one cable to worry about!

Not following you. My amp isn't set up to provide 9V power. Nor is the bass set up to accept power for the electronics through the audio jack.