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

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.
He mentioned using an external power supply, and converting most active basses would be trivially easy since they already have TRS jacks. A number of people actually have done this, and some EBS amps and pedals have been set up to accommodate it right out of the factory, FWIW.

My solution is a bit different:

IMG_0699.png


That’s a 4 pin XLR, which opens up a variety of wiring options.
 
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anyone using a 9v AC adapter to power their active bass?

Not a 9v, but years ago I made this to power a couple of Alembic basses I had at the time. It's 12VDC out, but I was assured by the fine folks at the mothership that no harm would come to the bass.

12VDC Power Supply-1200_2164.jpg


12VDC Power Supply-1200_2167.jpg

12VDC Power Supply-1200_2162.jpg


Worked like a charm; another TBer is using it these days to power his Zon (I've gone completely passive).
 
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He mentioned using an external power supply, and converting most active basses would be trivially easy since they already have TRS jacks. A number of people actually have done this, and some EBS amps and pedals have been set up to accommodate it right out of the factory, FWIW.

My solution is a bit different:

View attachment 7071405

That’s a 4 pin XLR, which opens up a variety of wiring options.
+1 That is precisely my thinking. Wallwarts are notoriously unreliable so I'd be setting up something along the lines of a pedal board psu. You'd also have to provide some method whereby you get the external power into the active bass. Either by using a battery (as it currently is) or by placing another socket on your bass to take the external power which is fed from a PSU on the floor/wall. The 4 pin XLR is a good idea, 2 wires for signal. 2 for power!
 
+1 That is precisely my thinking. Wallwarts are notoriously unreliable so I'd be setting up something along the lines of a pedal board psu. You'd also have to provide some method whereby you get the external power into the active bass. Either by using a battery (as it currently is) or by placing another socket on your bass to take the external power which is fed from a PSU on the floor/wall. The 4 pin XLR is a good idea, 2 wires for signal. 2 for power!
I like the idea of using an existing standard, for which there are cables and jacks already.

XLR IIRC can carry a decent amount of current if required, but we aren't asking much of it. Something below 1A @ 9V DC.

Picture this: black box which connects to 4-pin XLR on bass side. Converts to TRS on other side, for plugging into amp/preamp input.

Or XLR on both sides, if your amp is fancy & can accept XLR in. Mine doesn't have an XLR input, only output.

Black box also accepts some means of providing 9V power. The vast majority of my wall warts have outlasted the devices they were meant for, so I'd use one of those. Or build in a power supply (aka fancy wall wart) to convert wall AC to 9V DC, if you like.
 
I like the idea of using an existing standard, for which there are cables and jacks already.

XLR IIRC can carry a decent amount of current if required, but we aren't asking much of it. Something below 1A @ 9V DC.

Picture this: black box which connects to 4-pin XLR on bass side. Converts to TRS on other side, for plugging into amp/preamp input.

Or XLR on both sides, if your amp is fancy & can accept XLR in. Mine doesn't have an XLR input, only output.

Black box also accepts some means of providing 9V power. The vast majority of my wall warts have outlasted the devices they were meant for, so I'd use one of those. Or build in a power supply (aka fancy wall wart) to convert wall AC to 9V DC, if you like.
Here's my current breakout box:

MV4FL_cabling1.JPG


My original concept was to stash a rechargeable power bank in there, with a converter to +/- 15V, and run separate output chains for each pickup on TS 1/4" jacks. But it's now 4 1/2 years later and there's still a standard 9V battery in the box, no converter, and a mono output. Fishman sells a pretty nice flat pack USB charged battery pack now, so I may give that a try.

That bass now has a DIY filter preamp for the bridge pickup and a Baxandall Bass/Mids one for the neck. Total current draw is about 2mA, way lower than my original design was intended to be. So I might just malke a much smaller box and keep using 9V batteries, which will probably last at least a year given that I play many other instruments too.
 
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