Converting to phantom power -- practical?

Steven Ayres

Steven Ayres

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Mar 11, 2007
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#1
I have one active bass that eats batteries too quickly. It runs on two AAs,and this seems like a design flaw to me. I'm wondering whether anyone here has experience converting from onboard battery to phantom power from a mixer, or perhaps converting to 9V onboard. I just wonder whether this is a practical idea, or another crazy goose chase. Thanks!
 
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#2
While it's not too big a deal to make an external PSU for your bass, it's kinda weird (to me, anyway) that the preamp on that bass is either 1.5 volts or 3 volts. In my meager experience, it won't be easy to find an off-the-shelf PSU for that voltage. You can build one, or have one built.

I think a better solution would be to find an aftermarket internal preamp that uses 1 9v battery or 2 9vs to replace the current preamp in there. There's a bunch of then out there.

I would be remiss to not mention that you might try wiring the pickups to passive volume and tone controls and see how that turns out.
 
#9
Yes. That's what they do. The good news is that they are easy to swap.

Since this is an acoustic your preamp options are limited pretty much by the footprint of the insert.

Have you thought about using rechargeable batteries?
 
#12
202dy said:
Have you thought about using rechargeable batteries?
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I did the rechargeable battery thing for a (very) short while with my 9v pre. The preamps that I have owned work best with fresh batteries. as such I usually switch out when my battery starts getting into the lower side of 8v territory When I tried rechargeable batteries, they didn't get as "full" as store-bought Duracells. And were constantly needing to be topped off. It turned out that it was way less of a pain to just change a 9v. 2-3 times a year.

I know we are not talking 9v here, but imagine that this would be about the same deal.

Hope this helps...
 
#14
I replaced the passive preamp in my Dean 5 string acoustic. It was a tedious upgrade to a Fishman Presys preamp/tuner 9 volt active pickup system and required some careful measuring and cutting work.
This was ordered off the bay from China for about 20 bucks. It works a lot better than the passive system that was in it. Signal level and volume output wise when amplified is much better and easier to control. I have been doing a lot of practice at home with it (unplugged) and have noticed that the battery does need replacement after about 12-14 hours of use when used amplified or only using the tuner (unplugged) at home. I have since left the battery out unless needed for playing out and use my clip on tuner for tuning (at home) to avoid potential exploding battery disease issues. You may want to check the output jack for failure there as it should turn the batteries off when not plugged in.
 
#15
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#16
Gorn said:
This is the first I've heard of a bass that takes double A batteries. What is it?
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I have the first run of "Expression System" on a Taylor acoustic. They used 2 AA batteries for the preamp, and ate them up fast. 2 years later Taylor started using the 9v battery on the Expression System. I suspect it was due to the weak power source, as well as some issues with sensors and preamp failing.

For the OP
Nevertheless, the 9v preamps pickup system is the way to go. That way you wouldn't have to invent the wheel, as there are many options out there. And the 9v preamps have a good track record.

To do a 48v phantom power rig on your bass would involve some routing. For phantom power system the best choice is a outboard DI with phantom power. This will allow you to plug in a passive or active bass pickup system of your choice.
 
#18
202dy said:
line6man said:
Rechargeable batteries are a bad idea. Don't use them in a bass.
Click to expand...

Why?
Click to expand...
I did the rechargeable battery thing for a (very) short while with my 9v pre. The preamps that I have owned work best with fresh batteries. as such I usually switch out when my battery starts getting into the lower side of 8v territory When I tried rechargeable batteries, they didn't get as "full" as store-bought Duracells. And were constantly needing to be topped off. It turned out that it was way less of a pain to just change a 9v. 2-3 times a year.

I know we are not talking 9v here, but imagine that this would be about the same deal.

Hope this helps...
 
#19
202dy said:
Why?
Click to expand...

There are a number of issues, but most notably, they run at a lower voltage than non-rechargeable batteries, and they drain very quickly. You don't use rechargeable batteries for low-drain applications, because they deplete faster by just lying around than non-rechargeables do under the actual load of playing the bass regularly. The lower voltage also means that your preamp will not have good headroom. (It will distort/degrade the signal more easily.)
 
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