While working on a cover I noticed that my bass somehow sounds “off”. Yesterday it sounded great.
It’s an active bass, nothing has changed, so it’s likely the battery.
I changed it about half a year ago and have not played this bass on a regular basis. Also, it was always disconnected (Except when I played it, duh!).
Questions:
How long do 9V batteries usually last?
Are there any significant differences between cheap and expensive batteries?
A friend of mine, who also plays active basses only, told me: get the cheap ones, makes no difference.
Using a felt marking pen you can print the date on the battery.
Leaving the bass connected with a cord drains the battery when the bass isn’t being played.
I roughly got around 200 hours recently from 2 9v batteries in a 18v system, I did that in 3 months and now use rechargeable batteries, 9v batteries are not cheap.
The problem with it: it is very hard to open. I always need a tool (my little leatherman) to open it and must be careful to not destroy the stupid locking mechanism.
So I try to avoid opening the box to look at the battery if possible.
I’m on my first run with the rechargeable’s, so the jury is still out.
I got them on Amazon, a four pack with a charging box, not just the usb cable, it sits a little nicer on the desk.
Batteries are 600 mAh, around the same capacity of a Duracell. We shall see how well they hold up.
For now I’m playing the Geddy and its a passive jazz, I’ll be back to the Fender Marcus soon.
However, I am hesitant to get more active basses but with that said I still will.
Not very long. Between 300-350 hours give and take a few. That’s why I always have spare in my gigbag. That said the rate I rotate my basses, it could take years.
Hmmm … no! I see no correlation (and no causality :-)).
I just had to replace another battery in Ronin (which I played a lot) and now Pink’s Hot (which I consequently did not play as much).
Can’t remember when I replaced the battery last time. Replacing at home is no problem, but in the park I had no spare and no tool to open the box.
So that was the end of the show.
Don’t want that to happen again.
Now I’m looking for a more sustainable method. A 9V battery built into the bass with a USB-c connector is not such a bad idea, as I always have powerbanks with me, just in case….
My question is: can I charge a Li-Ion battery while the battery is still connected to the PUs or do I need to add a switch to disconnect PUs/electronics when charging?
