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John Myung Bongo 4

Active Bypass?

D

DR. Cheese

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 7, 2005
Messages
55
Location
Lower Midwest
Has Music Man ever considered putting an active bypass switch on their basses? I love, love, love my Stingray 5 but I really wish it had a bypass so it could be played passively. I currently own a Lakland 55-01 and it can be played passive which is really great in the case of sudden battery failure.
 
ive found the batteries last a pretty decent time. never had one go bad on me ... i usually swap 'em out before that.

+ when you buy a pack of 9 volts they come with those cheapy test strips. theyre not the best but they give you an idea of whether or not the batteries dying.
 
I ve had my bass for like 7 months now its still on the battery it came with... i was messing around tho and slapping and it wasnt as poppy as before.... so i think the battery maybe finaly going on maybe i just need a string change
 
I recently converted one of my 3 banger 'Rays to a 2 bander using a Pre-EB black epoxy. I used the "obsolete" jack on the body as a pre-amp bypass direct to the pickups.

I was pleasantly surprised how well they sound in passive mode :cool:

I've never had a battery die on me though :)
 
I wish they had a bypass too. Not because of battery failure though, I just want to hear them passive, especially for a fretless. I've heard a Bart MM PU passive and it sounded lovely. I'd love to hear what my Sterling would sound like without that pre-amp. Does it color the sound at all? I gots ta know!

I played this gig in the middle of nowhere, outside at a little airport. I had a new (to me) amp. I plugged in and all was good. Unplugged to tune, plugged back in and nadda. So I'm swopping cords, batteries, checking connections. Sometimes it's OK and then I turn around and it's dead or super distorted & weak. I had brought my old amp too so I get it out. Nadda. More patch cords pulled out. It's getting dark. We're late. I plug the bass into a geetar amp. Nadda. Check the battery again to find that in my haste, I'd re-inserted it the wrong way and broken off the terminal strip of the battery box. Luckily, we had a soldering iron and managed to melt the battery box up to hold the terminal strip.
 
Although I can understand the concept, I have not ever felt the need for a passive by-pass. It's easy to check the battery and keep some on hand in case a battery fails. In over 15 years of MM I have never had a problem. I do check before sessions and certain gigs but it's very little trouble. The bottom line is that the active sound is so much better than passive I wouldn't use the passive by-pass even if it was there.
Just one bass dude's thoughts :)
c
 
I've been playing active basses since '89 when I put EMGs in my P bass. I have no desire to play a passive bass anymore. After hearing a lot of rave reviews about it, I picked up a Lakland Skyline JO5 this year that had passive Lindy Fralin pick-ups in it. I turned it around pretty fast. I think I played it for about 30 minutes before putting it right back on E-bay.
 
I have never had battery problems myself, but I think that offering bypass as an emergency option just makes sense and could cover all contingencies.
 
DR. Cheese said:
I have never had battery problems myself, but I think that offering bypass as an emergency option just makes sense and could cover all contingencies.
Click to expand...

Never had battery problems either - if I ever do I have a set of spares - oh and a spare bass just in case.
 
I have spare batteries, a spare bass, and if that bass has a dead battery, it has active bypass. It never hurts to have a failsafe built into an operation.
 
I think I would be interested in passive for recording. I don't think I would ever want passive live.

However I am not sure I would use it if I had it so...


tk
 
I replace my batterys once a year, and I use my basses two to three times a week.
As a rule, I unplug the cable from them when not in use.
I played a Lakeland 55/94 with a passive switch and I was not impressed.
Always carry an extra battery to feel safe, and try to have some kind of backup
bass.....as a professional would.
 
I just think that if there were a sudden battery failure due to a defective battery or something else, it would be much easier to pull up the volume knob while in mid song than stopping to change batteries. At least you could make to the end of a song and then change your battery. May never happen, but if it dead, why not have the safety valve?

I guess maybe my concern is function of my personality. I always carry a pocketknife whee its legal, and I often have a few pocket sized tools on a little Swiss Army Knife or Leatherman tool. Many peole have commented on me carrying these things only to ask if I had them when something needed fixing. I was a horrible scout, but I do like their motto of "be prepared."
 
I have had 2 Bongos go down in one show (as seen in one of my previous post)... was it the Bongos' fault for being the battery suckers that they are??? Nope, it was my fault for being a dumb@ss and for being too cheap to change 'em.

Active by-pass would have been nice but it only took my a minute to change the batteries out.

A passive Bongo... hummmmm... nice in theory but then I remember the active tonal range and don't need a passive circuit (but since they are adding a second pup to the other lines... maybe they could make a 3 pup Bongo - like some of the Les Pauls - think of the possibilities) :D
 
Maybe and active bypass can be something special they put on that limited edition 30th year anniversary sr
 
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