Opinion on- battery on when cable plugged in

[pohimaw991]

Just curious what do people think about the need to unplug the guitar all the time (because of the battery on active basses)?
I recently bought my first active bass, and I find this to be sooo annoying, I can't believe this is the current standard!

I play at home, so I like to grab the guitar, play a song and move on.. my previous passive bass was plugged in 24/7 for years, now each time I'm done with it, I need to unplug it, it does require some force and for me it's not quite easy with the position of the socket, the weight of the bass and my angled cable, and the fact that I need to remember to turn off the amp first, then unplug, also not convenient. this whole process feels about as natural as if I'd need to shut down my computer every time I leave it for more than an hour.

for a price of $1500.. I'd be ok with paying even more to have some flip switch or something, also I wonder how many times can I unplug before it damages the socket.

I'd say it's my *fault* for not knowing this fact about the active basses before I bought it, but actually, it's not like I could get the same bass that I like in passive version, so we're quite stuck with this strange "feature"

 

[nebadon]

It has been like that since 1972 So not so strange anymore

Yes I played passive P basses from 1975 to 2013 when I bought an EBMM 25th Anniversary; It took me awhile to get use to unplugging but was gigging alot and my Bass was in case most of the time at home only came out when needed to learn new tune

I have Stingray Special now and not gigging but pickup to play with amp only few times a week mostly play acoustic daily; so not sure if excessive plugging in and out could be a problem years down the road but I am on this and other Bass forums and never read about someone claiming it was a problem

A kill switch seems like an option but may be reason why no one has it also continually flipping switch may be a problem before jack

I forget to unplug rarely now[still do ] which is a lot less than when I got first active

 

[pohimaw991]

since 1972?! wow.. well I just joined the active bass party this month
I guess it's seamless for people who play for longer periods/not at home, but for my use case, where I really just enjoy playing a song or two when I have a free moment at home.. it makes less sense doing the whole on/off each time

 

[mynan]

I'm pretty sure the only alternative would be an on/off switch. I'm guessing they don't use them because it would add an unnecessary possible point of failure.

 

[Golem]

Just curious what do people think about the need to unplug the guitar all the time (because of the battery on active basses)?
I recently bought my first active bass, and I find this to be sooo annoying, I can't believe this is the current standard!

I play at home, so I like to grab the guitar, play a song and move on.. my previous passive bass was plugged in 24/7 for years, now each time I'm done with it, I need to unplug it, it does require some force and for me it's not quite easy with the position of the socket, the weight of the bass and my angled cable, and the fact that I need to remember to turn off the amp first, then unplug, also not convenient. this whole process feels about as natural as if I'd need to shut down my computer every time I leave it for more than an hour.

for a price of $1500.. I'd be ok with paying even more to have some flip switch or something, also I wonder how many times can I unplug before it damages the socket.

I'd say it's my *fault* for not knowing this fact about the active basses before I bought it, but actually, it's not like I could get the same bass that I like in passive version, so we're quite stuck with this strange "feature"

Its even worse than that ... what about the switch on the amp ? At least youve got the motion detector for the light in your practice space, but basically life sux, then you die.

 

[Golem]

I'm pretty sure the only alternative would be an on/off switch. I'm guessing they don't use them because it would add an unnecessary possible point of failure.

Not just a point of device failure, but also of user failure. For me its mostly my camera that Ill forget to switch off.

 

[Golem]

since 1972?! wow.. well I just joined the active bass party this month
I guess it's seamless for people who play for longer periods/not at home, but for my use case, where I really just enjoy playing a song or two when I have a free moment at home.. it makes less sense doing the whole on/off each time

Remove the battery. You only really need it for gigs.

Youll hafta turn up the gain on both the amp and the bass but its fine for home use. I find that about 8 or 9 is needed on both.

Youll also need to adjust the EQ at the amp cuz theres no EQ at the bass without the battery.

 

[mynan]

Remove the battery. You only really need it for gigs.

Just don't put it in backwards when you replace it. There's already too many threads on this forum from people up their basses by putting the battery in the wrong way.

 

[Golem]

Just don't put it in backwards when you replace it. There's already too many threads on this forum from people up their basses by putting the battery in the wrong way.

Some battery boxes resist incorrect battery loading. The SUB box is the risky type, but has a diagram in it ... for those who bother to look !
.


Knowing that a paper sticker could fall out at any time from a 20yr old bass, I added red an blue paint dots to preempt that loss.

 

[five7]

You will get use to unplugging it, I have been doing it for 20 years and usually forget if I am playing a passive bass and stil unplug it.

 

[Mu5icM@n]

This is just how it’s been and it works. No different than any battery powered pedal out there also. Not really a big deal to leave your cable looped around the strap and just…plug it in before you play and pop it out afterwards.