Question for technical staff/forumites

[LowDownDave]

From a recent discussion here and now at the Dudepit it would seem that some Stingrays still produce sound (obviously with less volume and no EQ capability) without a battery in place (passive?) while others produce no sound without a battery. Is this correct? I know my SR4 plays "fine" without a battery, and I just wanted to confirm that at some time a change was made in the electrics allowing for the stingray to be played "passive" without batteries. Just curious (as I assume a number of others are as well).

Cheers for any info.

 

[Bill]

I took my battery out again last night. From the low volume setting of my amp, I couldn't hear my 'Ray after I took the battery out. After I cranked the amp much higher, the sound came out. It still sounded great, just like a Stingray should! But the volume was much lower, waaaay lower than the passive bass I have, and the 3 tone controls on the bass obviously didn't work. But it's good to know that if my battery dies mid gig & I don't have a spare, I can still keep playing my 'Ray.

 

[Mr Light]

But what about distortion?

I thought that the distorting happens as a result of having no power through the preamp. Or does distortion just happen because of having a battery with low power connected?

 

[Bill]

Yeah, I believe it distorts when the battery starts to die. After it croaks, it seems to exhibit the behavior I mentioned above. I'd still like to know myself if other people's basses don't produce sound at all when the battery is dead or missing.

 

[Mr Light]

Hmmm... Interesting...

Fortunately, I haven't run into this situation yet, so unfortunately I can't help you on this one; sorry Bill.

Hopefully someone with technical prowess will chime in soon.

 

[LowDownDave]

There is an easy solution to this question. Everyone pull out their batteries and play their basses and see if they make any sounds/what comes out. We could make a poll to see how it turns out, but I have a feeling they are all the same answer (though obviously I could be wrong).

I can't believe I am posting on a weekend! Had to come in to work and feed some hungry cells. Damn their greed!!!

 

[mdc]

Interesting point... I tried mine without batteries just now, results as follows:

'86 SR4 - very low output, amp level way up, not really usable
'89 SR4 - very low output, same as above
'89 SR5 - low output but usable, roughly half that of a passive JB
'94 SR5 - no output at all

Where there was an output, it sounded like you'd expect, i.e. tone controls flat which is where I use them anyway.

Hmmm..

 

[LowDownDave]

Nice stable mdc, whereabouts in the "middle" of England are ya? Are you in any bands I might be able to check out sometime? Also let me know if you are ever interested in pickguard swaps/bass swaps (if you ever think of slimming down the herd to bring in new ones, or just want to lose some). I have a Sterling I'm not getting along with particularly well (nothing wrong with her, just think I prefer the Ray neck) so if you ever thought about wanting to do any wheeling and dealing, let me know! Lots of deals going on between forumites in the USA, and I feel we "foreigners" are missing out somewhat.

 

[mdc]

Not far from you Dave, in Rugby. Got back into playing again last year and decided to check out the EBMMs (after 20+ years with my old J and P) and I like the Rays so much I don't play anything else now. I've spent the last few months getting my sight-reading back up to speed on the 5 - and I regularly swap between 4 and 5 which doesn't seem to be a problem. Bands are 'under construction' and I'll PM you about them, don't want to bore everyone with all that. As for wheeling n dealing - these EB basses are as close to perfect as I'm ever going to need so they're staying with me... but don't let the Atlantic stop you - I got the '95 nat SR5 from Canada (through a contact on here) and the whole deal including shipping and taxes cost about the same as buying one here in UK.

To get back on your topic - does your SR play 'fine' without a battery but at a noticeably lower level? I don't think either of my 4s would be playable, so maybe they are a different design.

Cheers

 

[LowDownDave]

Cheers for the reply Mike, sounds like you are a much more advanced player than me, and I would definitely like to hear about any upcoming dates you eventually play. I need to get a LOT more theory under my belt, but time always seems limited, and I just enjoy actually PLAYING so much I find I am doing the latter and not putting enough time into the former (and my progression must be suffering I'm sure, but hey, at least I'm enjoying myself).

I haven't played my bass "battery-less" recently, but I do recall strapping up once and noticing a sound level difference and then finding out my EQ wasn't working. I seem to recall I was originally pretty worried about it, as all previous active basses I have owned (1) would go COMPLETELY dead once the battery had died. It actually turned out the battery hadn't died, but it was simply a bad connection and I soon rectified the problem. But from what I remembered, the bass was definitely "playable". The level decrease wasn't such that it rendered my bass unplayable, and that was only through a 100W practice amp, so that's all I can say. Next time I remember, I will test again with the Ray and the Sterling and see what happens.

I'm starting to think something might have changed in the design at some point, seeing as most posters are suggesting the volume loss is significant as to make the bass virtually "un-hearable", but still waiting for someone from EB to chime in with any definitive answers.

 

[Mr Light]

Interesting point... I tried mine without batteries just now, results as follows:

'86 SR4 - very low output, amp level way up, not really usable
'89 SR4 - very low output, same as above
'89 SR5 - low output but usable, roughly half that of a passive JB
'94 SR5 - no output at all

Where there was an output, it sounded like you'd expect, i.e. tone controls flat which is where I use them anyway.

Hmmm..

Well,

That certainly clears it up!

 

[mdc]