Active pickups wearing out

singloud

I bought a Warwick Rockbass with active pickups but the sounds cut out.

the lead and amp are working fine with me guitars but not with my new bass.

I left it with the lead stuck in it for a while so I'm wondering if that might be the problem.
Does that drain the battery?

I've tried removing the battery but it's wedged in pretty damn tight. I'm worried about damaging it.
Thanks
CIan

feylya

You leave the lead in, you leave the bass switched on. Rip out the battery and replace it

Doctor J

Yes, when you leave the lead plugged in it completes the circuit and engages the battery. You should expect to get a few thousand hours out of a good battery, depending on the electronics you have. A lot of times you'll get a cheap piece of **** battery as stock, there's no harm in just lashing a Duracell in there even if the stock one still has a charge.

Edit -> is there a push/pull pot on the bass to bypass the active circuit? Try is in passive mode, if it has one, see if it works that way.

singloud

thankis,the problem with the battery is part of it is underneath the rim of the cavity. I'm worried about pulling it out too hard as it could damage the wires.

Anyone else have an active corvette and could tell me if the battery is supposed to be tucked under the rim?

Royale with Cheese

Did the same thing when I got my Warwick Rockbass, and stupidly the same thing again when I got my first pedals.

What do you mean by underneath the rim? The battery should be kinda tucked away but it shouldn't be too hard to get out. Be careful with the wires though, I don't know if it's just my bass, but they're pathetically weak and changing batteries often leads to wire breaking.

singloud

I've been unable to get it out.
Theres a rim around the cavity and part of the battery is tucked under there.
I'm unable to get it out. It seems really hard stuck in.

Doctor J

It went in so it will come out.

Zapp Brannigan

Doctor J wrote:

It went in so it will come out.

That's what she said!!


OP just give it a tug. I had troubles getting the battery out of my rockbass, but just gave it a good pull and out it came.

(so many innuendos in that post)

singloud

What do you expect from the Zapper?

Best Zapp quote: "Kif, your flush is set to stun....not kill."

Frankiestylee

Out of curiosity...what's the differance in sound with an active pickup?

feylya

Bit higher output, bit clearer. A lot of people can't hear the difference. A lot of others hate them because they're supposedly not as responsive of passives. At least, on guitars. Personally, I love em

Johnny Storm

OP: here's my tip du jour: assuming you eventually get the battery out, before you put the new battery in, wrap some sellotape around it and leave a big "handle" of sellotape sticking out. That'll give you something to grab onto to get it out the next time.

Zapp Brannigan

feylya wrote:

Bit higher output, bit clearer. A lot of people can't hear the difference. A lot of others hate them because they're supposedly not as responsive of passives. At least, on guitars. Personally, I love em

It's weird how guitarists seem to swear by passives, but most bassists I know (including myself) will only use actives. I find the sound is really dead and lifeless with passives.

feylya

I would imagine that that's the reason because bass frequencies are harder to capture and reproduce so you need the higher output and frequency grab.

Zapp Brannigan

feylya wrote:

I would imagine that that's the reason because bass frequencies are harder to capture and reproduce so you need the higher output and frequency grab.

Don't try and confuse me with your science. It's actually because basses are better than guitars. I heard it from a guys brother whose friend once saw Leo Fender on the bus this one time.

feylya

Oh, go and stand at the back of the stage, staring at your shoes like a good bassist!

*waits for Doctor J's witty reply...*

Zapp Brannigan

feylya wrote:

Oh, go and stand at the back of the stage, staring at your shoes like a good bassist!

*waits for Doctor J's witty reply...*

Worked for Jon Entwhistle.

feylya

But he's dead! Didn't work too well

Zapp Brannigan

feylya wrote:

But he's dead! Didn't work too well

Rats! I knew there was a flaw in there somewhere. Well...uh...what about..uh...whatever. I'm gonna go play root notes.

feylya

Good bassist

Doctor J

Zapp Brannigan wrote:

It's weird how guitarists seem to swear by passives, but most bassists I know (including myself) will only use actives. I find the sound is really dead and lifeless with passives.

Nah, gimme passive pickups every time. Active preamp, yeah, but you just can't beat a good passive pickup on the oul bass. It's a personal thing. I know lots of guitarists who play actives and lots of bassists who play passives, I wouldn't say bassists are more into actives though. Active EQs, yes, it's something guitarists on a whole haven't really embraced whereas it's becoming the norm on bass, but pickup-wise, there are still more passive pickups out there. Viva choice

Zapp Brannigan

Doctor J wrote:

Nah, gimme passive pickups every time. Active preamp, yeah, but you just can't beat a good passive pickup on the oul bass. It's a personal thing. I know lots of guitarists who play actives and lots of bassists who play passives, I wouldn't say bassists are more into actives though. Active EQs, yes, it's something guitarists on a whole haven't really embraced whereas it's becoming the norm on bass, but pickup-wise, there are still more passive pickups out there. Viva choice

Actually when I think about it...my new Warwick will have passive pups but an active EQ. Whoops, that's what I was getting at in my original post.

Doctor J

It's all good. Horses for courses and all that