Aaaaaaargh. 3 hours of troubleshooting.

octatonic

So my Mark Bass amp was farting and distorting at weird times.
I had it in pieces, checking the tweeter, the two drivers, couldn't isolate the problem.
Recorded a video of it, sent it to Mark Bass to ask them.

A few minutes ago I sent them this sheepish email, 

'Dear Mark Bass, please disregard my earlier message.
Turns out that if you use a new battery in your active bass that the mysterious problem with the amplifier also disappears'.

I am such a numpty.

Jalapeno

My bass-playing mate has done the same !

Sporky

At least you were grown-up enough to tell them.

octatonic

I feel entirely stupid.
I should have checked it first- I've been putting up with this for weeks.

ICBM

Don't worry, you're not the only one - I get quite a few pedals and basses to repair in the shop where that's the only problem.

Sometimes you can almost forgive the customer because they've put a "new battery" in it… usually one that they got from Poundland or something. There was a run of Panasonic PP3s that seemed to be half-dead out of the box about a year ago, possibly a bad batch or maybe fakes.

I put in a genuine Duracell and tell the customer to please do the same next time! Usually I don't charge them any more (or not more than the maximum possible retail price of the battery anyway, even though I get them cheap from Costco ), although sometimes I think I should.

The real solution is not to use one of those silly active basses anyway .

Winny_Pooh

Thats why you need two basses : ) 

octatonic

The stupid thing is I HAVE two (3 actually) basses but I was too lazy to go and get either of them as I love my Stingray the most.

Paul_C

I "repaired" someone's bass once by putting a battery in the empty battery box. (I didn't charge but his Mum, who I knew, insisted on giving me a tenner).

Recently someone brought me a Taylor acoustic which had died mid-gig - he'd replaced the batteries (2 AA) so he ruled them out, I replaced the dead batteries with some that tested ok and all was well.

The ones that frustrate me are things like the Fishman preamps in some acoustics (I had one in an acoustic bass) which don't automatically switch off the tuner after a while, so if you tune up and forget to turn it off it flattens the battery, I've done that a couple of times.

FelineGuitars

Sounds very familiar 
You ask the customer with a problem guitar - how new is the battery and get the - I put a new one in yesterday 
You spend time going round the houses seeking the solution to the problem , till you get fed up and check the battery 
It reads like 4volts and/or the expiry code is like 2012.
Instal new battery - problem gone!

Similar story (TIME AFTER TIME) with fitting NEW strings 
A huge number of problems disappear as if by magic by sticking a fresh set of strings on

PS - glad you sorted the problem Octatonic

slacker

When I played bass a lot I cured the dead battery problems by a) always unplugging the bass when not in use and b) replacing the battery on a specific date as the battery would last a year. I used my birthday. 

fretmeister

On my active only basses (with no passive option) I have a little sticker on the back of the headstock with the date I last changed the battery.

I change them every year, even though they usually last quite a bit longer.

Jimbro66

A few years ago I bought a mid-range acoustic with a Fishman Presys+ pre-amp. I took the seller's word that the electrics were OK. I got it home and found there was no battery in it so installed a new Duracell and it worked fine. Next day - nothing. Checked the battery, which was totally flat. Tried another battery and within hours that was also flat.

After spending time checking over the electrics I found the cause. The inner nut securing the end pin jack was undone and was shorting the terminals. The reason I hadn't noticed the loose nut before is that some muppet had superglued the endpin jack in its socket, presumably because the jack had become loose.

Once that bodge was properly repaired battery life was excellent. The Presys+ has very easy battery access but the battery in my Atkin is a pig to get at so I change it a couple of times a year rather than risk a flat at a gig.