I've been using the (2) 9v batteries in the series 1 during practice in the house. When the batteries got too weak for playing, the bass stop having sound. No warning, like a little distortion. Just no sound. That's why I'll always use my DS-5 on gigs.

Yup, that's how they roll. Typically about 20 hours on a Series I or II. The other models have a much longer battery life - typically changed every 6-12 months - because they are less demanding of power.

Wow. What years are the Basses that have a longer battery life?

does the Upgrade also improve the battery life?

 I just consider the batteries in series basses as a backup power supply, and always gig with the DS-5 to get maximum performance from the bass. At home too i mainly practice with my series & DS-5 and fairly regularly check the batteries in all my basses using the tongue test and change any that don't sting. 👍🏾😂🤓

Good idea.

Quote from: Mlazarus on July 31, 2022, 10:02:44 PM
Wow. What years are the Basses that have a longer battery life?

Anything without a 5-pin. Early Distillates and Spoilers had a battery life of about 1-month initially. I think in the mid to late eighties the lower drain chips (that sounded good) were available that extended the life to 6-12 months.

Series I and II basses and guitar made today still have only about 20 hours of battery life.

Quote from: Mlazarus on July 31, 2022, 10:25:00 PM
does the Upgrade also improve the battery life?

Not on the Series I/II instruments. If we upgrade a Spoiler/Distillate/Europa and it has the old chip, we will change to the new chip during the upgrade.

Quote from: mica on August 01, 2022, 12:52:58 PM

Quote from: Mlazarus on July 31, 2022, 10:02:44 PM
Wow. What years are the Basses that have a longer battery life?

Anything without a 5-pin. Early Distillates and Spoilers had a battery life of about 1-month initially. I think in the mid to late eighties the lower drain chips (that sounded good) were available that extended the life to 6-12 months.

Series I and II basses and guitar made today still have only about 20 hours of battery life.

84 Distillate, easily average 10 months.   Unplug it when not in use.  👍🏽

Paul makes an excellent point. Many newbies assume that while keeping their instrument plugged in they are turning it off and stopping battery drain by turning the PU selector switch to off position. However, for Alembics, the battery drain continues unless you unplug it. Of course, if you have side LEDs it makes sense to always check those too. I've drained many more LED batteries than preamp ones because I've failed to notice they are on when the house lights get turned up.

Do some of the series 2 basses have a passive/active knob, where you can pull up for passive and push down for active? I remember someone saying Alemic's are only Active basses.

The someone you heard from is correct about the active nature of Alembic basses. It's one of (the many) things that allows for such high fidelity, piano like tone.

So many nice frequency tones.

Quote from: Mlazarus on August 03, 2022, 07:14:24 PM
Do some of the series 2 basses have a passive/active knob, where you can pull up for passive and push down for active? I remember someone saying Alemic's are only Active basses.

Alembic instruments are all active. It's kind of our "thing"

I remember back in 92' When i had my distillate, one of the Army band musicians called my bas a "Monster bass" LOL. He hasn't seen a Monster bass until he's seen the Series 1!