doctord

There's one going for a song on ebay this week:
[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272674059246"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272674059246[/url]

Active/Passive is simple - if you have to take the back-plate off to change the battery, then it's active. If there's no battery-powered electronics in there then it's passive. Sorry - can't help with the questions re: pricing and best place to sell.

Hi,

New member - posting solely having discovered this thread!

I bought my Bass Collection new - way back in '92 (!).
SGC Nanyo - made in Japan
Model: SB405, 5 string, active, J-J, black (quite rare - I guess from this thread)
S/N: 884919.

I paid the princely sum of £420 in '92 which was a steal at the time (the store manager was a friend of a friend). The store had a honey display model, but I ordered the SB405 which took ~3 weeks to arrive "fresh off the boat from Japan". This now seems odd given it must have been 3-4 years "old" when I ordered it (given the S/N) but perhaps there wasn't the demand for this model. I can remember stripping off the SGC Nanyo packaging with what I assumed was original manufacturer's Japanese writing. I also remeber opting for the 400 series based on the upgraded hardware - specifically the bridge.

Anyway (cut to the chase) a few years after I bought it, I was changing the battery for the active electronics and noticed (for the first time ) a small switch on the PCB behind the block with the S/N (see pics - small white toggle switch). To this day I haven't even tried to work-out what this switch is for. By this time the store i bought from had closed, and I couldn't track-down a "manual" anywhere (I don't recall ever having one one). So - can anyone here tell me what the switch does / what it's for or point me in the right direction? (Is it simply an "active/passive" switch - like SiBob's post). Apologies if this is a dumb question.

[attachment=20988:Switch_1.JPG][attachment=20989:Switch_2.JPG]

Over the years I've had a number of other basses, but the SB405 has been the only one that I've kept! I still consider it a real bargain!