hEAVEY dUTY OR AKALINE BATTERY FOR 9v EFFECTS?

[jerryjg]

I noticed Walgreens has a sale on Heavey Duty 9V batteries for 39 cents each. I feel as though i must use Alkaline batteries. What about it? I usually end up lkeaving half the effects on for the battery to draoin anyhow, so is there areal reason to use alkaline batteries performance wise-I mean , is it reccomended by any pedal maufactureres, or can I just use the heavey duty batteries and save money?

 

[Bludave]

Re: hEAVEY dUTY OR AKALINE BATTERY FOR 9v EFFECTS?

Just get a daisy chain and a Visual sound one spot. No batteries and they work great. I use on My main board at home. This board is set up to go into 2 amps with a few different effects going to each amp. The one spot powers everything. For my gigging board (I have 2 depending on the amp I use). I have 3 or 4 stomp boxes, including a tuner, Wah, Chorus and Delay. All powered with a one spot.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Visual-Sound-1-SPOT-SpaceSaving-9V-Adapter?sku=151686

You will need a daisy chain to connect to the pedals then the one spot to the wall. Works fine. for about 25$. Your done

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: hEAVEY dUTY OR AKALINE BATTERY FOR 9v EFFECTS?

I've noticed that some vintage style effects (like my Fulltone 69, which is a FuzzFace clone) actually sound better (as in smoother and less spitty) with a old fashioned carbon style battery. The carbon wears out faster but sounds better. Lew

 

[JumpMarine]

Re: hEAVEY dUTY OR AKALINE BATTERY FOR 9v EFFECTS?

I've noticed that some vintage style effects (like my Fulltone 69, which is a FuzzFace clone) actually sound better (as in smoother and less spitty) with a old fashioned carbon style battery. The carbon wears out faster but sounds better. Lew

I wonder why that is?

 

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: hEAVEY dUTY OR AKALINE BATTERY FOR 9v EFFECTS?

I ran into this using AA's for my Boss ME-50 while in (South) Korea. The rating goes like this: R6 is a normal basic alkaline battery. LR6 is "long life R6". Some of these are labeled "professional" or "commercial", or even "heavy duty", but you want to see the LR6. Lithium doesn't matter so much as the LR6 rating.

Anyways, yes, these batteries make a difference: I was going from 12 hours playing time on my ME-50 to 16 hours. But for what it's worth, just get a power adapter / splitter and plug your stuff in. If it doesn't have a plug-in, either have someone mod it to include one, or I think Radio Shack has those things you clip to the battery contacts and it gives them the voltage they wanted, basically allowing you to, once again, plug them in.

 

[wahwah]

Re: hEAVEY dUTY OR AKALINE BATTERY FOR 9v EFFECTS?

I've noticed that some vintage style effects (like my Fulltone 69, which is a FuzzFace clone) actually sound better (as in smoother and less spitty) with a old fashioned carbon style battery. The carbon wears out faster but sounds better. Lew

+1 to this. Vintage effects and even some new pedals which are based on vintage style components sound better with carbon batteries, because that's the power source they were designed to work with. It's certainly the case with vintage OD or distortion pedals, and I've also noticed it to be the case with my 70's MXR pedals. There's a local pedal and amp maker named Dave Ulbrick who has custom made a couple of pedals for me from old components, and he always recommends carbon batteries. For most delays and newer modulation pedals, you're better of running on a power adaptor, but a lot of drive pedals sound better on batteries, and in many cases the carbon batteries will sound better again.



Cheers..........................wahwah

 

[ksmith63]

Re: hEAVEY dUTY OR AKALINE BATTERY FOR 9v EFFECTS?

i dont understand how a different battery would make anything sound different. the pedal should see a 9V power source regardless and as long as the battery puts out the voltage/current that is required there will be no difference

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: hEAVEY dUTY OR AKALINE BATTERY FOR 9v EFFECTS?

i dont understand how a different battery would make anything sound different. the pedal should see a 9V power source regardless and as long as the battery puts out the voltage/current that is required there will be no difference

I don't know the science of it, but that doesn't matter. Hearing is believing.

It seems to be the distortion and fuzz pedals that the diff is most apparent with.

Most players can hear the diff...especially tonal phobiacs like we have here on this forum!

Lew

 

[wahwah]

Re: hEAVEY dUTY OR AKALINE BATTERY FOR 9v EFFECTS?

i dont understand how a different battery would make anything sound different. the pedal should see a 9V power source regardless and as long as the battery puts out the voltage/current that is required there will be no difference

No, I don't understand it from a technical perspective either, but my lack of understanding doesn't alter the fact that it is the case. From memory, it is particularly the case with anything running germanium transistors, but it also applies to some other vintage style pedals as well. There are quite a few new pedal manufacturers who suggest and supply carbon-zinc batteries in their products for this reason, including Voodoo Labs, Danneburg, Ulbrick, Hartman, Lovepedal and ZVex.

Here's a quote from tonequest.com

What’s your take on alkaline vs. carbon batteries?

Alkaline batteries are OK for most things except fuzz pedals,
or a really simple early pedal like the Dallas Rangemaster. In
those pedals, the battery really becomes an integral part of the
circuit, and not only will it sound different with a carbon bat-
tery, but you’ll get more volume from a carbon battery in
those pedals.

The only other reference I have is my ears, which state without doubt that in many vintage pedals, there is definitely an audible difference.



Cheers.........................wahwah

 

[missionamps]

Re: hEAVEY dUTY OR AKALINE BATTERY FOR 9v EFFECTS?

I've noticed that some vintage style effects (like my Fulltone 69, which is a FuzzFace clone) actually sound better (as in smoother and less spitty) with a old fashioned carbon style battery. The carbon wears out faster but sounds better. Lew

I'd like to measure the battery voltage at the time you think it sounds better Lew.
Maybe you like they way the pedals sound when the voltage is well under 9v and those old fashioned carbon batteries can't hold 9v very well under load or something. ??
If that's the case, it would be easy to build a 9v power supply running on 120v line voltages and run some parallel load on it to get some sag or poor regulation going that could simulate that "wearing out" carbon battery effect.

 

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: hEAVEY dUTY OR AKALINE BATTERY FOR 9v EFFECTS?

9 volts is 9 volts. Now measuring the battery (capacitance, ohms, etc) carbon to alkaline might reveal something, sure, but until then, I'd be more willing to believe that it's the placebo effect. You think it sounds better, therefore it does.

 

[MartinSixStringCustoms]

Re: hEAVEY dUTY OR AKALINE BATTERY FOR 9v EFFECTS?

Get a Pedal Power 2+ and be done with it

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: hEAVEY dUTY OR AKALINE BATTERY FOR 9v EFFECTS?

to those of you out there that are saying a 9v battery is a 9v battery...think about this...


Are all 6L6's the same?

Are all resistors the same?

Are all strings the same?

I hope you get the idea...it does matter!

Also, for those of you that like the "less than a full 9v battery tone" the VooDoo Labs PPII+ has 2 of the outputs that are variable from 9 down to 4.5 volts and it makes a difference there too...I use those features on my fintage style fuzzes and boosters to mimic a weak batter and to my ears it makes a big difference!

 

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: hEAVEY dUTY OR AKALINE BATTERY FOR 9v EFFECTS?

to those of you out there that are saying a 9v battery is a 9v battery...think about this... Are all 6L6's the same? Are all resistors the same? Are all strings the same? I hope you get the idea...it does matter! Also, for those of you that like the "less than a full 9v battery tone" the VooDoo Labs PPII+ has 2 of the outputs that are variable from 9 down to 4.5 volts and it makes a difference there too...I use those features on my fintage style fuzzes and boosters to mimic a weak batter and to my ears it makes a big difference!

The comparisons don't work out logically. 6L6's have always varied, which is why Fender puts out "matched sets" of them so that the customer can just grab a pack rather than have to bias the tubes. Not all strings are the same either: nickel versus steel is a big difference in magnetic permeability. Resistors would be closest to our analogy, but even then, it depends on their use: is .01 ohm enough difference to cause problems? In some applications, no. In others, yes. Depends on the application. As for batteries, they're all shooting for the idea of 9volts (maybe a bit higher, if you read them with a voltmeter sometimes you get 9.2 when they're good, 9 when they're going to die, and 1.2 when dead). Their idea is 9volts or higher, within tolerances. They're also designed to stay at 9volts as long as possible until they die off.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: hEAVEY dUTY OR AKALINE BATTERY FOR 9v EFFECTS?

Read about the why of using carbon batteries: http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=283042

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: hEAVEY dUTY OR AKALINE BATTERY FOR 9v EFFECTS?

and some more: http://www.thegearpage.net/board/archive/index.php/t-52126.html

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: hEAVEY dUTY OR AKALINE BATTERY FOR 9v EFFECTS?

Ok, we'll use the resistor example...

Lew was talking about the differenc between carbon vs akaline...

Look at this, there are carbon comp, metal film and carbon film resistors and lots if people say there is a difference in tone, Im one of them and I also belive that the difference in batterys makes a difference...not just the value but the materal they're made from...both make a differnce.

 

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: hEAVEY dUTY OR AKALINE BATTERY FOR 9v EFFECTS?

Read about the why of using carbon batteries: http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=283042

and some more: http://www.thegearpage.net/board/archive/index.php/t-52126.html

I see their point. I was responding more to the people claiming there were voltage disparities, which to me, whether there are or are not, would be a moot point because the goal was 9 volts. However, as to their internal resistance and capacitance, I'd be willing to say, yes, there are differences, and I for one would be interested in knowing what they are.

Still, for me at least, 9 volts is 9 volts. To me, there are things that matter and things that don't. I might be able to hear the difference, but I wouldn't care because I'd just go buy a pack of LR6 AA or 9V and use 'em, or plug the boxes in Which reminds me, I need to practice tonight.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: hEAVEY dUTY OR AKALINE BATTERY FOR 9v EFFECTS?

Ok, we'll use the resistor example...

Lew was talking about the differenc between carbon vs akaline...

Look at this, there are carbon comp, metal film and carbon film resistors and lots if people say there is a difference in tone, Im one of them and I also belive that the difference in batterys makes a difference...not just the value but the materal they're made from...both make a difference.

Thanks Christian! Guys who say there's no diff have probably not used them side by side and actually played and listened and compared.

That's the thing: don't take my word for it or anyone elses. Use your own guitar and ears and hear for yourself. That's reality...not theory. The heck with theory...that's all in the mind. The proof is when you do an actual A/B test and then play, listen and compare.

I'll tell you this: it's a much more obvious diff than the diff people claim they hear between a .02 Hovland Oil cap and a .02 Sprague Orange Drop cap used in a guitar's tone circuit. (laugh!) But that's a whole other can of worms...:welcome:

lew

 

[MartinSixStringCustoms]

Re: hEAVEY dUTY OR AKALINE BATTERY FOR 9v EFFECTS?

t
Also, for those of you that like the "less than a full 9v battery tone" the VooDoo Labs PPII+ has 2 of the outputs that are variable from 9 down to 4.5 volts and it makes a difference there too...I use those features on my fintage style fuzzes and boosters to mimic a weak batter and to my ears it makes a big difference!

Yep, the sag function is a very cool feature