9V Guitar Battery

[awjoe]

If I had a fiver for every time I've forgotten to unplug my Godin when I'm done playing, and therefore run down the 9V battery in it, I could buy a *lot* of 9V batteries.

[Albatross]

How about a couple of rechargeable batteries.

[Wonks]

You can power the guitar from an external power supply if you want to. If you use a pedalboard with the guitar it makes a lot of sense.

[awjoe]

I don't used a pedalboard, but it might be worth it just for that lol.

[Dynamic Mike]

I have a Washburn with a barrel jack socket sunk into the back edge which points upwards at around 30 degrees. This was supposed to direct the cable away from you to prevent you standing on it, and makes it really difficult to put back in the stand without unplugging it.

But it puts a greater strain on the socket. The money I've spent over the years getting the socket replaced would buy a lot of 9V batteries.

[Sam Spoons]

Another +1 for rechargeables. I'd suggest Nimh batteries as I think they do supply the full 9volts, there are lots of Li-Ion 9v/PP3 batteries which work well in digital pedals like my loopers but the ones I have max out at about 8.4V so may not be ideal for a guitar preamp.

[Drew Stephenson]

Could be worse, I have an Epiphone acoustic with a built in pick up that I bought for using at an open mic I used to run. All was good until the battery ran out one evening. "No worries," I thought, "I always have a spare 9v battery in my box of tricks."
So I popped the case off the pick up cover to discover that Epiphone, in their wisdom, had decided to change the design to run off two CR2032 batteries rather than the standard 9v block.
Funnily enough I didn't have two of them in my box...

[merlyn]

Another +1 for rechargeables. I'd suggest Nimh batteries as I think they do supply the full 9volts, there are lots of Li-Ion 9v/PP3 batteries which work well in digital pedals like my loopers but the ones I have max out at about 8.4V so may not be ideal for a guitar preamp.

You've got that the wrong way round. NiMH batteries are 8.4V. Also, the capacity of a 9V NiMH is generally low. There are now USB rechargeable Li ion batteries available, like these :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144773411390

They have a high capacity and are the full 9V. One thing that's different about them is that they stay at 9V throughout the discharge cycle. They go along at 9V, then go to zero. There must be voltage regulator circuitry built in. With a guitar, there is usually some warning that the battery is going as the sound gets bad. These just stop, but that isn't a problem as it is possible to always have a fully charged spare.

[Wonks]

My 1999 Takamine had a Korg digital preamp. Lasted just over an an hour with a 9v battery. Not the greatest of design concepts.

[BillB]

That's interesting, Merlyn. One of the views shows a circuit board at the clip end (covered by a plastic cap on the other pictures):



Don't know what BMS means (guess: Battery Management System) but presumably the circuit is preventing over-charging on input and, as you suggest, managing voltage on output.

[tea for two]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144773411390

They have a high capacity and are the full 9V. One thing that's different about them is that they stay at 9V throughout the discharge cycle. They go along at 9V, then go to zero. There must be voltage regulator circuitry built in. With a guitar, there is usually some warning that the battery is going as the sound gets bad. These just stop, but that isn't a problem as it is possible to always have a fully charged spare.

Seesh these are nifty charging directly from usbC cable phone charger. I was purrchasing Kodak 9V from pondland.

[Folderol]

These just stop, but that isn't a problem as it is possible to always have a fully charged spare.

It would be a problem if you were in the middle of your solo improv near the end of a (n) hours gig

[Wonks]

These just stop, but that isn't a problem as it is possible to always have a fully charged spare.

It would be a problem if you were in the middle of your solo improv near the end of a (n) hours gig

But apart from the farty guitar noise warning signal you get with a standard failing battery, you'd still have to change it if you were mid-song as you wouldn't want to perform with the guitar making strange noises.

If you were in the habit of playing 3-4 hour (almost) non-stop gigs, you'd get into the routine of switching batteries between songs at some point in the proceedings just to be sure.

[BillB]

Will, that's true, but if they are high-capacity, part of your pre-gig preparation is to ensure you have fitted a freshly-charged battery. Or as Wonks says, between songs for marathon events!

[merlyn]

These just stop, but that isn't a problem as it is possible to always have a fully charged spare.

It would be a problem if you were in the middle of your solo improv near the end of a (n) hours gig

Godin give the figure of 300 hours for a normal, non-rechargeable alkaline battery. Having rechargeable batteries solves the problem of "how long has this battery been in?" as it is possible to charge the battery before a gig if there is some doubt about how long the battery has been in use.

[zenguitar]

you wouldn't want to perform with the guitar making strange noises.

Well that's my entire repertoire casually dismissed

Andy

[Wonks]

you wouldn't want to perform with the guitar making strange noises.

Well that's my entire repertoire casually dismissed

Andy

You knew the risks.

[Folderol]

These just stop, but that isn't a problem as it is possible to always have a fully charged spare.

It would be a problem if you were in the middle of your solo improv near the end of a (n) hours gig

Godin give the figure of 300 hours for a normal, non-rechargeable alkaline battery. Having rechargeable batteries solves the problem of "how long has this battery been in?" as it is possible to charge the battery before a gig if there is some doubt about how long the battery has been in use.

{playing devil's advocate}
But how long does the rechargeable run for?
Also, the non-rechargable gives you plenty of warning and fades relatively slowly.
Surely a performer checks their kit before setting out

[Sam Spoons]

This is true and I usually use Alkalines in my acoustics but I'm generally pretty good at remembering not to leave it plugged in

Another +1 for rechargeables. I'd suggest Nimh batteries as I think they do supply the full 9volts, there are lots of Li-Ion 9v/PP3 batteries which work well in digital pedals like my loopers but the ones I have max out at about 8.4V so may not be ideal for a guitar preamp.

You've got that the wrong way round. NiMH batteries are 8.4V. Also, the capacity of a 9V NiMH is generally low. There are now USB rechargeable Li ion batteries available, like these :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144773411390

They have a high capacity and are the full 9V. One thing that's different about them is that they stay at 9V throughout the discharge cycle. They go along at 9V, then go to zero. There must be voltage regulator circuitry built in. With a guitar, there is usually some warning that the battery is going as the sound gets bad. These just stop, but that isn't a problem as it is possible to always have a fully charged spare.

Yes, hadn't come across those, built in BMS and USB charging so they must be doing some DC-DC conversion, have you got any and measured them to see whether they actually output 9V? My old Li-Ion PP3 batteries max out at 8.4V which is two Li-Ion cells so I suspect they are rather less sophisticated.

[Wonks]

Maybe Li-ion cub batteries?

[merlyn]

Time for some facts and figures. A Duracell alkaline battery has a capacity of 550mAh. The Li-ions I linked to have a capacity of 1200mAh, or more than twice an alkaline battery. That will go down through its lifespan, but will still be more than an alkaline battery. I haven't timed it, but they do last longer.

Maybe by using the word 'warning' I've given the wrong impression. The voltage on an alkaline battery goes down through its lifespan. Eventually that is too low to run the preamp, and the guitar sounds bad/unusable. The battery must be changed at this point.

I get 9.1V on the Li-ion battery I have here.

[Sam Spoons]

That sounds good, I'll definitely consider some if I need some more.

WRT my old type Li-Ion PP3s, I found they ran my RC3 and TC Ditto X2 perfectly happily at 8.4V and lasted very well, those USB chargeable ones are significantly higher capacity, mine are 600 and 800mAH for the two different makes.

I don't use them in the acoustic because I suspect the preamp likes a full fat 9V to sound it's best (will test at some point but I have a few busy days ahead as #2 son is home from China for a couple of weeks.

[awjoe]

Could be worse, I have an Epiphone acoustic with a built in pick up that I bought for using at an open mic I used to run. All was good until the battery ran out one evening. "No worries," I thought, "I always have a spare 9v battery in my box of tricks."
So I popped the case off the pick up cover to discover that Epiphone, in their wisdom, had decided to change the design to run off two CR2032 batteries rather than the standard 9v block.
Funnily enough I didn't have two of them in my box...

Today in the music store I popped open the battery flapdoodle on a bass ukelele (damn, they're fun!) to see what it looked like and found similar - it looked like 2032s, anyway - and I didn't extricate and unpack the whole thing because I didn't want to look like a vandal. Point is, why are there not standards?

[awjoe]

How about a couple of rechargeable batteries.

Yeah, I think this is the way forward. If I don't need a pedalboard for anything more than power supply.

[Albatross]

Never tried these new usb chargeable lion ones, but I suppose it could be charged from one of those little power packs at a push if you were out somewhere.