OT (a little bit) 9v Batteries- which do you use?

[audioguy]

I read several years ago that alkaline 9v are not that great for pedals and that the black cat brand (whos name escapes me now) was the best for pedals. Something about the way they died- alkaline slowly dies giving you less and less juice over time while non-alkaline gave everything it had till it had nothing to give. Does any one have any data that can back these claims up? Like I said I read this years ago, and dont recall much of the detail.

Secondly- the black cat batts are HARD to find any more- what batteries are you guys using in the machines you're making?


Audio Guy

[Mark Hammer]

Dying batteries may lend a "certain something" to SOME types of fuzzes (after all, the whole point of fuzzes is to run out of headroom, right?), but they have precious little value or use in other effects unless it is to...you guessed it...distort the sound by running out of headroom.  I can think of few devices that function as they are meant to on less than adequate batteries.  In other cases (e.g., all those BOSS BBD-based pedals that pack a 5v regulator to drop 9v down to a steady 5), what counts as a potentially dying battery or at least strained batter has little, if any, impact on sound because the design skirts around the impact of minor power fluctuations.

What do I use?  Mostly, I get used cast-off Duracells from the university and gently charge 'em back up.  Not recommended for the novice.

[smoguzbenjamin]

I use special recharcheable 9v batteries. Their â,¬11 a shot but it's worth every penny. After 3 charges you've earned your money back :mrgreen:

[bobbletrox]

I bought a Danoelctro brand 9v battery once that promised some fantastic secret tone or something...and from memory, it just went dead really quickly.

[AL]

I get my batteries from the Dollar Store. 2-pack of 9V's for $0.99 - And they sound .... like batteries.   What's the "secret Mojo"? They're a dollar and I can buy a pile of them for the price of one Duracell and still have money left for the toy store across the hall.  I've only had one bad one in 3 years.

AL

[RDV]

I like the little rectangular ones.

RDV

[crawler486]

I have one Eveready(Blackcat)  that outlived
other batteries like Energizer etc..

[al3151]

Mouser carries the Eveready (Black Cats) Heavy Duty batteries.These make a huge difference in sound when it comes to Fuzz Faces IMHO.I tried Energizers and the fuzz was more harsh,really noticable to me in the lower frequencies.

[Nasse]

I have some battery-powered smoke detectors in my home and try always keep batteries in those. Good batteries for smoke detectors are good for guitar pedals I quess. All smoke detectors have built-in battery condition tester with audible warning, so that the battery never does not empty without you noticing it (I think there is BS and NFPA CE etc etc regulations how long the someke detector should be able to emit warning sound of low battery, and it should be able to do it for about two weeks). And when they do, I sometimes take the dying battery and put it in my 4049 based tube sound fuzz, and in fuzzface sometimes. Good source of "known quality dying batteries" for me.

Never take batteries off from your smoke detectors, you may die

I mostly use Philips Longlife brand but sometimes buy whatever available.

[Marcos - Munky]

I use any kind of batteries.

[Gilles C]

I use these:

http://www.rayovac.com/products/recharge/nimh.shtml

I bought a pack of AA and a 9V to test them. I always recomend them now. Perfect in digital cameras too.

I buy them one in a while. Cost more, but last longer...

I recharge them in 1 hour. That way, I only need 1 spare.

I tried 2 other brands but they were not as good.

[casey]

dollar store......

i love the tone they give my overdrives...
i percieved (only psychologically) that they give my overdrives
a nice grit!  

theyre cheap...and they work!  

there was a report done about cheap batteries and supposedly
they were better than the more expensive ones....

in what ways, i cant remember...other than the conclusion
was that you really dont come out ahead spending the extra dough.

i guess it's like generic bleach.  bleach is bleach.  :wink:

[casey]

i wonder if you could use a car battery with a regulator on it,
and then you might have a battery that would outlast all the others.

wouldnt that be cool...a large battery on stage, powering all of your
fuzzes.

great stuff!

im just kiddin here folks!  :roll:

[The Tone God]

I like the ones that zap my tounge. :?:



Andrew

[Lonestarjohnny]

Casey, that's a great idea, they use to make a 9 volt car battery that would let you run 12v. ascessery's and still have a 6v. tap for your 6 v. starter, this came also with a regulator just for this system, with an electronic sag system you would get that dying battery effect and should never have to worry about a dead battery on stage as long as you charged it back up every so often.  :idea:
JD
P.S. U just gotta love those Dollar Store's.

[Marcos - Munky]

I like the ones that zap my tounge. :?:



Andrew

Me too . And the ones that blow a LED if you don't use a resistor  :twisted:  :twisted:  :twisted: .

[casey]

Casey, that's a great idea, they use to make a 9 volt car battery that would let you run 12v. ascessery's and still have a 6v. tap for your 6 v. starter, this came also with a regulator just for this system, with an electronic sag system you would get that dying battery effect and should never have to worry about a dead battery on stage as long as you charged it back up every so often.  :idea:
JD
P.S. U just gotta love those Dollar Store's.

oh yeah baby...i wonder about those nifty rechargeable batteries
as used in r.c. cars.  they recharge really nice and many times too.

that would make the whole outfit smaller...or even a motorcycle battery.
or a lawn mower battery.....  or a black and decker snap in battery....

i could do this all day...

[smoguzbenjamin]

I like the ones that zap my tounge. :?:

You mean the ones that are actually at 9.3v when you buy them?

[ErikMiller]

I ship my pedals with Walgreen's alkalines because I get the best deal when they have a sale going.

Thing about alkalines vs. "heavy duty" is that the alkalines initially put out a higher voltage. Measure a new alkaline with no load and it will be almost 9.5V.

So I tune my fuzzes to sound good (to me) between 9.5 and 9 volts, and recommend alkalines.

Some may like the lower voltage sound. There's some website around, maybe Analog Man's, where they put a brand new carbon zinc in a Fuzz Face and recorded some licks, then did the same licks with an alkaline and the tone is obviously different.

As with so many things in sound, try a couple and go with what you like....

[EdJ]

I use the ALDI ones.2pack for 1.19 Euri
Ed