Batteries for active bass(electric)

[Morlock]

18v? aguilar is it?

anyway if i remember correctly bro subversion mentioned some time ago that he stays away from alkaline batteries for his pedals. i did not typo that, he only uses NON-alkaline for his pedals.

his reason was that the voltage of alkaline batteries drops gradually as the pedal is about to die. it is one of the ways that alkaline batteries prolong their life. as we all know, less voltage affects the tone.

yes, alkaline batteries do last longer, if im not wrong its about 3 to 4 times longer life. but purists will always stick to the old skool stuff, and they have their reasons.

anyway, for us neutrals, if lets say alkalines last 4 times longer than non-alkalines. they cost about 4 bucks per batt on average. your gp greencells are only 1 dollar, so while they have only a quarter of the battery life they are also only a quarter of the price.

so rationally, it is a tradeoff between convenience and tone, and whether you value convenience (lazy) or value tone (anal)

and lastly a little bit above 9V is not gonna DESTROY your guitar or effects. in many cases the increased headroom is desirable.

Wow I didn't know that! this is what I love about soft. you learn a lot from people. Great advice m8!

 

[Resetti]

actually, i would think that the load (power drain) of the bass pre-amp should be pretty light.... like only about 6 mA, therefore it's perfect for alkaline battery use, because it's a very light load on the battery.

same for your analog guitar effects, you can check their manual on their power drain / current draw, normally will be in the range of 20 mA, i would consider the drain on the battery to be very light. so alkaline batteries should be perfect for this situation.

when we talk about heavy loads, it'll be like for digital processors in the range of 600 to 1000 mA, that's when alkaline batteries will have lower capacity on heave loads. i think....