| Author | Message | ||
| white_cloud
Advanced Member Username: white_cloud Post Number: 346 Registered: 11-2007 |
Okay, just plugged in my 87 Persuader several times over the last few hours and all I am getting is heavy distortion every time a note is played. Anyone got any ideas about what the deal is here? John. | ||
| tbrannon
Senior Member Username: tbrannon Post Number: 737 Registered: 11-2004 |
Have you checked your battery? Try plugging in a new 9V and see if that fixes things. I've had it happen to me twice... I was playing and thought I'd blown a speaker. Each time I pulled the battery and used the 'tongue test'- I thought the battery had plenty of juice left, but when I put a new one in the problem was solved. (Message edited by tbrannon on May 02, 2008) | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 6525 Registered: 5-2002 |
I agree with Toby; try a new battery. | ||
| terryc
Senior Member Username: terryc Post Number: 490 Registered: 11-2004 |
definitely battery..tongue test is only going to detect the volts, not the amps, even a little voltage can be detected with a meter(or tongue - ouch) If there is no push(amps) then minor fuzz box sound is heard | ||
| white_cloud
Advanced Member Username: white_cloud Post Number: 348 Registered: 11-2007 |
Im grateful for the assistance guys - thought the battery had juice in it but obviously not enough - DOH! John. | ||
| terryc
Senior Member Username: terryc Post Number: 496 Registered: 11-2004 |
white cloud..I gather you had a JD, those were very battery hungry in the early days. Alembics don't use as much juice but when you consider how many times you plug in and leave it plugged in at a gig the time soon mounts up and it drains the battery | ||
| adriaan
Senior Member Username: adriaan Post Number: 1868 Registered: 6-2002 |
Make sure you use a proper quality battery - Duracell or similar. Cheaper batteries drop off from 9V much quicker, so the distortion sets in sooner. Does anyone have experience with rechargeable 9V batteries? Discussions from years ago suggested they dropped off as quickly as cheap batteries, but of course the technology has changed a lot over the last couple of years. (Message edited by adriaan on May 08, 2008) | ||
| terryc
Senior Member Username: terryc Post Number: 498 Registered: 11-2004 |
Well the older type were crap..in anything..the amps dropped off very quickly, I have heard that the newer type(used in cameras) hold the amps for much longer however I have no experience of the newer ones | ||
| white_cloud
Advanced Member Username: white_cloud Post Number: 349 Registered: 11-2007 |
I have never been a fan of, or used, rechargeable batteries so I cant really comment guys! I suppose that its not necessary to use rechargeables simply because on an Alembic the batteries seem to "live" for quite a while! Terry, the Jaydee was a battery hungry bass but mine never had a powerful output soundwise. I found the Wal bass to be less greedy on the juice and was better sounding but I guess it comes down to personal preference at the end of the day! | ||
| dfung60
Advanced Member Username: dfung60 Post Number: 330 Registered: 5-2002 |
I don't think rechargeables are much competition for alkalines in a bass. The oldest kind - Nickel/Cadmium had a lot of problems with memory effect - you need to charge them fully, then discharge them fully, otherwise they hold less and less charge. That does't work in an instrument at all - if you run til you start hearing distortion, that's the worst case for a Ni-Cad. The more common type you see today are Nickel-Metal Hydride or NiMH. They have much less memory effect than NiCADs but you still run into the same problem. One of the problems of NiMH is that when the power starts to drop off, it drops off very quickly. Both NiMH and NiCad are not very environmentally friendly at disposal. The kind of batteries used in cameras and laptops are Lithium Ion. They are very light, hold a lot of power, and can handle very heavy intermittent loads (like a camera flash). They're better environmentally. But the bad part here is that they are very expensive (camera batteries are $40+, laptop batteries $100-200) and require a smart charger to monitor the battery temperature while charging. If you try to charge or discharge the battery too fast, it can get hot or even ignite. When you hear stories of flaming laptops and iPods, these are lithium batteries. All these other battery chemistries make less voltage as well, so you lose headroom in an audio app like your EQ circuits. Alkalines are good at the small long-term drain, are cheap and easy to replace. Hard to beat that for a battery that lasts 40-100 hours in normal use. David Fung | ||
| adriaan
Senior Member Username: adriaan Post Number: 1872 Registered: 6-2002 |
Thanks for all your input! And what about creating a "cheap" DS-5 for 9/18V for the non-Series instruments? | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 3087 Registered: 7-2004 |
Consumer reports recently did a battery comparison of AA batteries and gave a very high rating to Kirkland, the COSTCO house brand. They were both among the best batteries and, by far, the cheapest. While the other batteries in the test sold in the $.75 - $1.50 per battery range, the Kirklands cost $.21 per battery. I ran to COSTCO, but they were out of 9Vs. But I grabbed some of the other sizes. Bill, tgo | ||
| tbrannon
Senior Member Username: tbrannon Post Number: 741 Registered: 11-2004 |
+ 1 on the Costco batteries. They seem to outlast just about anything else I've ever tried. |
