Bass preamp, rechargeable batteries or not

Glaw343

Hi everyone, I'm a little sick of having to constantly buy 9v batteries for my bass and would ideally like to move to just using rechargeable ones. I've heard many of the rechargeable ones don't output the full voltage that a regular alkaline one would, any issues here? kinda fancy just spending the extra on some nice lithium ion rechargeable ones and not thinking about it again, also would make me not feel so bad when throwing them away as I do tend to get through them fairly quickly. cheers 

ICBM

What bass is it? Has it always done this? Are you leaving the cable plugged in when not using it?

Asking because the battery life in a bass preamp normally can be years. If it's not, there's often another reason.

Funkfingers

What ICBM said.

In home studio usage, alkaline PP3s last years. 

If the PP3 lasts only a few weeks, either you are leaving the cable plugged in or you have the output jack connected wrongly.

On instruments with onboard active electronics, the ring contact on the "stereo" TRS output jack acts as an on/off switch. 

If you have a "mono" TS jack, the battery circuit is permanently completed on the ground contact, draining the charge.

ICBM

Funkfingers said:

If the PP3 lasts only a few weeks, either you are leaving the cable plugged in or you have the output jack connected wrongly.

Or, more rarely, there can be a fault in the electronics causing drastically increased current draw.

Glaw343

It's a Cort A5 plus with a bartolini mk1 preamp and the mk1 passive pickups, nothing special it's just that I'm using it a lot at the moment, I've not noticed the drain be any different to normal just thought going rechargeable is a more eco friendly equivalent to throwing away non rechargeable ones, I don't leave the cable in if I'm not using it and I do generally get a few months out of a battery depending on how much I use it, perhaps constantly buying is a bit of a stretch, I also use them on some battery to dc jack cables to power pedals I want to mess around with if I can't be bothered to pull anything out of my board to power them with which is where most of them probably get eaten up, would there be any drawbacks to using rechargeable ones? cheers

Funkfingers

Rechargeable PP3s are very all or nothing. They either supply enough charge to drive the onboard electronics or they do not. The cut off can be very sudden.

IIRC, the Cort has an EQ Bypass switch. You will have to be ready to engage that switch at short notice.

Depending on the exact pedal current requirements, removing alkaline PP3s from your bass to test effect pedals is a good way to drain them in double quick time. Digital delay, reverb and modulators eat batteries for breakfast.

UnclePsychosis

I agree with the other gents. Preamp batteries should last ages. Stop using them for your pedals and you'll get a lot more life. 

Glaw343

generally it's just a drive pedal or analog chorus here and there so very low current draw, everything else is on the pedalboard. Hilariously the bass still needs a battery when the bypass switch is enabled so it's totally useless which is something I've been meaning to change for a while and just not got around to it. the problem isn't that I'm killing batteries quickly it's just that I'd rather go to rechargeable ones if there's no compromise to the sound I.E. from them running at a slightly different voltage and changing the headroom etc. I understand what you were saying funkfingers about it being kind of all or nothing but I do check them fairly regularly so I wouldn't really be all that worried about them dying on a gig especially as i always carry a spare anyway, it's more that I've seen a few rechargeable 9vs that have a nominal voltage between 7.2v and 9.6v, most of the NiMH ones I've seen are 8.4v. whereas the alkaline ones are 9v nominal (going by the spec on RS) am I making sense?

Dave_Mc

ICBM said:

What bass is it? Has it always done this? Are you leaving the cable plugged in when not using it?

Asking because the battery life in a bass preamp normally can be years. If it's not, there's often another reason.

That's what I was thinking, but then I was wondering if maybe I didn't practise enough? 

fretmeister

I get over a year out of all my active basses with a variety of preamp and pickup makes.
The OP's problem sounds like a little short / leak somewhere.

Glaw343

thank you for the advice everyone

Dave_Mc

So you're not going to believe this, but the battery in my Stingray just died. I think that's probably poetic justice for saying they can last years... although to be fair, I have been playing a bit more recently...  Not sure how long the old one lasted, I have no idea when I last changed it, so I'm guessing ages...

Funkfingers

My memory is so unreliable that I write the installation date on new PP3s. 

My modified Warwick Corvette is starting to sound farty and distorted. According to my scrawl, the Duracell has been in there four years!

Dave_Mc

Funkfingers said:

My memory is so unreliable that I write the installation date on new PP3s. 

My modified Warwick Corvette is starting to sound farty and distorted. According to my scrawl, the Duracell has been in there four years!

Yeah mine farted a couple of times and then just cut out. To be fair, I'd be wondering for a day or two whether it was starting to sound a little worse, but I wasn't sure.

ICBM

Dave_Mc said:

So you're not going to believe this, but the battery in my Stingray just died. I think that's probably poetic justice for saying they can last years... although to be fair, I have been playing a bit more recently...  Not sure how long the old one lasted, I have no idea when I last changed it, so I'm guessing ages...

Probably like Bernard Edwards - when asked what strings he used on his Stingray, he said "I don't know, the ones that came with it!"

fretmeister

ICBM said:

Dave_Mc said:

So you're not going to believe this, but the battery in my Stingray just died. I think that's probably poetic justice for saying they can last years... although to be fair, I have been playing a bit more recently...  Not sure how long the old one lasted, I have no idea when I last changed it, so I'm guessing ages...

Probably like Bernard Edwards - when asked what strings he used on his Stingray, he said "I don't know, the ones that came with it!"

Nile cleared that up in a tweet.

Nard started with flats but moved to rounds in the 70s.

ICBM

fretmeister said:

Nile cleared that up in a tweet.

Nard started with flats but moved to rounds in the 70s.

Was that when he acquired the Stingray?

Dave_Mc

ICBM said:

Dave_Mc said:

So you're not going to believe this, but the battery in my Stingray just died. I think that's probably poetic justice for saying they can last years... although to be fair, I have been playing a bit more recently...  Not sure how long the old one lasted, I have no idea when I last changed it, so I'm guessing ages...

Probably like Bernard Edwards - when asked what strings he used on his Stingray, he said "I don't know, the ones that came with it!"

I think I've changed it before... though now you mention it, I'm not 100% sure!

fretmeister

ICBM said:

fretmeister said:

Nile cleared that up in a tweet.

Nard started with flats but moved to rounds in the 70s.

Was that when he acquired the Stingray?

Probably!!

Secret_Sam

Does anyone have a view about the original question, which was more or less:

'What are some decent makes of rechargeable PP3, how long do they last between charges compared to alkaline, and who makes good chargers and battery testers?''

fretmeister

How long a PP3 lasts in a particular bass depends on the capacity of the battery. The mAh information. It also depends on what the current draw is in your bass. Preamp systems can vary quite a bit.

I do have some and I always buy Duracell ones, and for a first time buy you can get them in a pack with a charger. 

To be honest - it's often more of a faff trying to find the charger. I get at least a year out of a PP3 in my main bass that has EMG pickups and an EMG preamp system. I put a sticker on the back of the headstock and write the battery install date on in pencil. I swap it every year no matter what.

I use rechargeable AA batteries far more often in my wireless packs. Duracell again, and going for the highest mAh capacity.
The charger for those is always available as for the wireless I get about 7 hours use per charge. Definitely sticking with rechargeables for that.

Be aware that some PP3 rechargeables are actually a tiny bit bigger than the normal ones. I've had some basses with the fold out plastic batter compartments where a rechargeable wouldn't fit properly!