NJE Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 I have never really used pedals before and have a rediculously stupid question about power. I really want and Octave Pedal, probably the EBS Octabass and was wondering, if I used a battery would the pedal drain it even if I had it disengaged? Would the battery last long? would I need to change the battery after every gig? Thanks all, dull question I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 it depends. If the pedal is true bypass, then it should really turn off and stop draining power when it's off. If the pedal isn't true bypass, this means it has a buffer running all the time, which I assume would drain some power. I would never dare gig with just batteries anyway. I put batteries in my pedals, just in case, but I power them from a PSU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJE Posted February 28, 2011 Author Share Posted February 28, 2011 Cheers for that, just starting to read about the whole true bypass thing. I am looking at a pedal without so I guess I would be using battery up. I only really want it for a couple of songs and i dont really want to get into power supplies etc. Might have to fork out a bit more for a true bypass maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 I assume the as long as the pedal has a plug in the input then it is using the battery. I don't know if this is the case or not,but that's how I judge it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 it might be possible to have the octabass modded for true bypass. I doubt it'd run out quicker than 3 hours on just a battery though, it's just personally I would feel insecure about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomTFS Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 [quote name='Doddy' post='1144328' date='Feb 28 2011, 11:47 AM']I assume the as long as the pedal has a plug in the input then it is using the battery. I don't know if this is the case or not,but that's how I judge it.[/quote] This is the truth. Plugging a cable into the input generally turns a pedal on, pressing the switch merely routes the audio signal through it. Different pedals last different lengths of time on batteries. I have a booster/fuzz pedal that will last for about a week solid being plugged in, but something like a DL4, or the Digitech bass filter will last about 20mins to an hour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 [quote name='TomTFS' post='1144358' date='Feb 28 2011, 12:17 PM']Plugging a cable into the input generally turns a pedal on, pressing the switch merely routes the audio signal through it.[/quote] so True Bypass makes no difference? I assumed that when it bypassed the pedal it'd cut the power. It's a good job I gig with PSUs then! I think it's the current draw that will determine how fast the battery drains. A 20Ma fuzz pedal would last loads longer than a 250Ma digital delay! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sk8 Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 cable in the input jack makes the circuit so its using battery as long as a cable is in the input jack although this will be a smaller draw than actually using it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomTFS Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 [quote name='cheddatom' post='1144368' date='Feb 28 2011, 12:26 PM']so True Bypass makes no difference? I assumed that when it bypassed the pedal it'd cut the power. It's a good job I gig with PSUs then! I think it's the current draw that will determine how fast the battery drains. A 20Ma fuzz pedal would last loads longer than a 250Ma digital delay![/quote] Yep, exactly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umph Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 [quote name='Doddy' post='1144328' date='Feb 28 2011, 11:47 AM']I assume the as long as the pedal has a plug in the input then it is using the battery. I don't know if this is the case or not,but that's how I judge it.[/quote] this circuit is always pulling current as long as battery is plugged in, it's just the led that obviously doesn't Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJE Posted February 28, 2011 Author Share Posted February 28, 2011 Thanks for all the responses, seems to make sense that the pedal would drain battery even when 'bypassed'. Hmm, might just get the pedal and see how I get on with batteries, I have a feeling i read that a Korg Pitchblack could power one extra pedal from its mains adapter....where is that manual! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 well, I feel silly now. I suppose if the bypass switch cut the power, you might get pops when turning the pedal on and off? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Tub Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 (edited) [quote name='NJE' post='1144460' date='Feb 28 2011, 01:42 PM']Thanks for all the responses, seems to make sense that the pedal would drain battery even when 'bypassed'. Hmm, might just get the pedal and see how I get on with batteries, I have a feeling i read that a Korg Pitchblack could power one extra pedal from its mains adapter....where is that manual![/quote] This is correct. The Korg Pitchblack as a power output on the back of the pedal. You just need a little "jumper" lead with two plugs - one in the Korg, the other in your other pedal. Edited February 28, 2011 by Hot Tub Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_Bass Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 [quote name='Hot Tub' post='1144467' date='Feb 28 2011, 01:53 PM']This is correct. The Korg Pitchblack as a power output on the back of the pedal. You just need a little "jumper" lead with two plugs - one in the Korg, the other in your other pedal. [/quote] Dependin on how much Amps (not confuse with that thing we use to power speakers ) your PSU has you can power much more than one pedal by using a daisy-chain. The limit is the number of plugs available on your daisy-chain or the mA available from the PSU. I never use bateries in my pedals and all of them are true-bypass. If the PSU fails i just need to turn them all off and keep giging without having to disconect any leads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robocorpse Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 [quote name='NJE' post='1144326' date='Feb 28 2011, 11:47 AM']Cheers for that, just starting to read about the whole true bypass thing. I am looking at a pedal without so I guess I would be using battery up. I only really want it for a couple of songs and i dont really want to get into power supplies etc. Might have to fork out a bit more for a true bypass maybe.[/quote] Given the choice between forking out for true bypass, or a low-middle price PSU, I'd go the PSU route. TIP: old SEGA MEGADRIVE power supplies are 9V 1A and the plug is the correct size and polarity to run Boss pedals... "2 quid, take 50 pee?, oh alright, a pound" from your local boot sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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