john89 to guitars@lemmy.worldEnglish · 3 days agoWhy do active pickups require 9v batteries instead of some other kind of battery like AA?message-squaremessage-square12fedilinkarrow-up16arrow-down10
arrow-up16arrow-down1message-squareWhy do active pickups require 9v batteries instead of some other kind of battery like AA?john89 to guitars@lemmy.worldEnglish · 3 days agomessage-square12fedilink
minus-squarejohn89OPlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up3·3 days agoThank you for your answer. Is there some advantage to having 9 volts instead of 1.5?
minus-square9point6@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up7·edit-23 days agoSome of the components typically used (e.g. op-amps) in audio gear like active pickups & pedals typically need at least 5-10V to work. If you used AA for those scenarios you’re either going to need a load of batteries or you’re gonna have a short battery life. 9V batteries are just a better fit for the use case basically and mean things like active pickups & pedals can be kept small
minus-squareMarvelicious@fedia.iolinkfedilinkarrow-up4·3 days agoHonestly, if I were designing active guitar gear, I might just try to push 24v phantom power and XLR cables. Have a little power box at the amp or pedalboard and ditch the onboard battery entirely. But I loathe alkaline batteries…
minus-squarejohn89OPlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up4·3 days agoFascinating. I had no idea, but this is starting to make sense. Thank you.
Thank you for your answer.
Is there some advantage to having 9 volts instead of 1.5?
Some of the components typically used (e.g. op-amps) in audio gear like active pickups & pedals typically need at least 5-10V to work.
If you used AA for those scenarios you’re either going to need a load of batteries or you’re gonna have a short battery life.
9V batteries are just a better fit for the use case basically and mean things like active pickups & pedals can be kept small
Honestly, if I were designing active guitar gear, I might just try to push 24v phantom power and XLR cables. Have a little power box at the amp or pedalboard and ditch the onboard battery entirely.
But I loathe alkaline batteries…
Fascinating. I had no idea, but this is starting to make sense.
Thank you.