Danelectro 9V battery. Check out the sales pitch.

[firefuocco]

Does this sell line sound like crap or what? On the plus side they aren't expensive, but still I can't believe this claim.

Players all over the world are asking for them. Why?
Today’s alkaline batteries discharge
differently than the zinc batteries of yesteryear.
Players tell us the Danelectro zinc battery sounds
better when used in effect pedals and the like.

http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/product/21995-danelectro-9v-batteries.html

 

[tboy]

I've heard people make this claim. I guess some people can actually hear whatever their brain thinks it hears, or has been told to hear. Oh well. More power to 'em (no pun intended). I guess if something makes you feel better, you might actually play better.

 

[Mark Davis]

There is a difference in the sound of those old time 9 volts as compared to the new ones.

Its apparent in a fuzz pedal. The best sound is when the battery is weak and produces an amplifer sag sorta sound.

An older pedal from the time when the old batteries were around does sound better with the old style batteries in it at least my 1967 Fuzz Face did.

I go to the $1 store and get the old ones for my fuzz and wah wah.

 

[octatonic]

I reckon Fuzzfaces sound best when they are being fed around 5 volts.

Voodoolab PP2+ allows you to vary the voltage from 9v down to 4v using their sag control.
A dying battery will put out less voltage than a new one, and sounds best with that circuit.

It is all subjective though.

 

[dickey]

The guys I play with save me all their old active electronic & wireless mic batteries cause they sound better when they're wasted. So I rarely have to buy them

 

[DuncanAngus]

Bought my Bro a pedal and some Dano batteries to run it. The batteries sugg'd.... Look cool on a shelf with the graphics, but nasty power suppiles. Ever hear of Smith Lucas? They invented the intermittant wiper. Brittish electrical is sorta sketchy. The plumbing is worse!

 

[Guitar_Ninja]

Yeah, it has to do with voltage sag and it's effect on clean headroom.

If you check out any of the more expensive brick power supplies most of them now have a voltage sag input on them where you can adjust how much voltage to feed that particular pedal.

Note that this is useful in analog pedals only, and generally only older distortion/fuzz/overdrive designs. Digital pedals will sound horrible.

 

[vcode]

Not sure of what the effect is, but Zinc batteries hold their Voltage more constant over their lifespan and then die quickly. Alkalines slowly run down. FWIW.

 

[mike shaw]

I thought it was the other wway around?

 

[Mike Eskimo]

Danelectro 10 years ago made quality guitars built in Korea.

Now, whoever bought the name makes less than quality guitars in China.

I would have believed the previous owners who had some great guitars made overseas, but not the current owners who paint their necks black and use horribly "aged" metal for parts.

Pass...

 

[tiktok]

Not sure of what the effect is, but Zinc batteries hold their Voltage more constant over their lifespan and then die quickly. Alkalines slowly run down. FWIW.

My recollection is that it's the other way round, which is why the pre-Alkaline batteries would give you the sag in an distortion box.

 

[Birdmankustomz]

Rechargables + Lithium = win... IF I'm using batteries, I prefer to use a plug though.

 

[scantron81]

I've heard this for years. Ever since I first showed interest in guitars. Eric Johnson used to swear by NOS batteries or something. Is he still around. I never actually heard him, but according to the guitar magazines at the time, he was supposed to be some be all end all kinda guitar guy. I thought it sounded like a silly pile of you know what. There is probably some truth to it.

 

[charlie chitlin]

I bought a Dano pedal and the battery...I mean...uh..."Vintage Power Source"... lasted about 20 minutes.
I decided that "battery" and "vintage" might not get along together.

 

[scud133]

they're cheap so who cares. way less than a pack of duracell

 

[charlie chitlin]

I care when my new battery goes ****-up midway through the first set.

 

[vcode]

My recollection is that it's the other way round, which is why the pre-Alkaline batteries would give you the sag in an distortion box.

Hmmm. Every duty cycle chart for an alkaline that I have ever seen shows it starts to die almost as soon as it's put to use... especially under a good-sized load. While its life may be longer, it's a constant rate of decay. Interesting. Looking for more info.

 

[photoweborama]

yes, it is true, but you also rip through batteries faster too...