rechargable batteries?

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 26 Feb 2002 9:02 am

I have been using Eveready rechargeable batteries in my effect units lately (Matchbox). I looked at the batteries and even though they are sposed to be replacements for the 9 volt throw aways, they are only rated at 7.5 volts. Could this voltage difference affect the sound? I know that when the regular batteries start going bad in the Matchbox the sound goes to pot. I hate buying batteries and thought this was a good solution but maybe not. What do you all think?

Uff-Da!

Kevin Hatton · Post by **Kevin Hatton** » 26 Feb 2002 9:24 am

Ed, I use to do the same thing. Then I put Lawrence 710's in my guitar and got rid of my Matchbox. 710's don't need an impedance matcher. They are a tremendous sounding pick-up.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 26 Feb 2002 5:23 pm

Yes, that voltage reduction (of almost 17%) might affect the sound. (Don't know for sure, I've never used a matchbox.) It must be doing something bad, or you wouldn't have posted about it!

The NiCad will hold its voltage very steady at that level, and die almost at once (a characteristic of all NiCad batteries), so you'd have to have a standby all the time. I'd get a wall-wart (power supply) to run it, or forget about the thing!

Swapping pickups or buying a good powered pedal (which would eliminate the need for a "matchbox") would set you back $200-$300. Not cheap!

Glenn Suchan · Post by **Glenn Suchan** » 27 Feb 2002 8:43 am

I'm using a rechargeable NiMH 9 volt battery in my Shure in-ear monitor system. The battery seems to hold a charge as long or longer than non-rechargeable alkaline batteries. The system works well with the NiMH battery but as with NiCad batteries, they die instantly. So I keep a charged spare at all times. The NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries are the state-of-the-art in rechargeable batteries in that they contain no mercury, hold a charge longer, can be recharged many more times than NiCad and don't have a chemical memory. The down side is they cost more than rechargeable NiCad or Alkaline batteries; they require a charger designed specifically for NiMH and the charge sequence is critical. Overcharging (Leaving the charger on too long) can ruin them.

All in all I find them to be a good value.

Keep on pickin'!
Glenn

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 27 Feb 2002 11:54 am

I visited one of my favorite stores last night (Radio Shack) and picked up a toggle switch for my Match Box. I have a model 6a that doesn't have the off/on switch on it. I'm going to wire in the new switch and then try some super duper batteries that they talked me into at RS and see if it makes a difference.

Uff-Da!

Buck Dilly · Post by **Buck Dilly** » 27 Feb 2002 9:20 pm

Several years ago I got sick of the adaptor/9v/9v recharceable problem. I found a german made true 9v rechargeable and had a charger made. They sounded a lot better, but the power drained more quickly. I have gone "full circle" back to using plain old 9v batteries. Another alternative is a power supply built by Fulltone (of CA, they make a great overdrive -the Fulldrive II). It is a quality 9v device that will power several boxes. I still use regular old 9v's.