EMG Batteries...what's the deal?

[Goopy]

What's the deal with the 9-volt battery that drives EMG pickups? I have two
basses with mid to late '80s EMGs and no matter how dead I think the
batteries are, putting in a new one doesn't seem to make a noticeable
difference. I seem to remember something about if you left the cord plugged
in 24 hours a day, the battery would still last one year. Am I imagining I
heard this? If this is true, how long should I expect batteries to last
under normal use?

Which makes me wonder: What are these batteries doing? Are these still
considered active pickups?

In the back of my head this has been nagging at me for years. Anyone have
answers?

Thanks,
Goopy

[Rob Kloka]

The batteries will not last one year if plugged in all the time. 8-10
months IF you unplug all the time, is more realistic. The pickups may be
active or passive, but the controls (onboard e.q.) are very active :-)

--
-rob

O>
/(\)
^^

"Goopy" <goo...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
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[Geoffrey Boulden]

I just put EMG's into an Ibanez. I like it a lot.

It is the P-J set. The spec sheet with them said I could get 3000 hours from
a 9 volt battery. So 20 weeks full time.

I run the pickups on 18 volts for a little extra headroom. The two batteries
should last longer since they would need to drop below 7-8 Volts from 18.
Should go a year.

Geoff Boulden

[Kent Baker]

Your battery life actually won't change, you'll just have the extra
headroom. If you assume that the load on the batteries is the same as a
fixed resistor (I believe this is a valid assumption) then the power
consumption will go up by a factor of 4 if you double the voltage (P=V*V/R).
This means that the total current drawn from the batteries, regardless of
their current operating voltage, will be twice what it would have been with
a single battery (P=I*I*R). Unless you change some other factor (somehow
change how much current your pre-amp and tone curcuits draw), your battery
life will remain unchanged.
You will chew up batteries twice as fast since you're using 2 instead of 1.

"Geoffrey Boulden" <ge...@twelvethree.com> wrote in message
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[Clive]

Go to www.emginc.com
or www.emgpickups.co.uk

All is explained.

Mr. EMG (UK)

"Goopy" <goo...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
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[Geoffrey Boulden]

If you define "dead" as a battery voltage of 6 volts or less then you have
to wait until each battery is down to 3 volts which should take longer than
waiting for one to get down to 6 volts.

I doubt if the circuitry inside the pickups is linear with respect voltage
and current. Idle current probably does not double when running 18V

Either way, you get incredible battery life with these things.

Geoff Boulden
BS Electrical Engineering.
Sunny Buffalo

[Kent Baker]

I think you are right. I stand corrected.

Kent Baker
BS Electrical Engineering
Cold Columbus (OH)

"Geoffrey Boulden" <ge...@twelvethree.com> wrote in message

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