[Harp-L] Kinder AFB+ Questions
Dan Dial
I have a couple of questions about the Kinder AFB+. At my local jam tonight, my
normal pedal rig would not put anything out to the PA. I believe the problem is
low batteries in my Kinder AFB+. Ultimately, the blue light came on and stayed
on, no matter where I put the calibration nob. Now for the questions.
* What symptoms does the AFB+ exhibit when the battery voltage gets low?
* Does leaving the OUTPUT ONLY side of the AFB+ plugged leave the pedal turned
on? I always unplug the input side (Kinder says plugging in the input side
turns on the pedal), but leave the output side plugged in to the next pedal in
line.
I changed the batteries about 3 weeks ago and they have about 5 "playing" hours
on them. Kinder says the battery life should be something like 165 hours.
I'll put new batteries in and check it out, but I'd like to know if anyone else
has had this same problem.
Thanks in advance,
Dan
Garry
> * What symptoms does the AFB+ exhibit when the battery voltage gets low?
> * Does leaving the OUTPUT ONLY side of the AFB+ plugged leave the pedal turned
> on? I always unplug the input side (Kinder says plugging in the input side
> turns on the pedal), but leave the output side plugged in to the next pedal in
> line.
which i take to mean it is drawing power. i always disconnect both, which
i find to be a major nuisance, and one of the reasons i rarely use it.
--
We make a living from what we get,
but we make a life from what we give.
- Kathy Moser
THOMAS FIACCO
You should disconnect BOTH sides of the cable jacks. As far as battery life-41 days at 4 hours each use.
A lot of multimeters have a 9 volt battery tester built in-Radio Shack sells them for about $15.00.
When the output of the AFB gets low,you will get a lot less effect from th
David Brown
I usually play a Shure CR41 buullet with a black CR mic (although the AFB+
allows me use ANY mic I want).
I have a six pedal set-up with the first pedal in the chain being the AFB+.
Then I have a Boss EQ, A BBE 2 TImer delay, a Boss Chorus plus*, a Boss
digital reverb*, and a Lone Wolf Harp Attack.
(*these two are only used for a song or two but are usually off.)
-FIrst off, I must mention that I HATE USING BATTERIES! They always seem to
die during gigs.
- Second, I'll mention that I disconnect both jacks on the AFB+ when not in
use. I don't know if only disconnecting the input, and leaving in the
output, affects battery life.
- The first time the batteries went out on the AFB+ I got weird indications
that they were dying. I got signal cut-out, which I thought was a broken
cable, so I unplugged them all one at a time to hunt for the one that was
malfunctioning. I eventually figured out it was the AFB+. The blue light
still worked fine during all this, so the batteries were never completely
dead. I don't know exactly how long the batteries lasted but I played quite
a few gigs before they died. Upon reflection I remembered that I had
feedback problems just before the uniit began to fail (the "cut-outs" which
I misinterpretteed as a cable failure).
In my opinion, the AFB+ is absolutely an essential piece of gear. I am
awaiting my second one to arrive next week (a back-up, not a replacement). I
have a Voodoo Lab Power block and I am purchasing (2) battery connectors to
run the battery leads from the AFB* into two *SEPERATE* 9V power outputs of
the Voodoo Lab, thereby elminating the need for batteries. I HATE USING
BATTERIES!!!!
For a long time I had a lot of amps that stayed in the 2.5-3.5 volume level
due to the feeback beast. The AFB+ allows me to raise the volume level on
all my amps and let's them run free. Being able to open-up the volume on
those amps is unbelievable!
For the "amp-less" rig mentioned above the AFB+ solves feedback issues often
encountered in the PA floor monitors or use of an amp as an onstage monitor.
Ever mic an amp, run it through the PA, and have the monitors squeal like
crazy? The AFB+ takes care of that too.
Now, if John would only make battery access a little more easy...that would
be glorious! DID I MENTION THAT I HATE USING BATTERIES?
Lastly, comments have been made in posts in the past regarding difficulty
contacting John Kinder. Bear in mind that while he does not have a 24 hour
hotline, and the website process appears "dated" for lack of a better term
(no online secure ordering, etc.), I can say from experience that he is a
stand-up guy and has come through for me. It may take a little time for him
to return an email, but he wil replyl, and he does good business.
Brian Walker
weak, and the blue light will continue to light up. It seems the unit will
continue to drain the batteries even with the cable disconnected from the input.
I get very little use from two 9 volts, so disconnect both sides. The answer to
battery failure is to use "The Virtual Battery" check their website for more
info, you'll never buy another 9V again.
Brad Hatfield
distortion.
Leaving the OUTPUT (the left side) plugged in will drain ONE of your
batteries in about 6 weeks to the point where you start noticing tonal
differences. It doesn't seem to affect the other battery. At least this has
been my experience. Still, it's a great gadget!
I'm very interested in The Virtual Battery that Brian Walker suggested.
However, I noticed that you have to order it from the UK. This may sound
like a dumb question but are there any issues with voltage because The
Virtual Battery comes from UK?
Brad
David Fertig
I change the battery in my digital delay about 3 or 4 times as often as my AFB+. I check all batteries before each perf., and switchout if any are weak. the Kinder is not a thirsty device. I'm guessing 30-60 hours per pair of batteries. But then I also unplug the cables (from both sides) even during band breaks.
I recall reading/hearing John Kinder and at a separate time Jason Ricci go into a rather technical explanation why it's a problem to power both sides of the Kinder with one power source, let alone wall power. (For me, "rather technical" is low threshold!)
I'd love to stop messing with batteries and yet I'm protective of my magical Kinder!
Anyone have practical experience at having put wallpower into the AFBs?
My visit to Voodoo revealed no "power block" per se, but the Power 2 Plus power supply, the Voodoo Lab Pedal power AC, and the Voodoo lab Pedal Power ISO 5. I'd guess the Isolation feture of the ISO5 may be the thing, but I dunno!
Any guidance?
Dave "know nuttink" Fertig
--- On Tue, 12/14/10, harp-l-...@harp-l.org <harp-l-...@harp-l.org> wrote:
Re: [Harp-L] Kinder AFB+ Questions
Tuesday, December 14, 2010 6:52 AM
From: "David Brown" <nonid...@gmail.com>
To:"Dan Dial" <jazz_c...@yahoo.com>
Cc:har...@harp-l.org
paddy72
completely stopped working, even when the batteries are brand new.
However, the unit seems to be operating sonically correct as long as
the batteries are in good shape. Anybody else experience this? Can the
blue light just die with no other negative effects?
Dan Dial
He uses 2 separate 9V wall warts. Each wart was converted to have a 9V snap
cover on it. He cut a slot in the AFB+ case, and put both 9V snap from the AFB+
outside the case. Each wall wart snaps to one of the AFB snap covers.
To my knowledge, he's been using it that way for quite some time without
incident.
Brian - Care to comment in case I got anything wrong?
I'm considering doing this same thing, but using 2 separate 9V jacks from the
power supply on my pedal board.
Dan
David Brown
about $94.00 for (2), which is what wuold be needed for the Kinder AFB+.
Since I use a pedal board with a Voodoo Labe Pedal Power 2 I just bought (2)
of their plugs for $7.00 and ran the AFB+ into the Pedal Power.
Ken Hildebrand
Seems like that would be a great choice, unless for some "weird-science" reason you would need two separate adapters.
Ken H in OH
--- On Wed, 12/15/10, David Brown <nonid...@gmail.com> wrote:
fjm
originally from July of 2008. I'll just quote it in its entirety, fjm
I have a friend who wants to convert AFB to external power. I'm
looking into building a solution for him. In speaking with Kinder
that unit only draws a few milliamps. That's a very low current
demand. However it uses a bipolar power supply that is plus and
minus 9VDC. That's why there are two 9V batteries. The two 9VDC wall
wart approach works fine and is cheap and easy however its not a very
elegant solution. Who wants two more wall warts to carry around and
take up more outlet space?
The better way to approach it is to build an external bipolar power
pack that uses one AC connection similar to a laptop power pack. I'm
sure Kinder could have built an external supply but my guess is he
probably couldn't do it very cost effectively. He also probably
figured that not too many people would want or need external power
since the unit can run for a very long time on a set of batteries.
Here is a complete bipolar supply solution that uses one 12VAC wall
wart. All you need to do is populate the circuit board, put it in a
project box and wire it to the AFB using a three pin connector.
http://www.musicfromouterspace.com/analogsynth/WALLWARTSUPPLY/WALLWARTSUPPLY.php
Maybe $40 total for the entire project?
I'll build something similar to the above but without a wall wart. It
will use a small transformer inside of the project box.
Anyway, its not a very big deal to build an external supply or use two
wall warts.
I also agree that the inside of the AFB is a real mess ! Not very mod
friendly and very tight on space.
Joe
Ken Hildebrand
Just thinking here... so one AC adapter would have to a "+ outer and - center), and the other have a "- outer and + center" ?
There is a "Reverse Polarity Convert" cable for the 1-Spot. Would that work, hooking the converter cable to one of the 1-spot plugs along with the 9-volt battery clip ?
The other side would be connected the same without the converter cable.
Ken H in OH