So im thinking of dropping a set of Dragonfire DG actives in a strat. Problem is the battery, its not routed for a battery box. I was going to throw the battery under the hood, but it becomes a pain to change. Has anybody ever drilled and mounted a DC jack ? I was thinking I could drill from the edge of the body right into the output jack cavity and sew a battery pouch on my strap. Still kicking ideas around
If you take care to unplug your guitar after playing, you won't need to change batteries for several months (I change the batteries on my active bass once a year for instance, and this is just me being preemptive; they've never actually died in there). Just put the battery in the electronics cavity, under the pots, and make sure to attach it with velcro so that it doesn't move. When it dies, just remove five screws, lift the end of the pickguard and change the battery. Given how long they last in an active instrument, I'm not sure it's worth doing otherwise.
I have a tele (thanks Josh) that has a battery compartment routed into the back...
How DIY interested are you? I would try and see if that route could work for you.
Jacob
According to dragonfire and emg, the amounts of electrical charge actually used by active pickups is tiny and alkaline batteries (for instance, rechargeable would lose juice much faster I would think) will last for hundreds of hours. That is a long time if you unplug (or switch off for some pickups).
EMG FAQ (specs on DF and EMG are close) says:
How long does the battery last?
All EMG pickups and EQ systems are designed for extremely low current drain. In
addition, the pickup jack included with all models has a switch that disconnects the
battery when the guitar is not plugged in. To maximize battery life, you should always
unplug your guitar when it's not in use.
The Specs Page includes current requirements and estimated battery life for each
model. Generally, each pickup requires about 80 microamps (uA), except for the Vintage
Series pickups which require 220 uA each. EQ circuit requirements vary widely but are
higher than pickups.
For your reference, a standard 9 volt alkaline battery provides 580 milliAmpHours (mAh)
of power. That means that it will provide 580 milliAmps for 1 hour or 1 milliamp for 580
hours. There are 1000 uA per mA. You can fi gure the approximate battery life of any
setup by adding up the individual power requirements, then dividing 580,000 by this
total. Here's an example:
3
1 - EMG-81 = 80 uA
2 - EMG-SV = 220 uA*2 = 440 uA
1 - EXG = 410 uA
TOTAL REQUIRED = 930 uA
Total life = 580,000 uAh/
930 uA = 623 hours
If you left your guitar plugged in day and night, the battery should still last a month.
Under normal playing conditions, you would probably be looking at changing the battery
twice a year. Of course, you should treat these numbers conservatively and not try to
drain every last uA out!
the source: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CC8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emgpickups.com%2Fpdfs%2Ffaq%2FEMG-FAQ-Battery-Questions.pdf&ei=XuL6Uf71FZPW9QSu34GYBw&usg=AFQjCNGrHrLPMDMkTUswQrlNqMuCBupIfA&sig2=O0cf0qeX8bSt_tylClJyxg&bvm=bv.50165853,d.eWU (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CC8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emgpickups.com%2Fpdfs%2Ffaq%2FEMG-FAQ-Battery-Questions.pdf&ei=XuL6Uf71FZPW9QSu34GYBw&usg=AFQjCNGrHrLPMDMkTUswQrlNqMuCBupIfA&sig2=O0cf0qeX8bSt_tylClJyxg&bvm=bv.50165853,d.eWU)
This sounds a little crazy but... How about using a stereo jack and using one of the lugs for the +9v and having a little 1590A pedal on your pedal board that would power the pickups.
I've just though of it now... I can't see why it wouldn't work.... ???
The line 6 variax uses a similar system for power.
Depending on how many springs you use you may find a place in the tremolo cavity.
yeah.... I may just drop it inside if the draw is that light and if it becomes a issue I like the stereo jack idea. thanks guys
If you are not trem user, you could even use the 9v to block the trem.