Digiteck bass driver. what the hell!

Admiral Axtell · #1 06-20-2010, 03:48 PM

Alright so I go out to find an effects pedal and mess around with three that were kinda cool and decided on this one (this is the first effects pedal I have purchased). I get home and play with it for around 45 minutes is all. I wake up the next day and turn my amp on to start playing and it's dead! 45 minutes! anyways that isn't even why im pissed, sometimes the battery out of the box is low for whatever reason. So the booklet says that this was made to work with this power supply, and it says only use batteries for demonstration purposes? whatever. So it said nothing on the box about it or anything, so now I have to go out and buy a cable that plugs into my outlet from the pedal for however much money that is going to be after dropping $80 on the pedal. They should have included it for a few bucks extra theres my view cuz this is BS. And I don't even have a 9v battery to replace the current battery so it will be a while until I can play with it again.
is this how all effects pedals are???

clmayhew · #2 06-20-2010, 03:52 PM

Did you leave the the bass plugged into it all night? That might kill the battery.

Jonathan1990 · #3 06-20-2010, 03:52 PM

Don't they have sockets at demonstrations?

lobey · #4 06-20-2010, 03:55 PM

AFAIK, most places have them all hooked up to a constant 9 volt source, i.e., a wall wart.

I'd suggest not using 9 volt batteries in pedals unless you have to. It's cheaper in the long run to buy a 9 volt wall wart for about $10 than to spend way more than that in a year on batteries.

Also as mentioned, did you leave a cable plugged into the input of the Bass Driver? If you did, it will drain the battery. Digitech pedals drain batteries super fast (in my opinion and experience).

clmayhew · #5 06-20-2010, 04:00 PM

FWIW, if you think you may invest in more pedals, start off with a power supply you can expand like the One Spot.

Admiral Axtell · #6 06-20-2010, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lobey

AFAIK, most places have them all hooked up to a constant 9 volt source, i.e., a wall wart.

I'd suggest not using 9 volt batteries in pedals unless you have to. It's cheaper in the long run to buy a 9 volt wall wart for about $10 than to spend way more than that in a year on batteries.

Also as mentioned, did you leave a cable plugged into the input of the Bass Driver? If you did, it will drain the battery. Digitech pedals drain batteries super fast (in my opinion and experience).

yeah I did leave it plugged in, I figured if everything was off though that it would be cool. And alright. Am I gonna have to order the power supply online?

Happynoj · #7 06-20-2010, 04:16 PM

When you run a pedal off a battery, the input jack acts as an on/off switch. When you plug a jack in, the pedal is working, and it will use the battery up even if the effect is not engaged. If you are running batteries, always remember to unplug the jacks when you're done, or (as you discovered) you get through them like something that uses stuff really fast. As other posters have said, you're much better off picking up a OneSpot - it will be cheaper in the long run.

bassman1185 · #8 06-20-2010, 04:47 PM

Every company says to only use their power supply, but almost every 9-volt pedal works fine on generic power setups.

As mentioned, pick up a 1-Spot. They're not the cheapest power supply, but they have a really high MA rating, so they can effectively power several pedals at once.

Funkinthetrunk · #9 06-20-2010, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassman1185

As mentioned, pick up a 1-Spot. They're not the cheapest power supply, but they have a really high MA rating, so they can effectively power several pedals at once.

+1
Mine's pushing 8 pedals right now...they're great!

KarateKid25 · #10 06-20-2010, 08:52 PM

From my experience, I'd say you'll be lucky to get 1.5 - 3 hours out of the Digitech even if you do remove the cable from the input. Some analogue pedals last for aaaages on batteries, but for the Digitech, you would be crazy to not get a power supply for it.

+1 on getting a 1-spot or something similar. I wouldn't buy the official Digitech one. The recommended Digitech PS200R is only 300mA and retails at about $25. The 1-Spot is 1700mA and retails for about $28. You could probably pick up either for less, but thats the advertised list price.

At least if you get the 1-spot, you won't have to worry about buying another power supply for any other pedals that you get in future - providing they are 9v DC center negative (which most generally are these days).

Robertron · #11 06-20-2010, 09:34 PM

9v batteries also add to landfills way more than 9v power supplies do.

IPS · #12 06-20-2010, 10:03 PM

One spot is definitely a good idea. Most non standard pedals come with a power supply... im managing to power 12 pedals one one one spot and two otehr ones on their own power supplies.

**Staccato** · #13 06-20-2010, 10:22 PM

And, if you have it, a Boss TU2 will provide power for another pedal with the proper cable, eh?

speedbump · #14 07-05-2010, 01:07 PM

Before you plug any power supply into it,check the polarity.If you're not sure about this ask sombody.You could kill your effects box otherwise.

Floyd Eye · #15 07-05-2010, 01:40 PM

Another vote for the One Spot.

McSpunckle · #16 07-05-2010, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedbump

Before you plug any power supply into it,check the polarity.If you're not sure about this ask sombody.You could kill your effects box otherwise.

It uses a standard power supply... like a 1 spot.

Seriously, don't fool with batteries anyways. They're bad for your wallet and the environment. Once you buy a couple of 9 volts, you could have gotten a 1Spot.

Any digital pedal is going to eat batteries. They really shouldn't even have the option to use them.

darkstorm · #17 07-05-2010, 02:24 PM

The battery died so quick cause 1 it was left plugged in all night. Allways unplug from pedals input when your done playing. 2 the stock batteries that come with pedals unless they are duracell or energizer are very cheap grade that aere often lower qaulity then dollar store batteries. They seldom last even 1/4 as long as duracell or energizer batteries. Batteries for pedals can last 2-3 months and sometimes longer with no problem when you use qaulity batteries and unplug when not playing.

If you get a power supply for it make sure that is right voltage and at least the stated amperage, greater amerage is fine but less is not. Also make sure you look at the diagram on the pedal where power supply plug goes to be sure polarity (tip positive or negative) is same as on power supply plug.

McSpunckle · #18 07-05-2010, 04:36 PM

Batteries will only last months in some simple analog circuits (fuzz, wah, boosters, etc). Delays, flangers, and digital effects use a lot more power. Digitech pedals will die in 3 hours or so easily, so even if you remove the cables, they will die pretty fast.