All our products, although supplied with a single 9V battery clip, are designed to work 9V or 18V out of the box. Just add the additional battery, or connect to an 18V battery box, no other changes are necessary.
- Either add another battery snap, as below pic.
- Or snip the single snap and connect to an 18V battery box, Red to Red, Black to Black.
All East products are designed to work on 9V or 18V with no change to the electronics.
Battery life depends on the battery type, quality, and spec. There’s not a one size fits all answer.
The J-Tone requires just over 2mA of current. So a battery with a capacity rating of 500mA should last ~250 hours.
If battery voltage is measured, that should always be done whilst under load, especially if a battery has had some use. Once battery voltage reads below 6V under load, it should be replaced.
- Distortion will set in according to the battery voltage and signal level coming through the preamp.
- So it’s hard to specify the exact voltage where distortion will set in.
It depends on the output of the pickup(s), how high the volume is set, and how much low-end EQ you have dialled in. - If you had low output pickups, the voltage could go lower before distortion set in, for example.
The chips are spec’d to work down to 6V, but they will often work to a much lower voltage. See below about measuring the battery voltage.
DON’T DO THIS:
Don’t disconnect and take the battery out of an instrument to measure the battery. It will often be a false reading if the battery has been used to any extent.
IMPORTANT – Measuring The Battery with an East Preamp:
- The battery should be connected to the preamp with a jack inserted into the instrument so that the preamp is turned on. In other words, the preamp is loading the battery.
- Then probe each terminal with your meter while the battery is powering the preamp.
(The reason for having the battery connected, is that a weak battery can still show what appears to be a decent voltage without the preamp)
