Nocturne Jr Barnyard

[pcjazz]

Does anyone know of a small power bank that will supply 9v reliably to a pedal or two? The ones I have seen on Amazon are either too big or have the wrong polarity. I often rehearse in the big band with a small battery-powered PA and would like to put a pedal or two in front of it without using mains power. A reliable battery life of 3 hours between recharges is all I need.

[213Cobra]

I have a few of these:

The Marketplace for Musicians | Reverb.com

Even the one I have from a dozen years ago has no discernible charge or discharge deterioration. It's very light.

I even use one to power a couple of Tech 21 Q\Strip pedals I use as parametric EQ in my hifi.

Also, Mooer has a bunch of choices at various voltages and amperages.

Phil

[pcjazz]

I have a few of these:

The Marketplace for Musicians | Reverb.com

Even the one I have from a dozen years ago has no discernible charge or discharge deterioration. It's very light.

I even use one to power a couple of Tech 21 Q\Strip pedals I use as parametric EQ in my hifi.

Also, Mooer has a bunch of choices at various voltages and amperages.

Phil

Thanks Phil,

The Sanyo has been discontinued, but I will look into the Mooers.

[213Cobra]

Thanks Phil,

The Sanyo has been discontinued, but I will look into the Mooers.

The Sanyo is discontinued but several stores on Reverb still have them, including the one for the link I sent you. Also that vendor ships quickly. They are lighter than Mooer -- the Mooers I have have metal cases. I should add that I bought two Sanyos recently, NOS, and regardless of inventory age, they work perfectly. You can trust buying one.

Phil

[Ben Toury]

I'm convinced by the Jr Barnyard because I'm a harp player (Oups ) on I got The real sound with it into a PA. For this reason I'm seraching a El Pescadoro in europe if possible. I thought Jazzguitar.be was a belgium website, as a french man I was thinking it's my lucky day. Anayway it's sold yesterday.
Thank you for your response

[sgosnell]

For powering pedals I use standard 9V rechargeable lithium batteries, in one of these: https://www.ebay.com/itm/15126241178...Bk9SR6bb-Ye_Zw . Regular alkaline 9V batteries will also work. You do have to change the polarity by swapping the wires, either internally or externally, because pedals require center-negative power., the opposite of every other device. If you have a soldering iron it's not difficult. I'm not sure exactly how long a battery charge will last, because I've never had one die. I often use one for powering my Quilter SBUS, and it lasts at least a couple of hours doing that, and far longer powering pedals, which pull much less current than the amp. Pretty much any power bank will power pedals for a few hours. There are also 9V power supplies, but I'm not a fan, because they tend to make the pedals very noisy.

[LesB3]

Agree that the El Pesky is the way to go. You get the JR Barnyard along with the best sounding reverb on the market!

[213Cobra]

For powering pedals I use standard 9V rechargeable lithium batteries, in one of these: https://www.ebay.com/itm/15126241178...Bk9SR6bb-Ye_Zw . Regular alkaline 9V batteries will also work. You do have to change the polarity by swapping the wires, either internally or externally, because pedals require center-negative power., the opposite of every other device. If you have a soldering iron it's not difficult. I'm not sure exactly how long a battery charge will last, because I've never had one die. I often use one for powering my Quilter SBUS, and it lasts at least a couple of hours doing that, and far longer powering pedals, which pull much less current than the amp. Pretty much any power bank will power pedals for a few hours. There are also 9V power supplies, but I'm not a fan, because they tend to make the pedals very noisy.

I haven't experienced any noise problems with rechargeable power banks. I even use a Mooer unit with 15VDC output for a 15VDC input hifi phono preamp. One disadvantage of using a 9V battery form-factor rechargeable, lithium battery is that they don't output 9V. Output for that type of battery is in the 7.2VDC - 8.4VDC range, typically ~7.7VDC. A pedal powered by that device may have less headroom and / or other distortion anomalies (some of which might be desirable). On the other hand, the low voltage effect is pronounced enough that you can buy a "dying 9V battery simulator" like this...

The Marketplace for Musicians | Reverb.com

...to dial in the amount of under-voltage you want, down to 6VDC. And of course Danelectro, Electro-Harmonix and others sell old-school, carbon-zinc 9V batteries to get a more vintage sound from analog pedals designed for the higher internal impedance of that chemistry.

And then, there's this excellent device: a four-batteries 9V power bank using relays instead of diodes or transistors to connect battery to pedal. You can power four pedals with any mix of vintage carbon-zinc tone, alkaline-languid longevity or even non-rechargeable lithium, your choice. King Tone makes a 2-batteries version, too. Regardless, you have LED indication of battery capacity.

The Marketplace for Musicians | Reverb.com (EU)

King Tone - Battery Box 4X - V2 - Black | Mass Street Music (US)

Anyway, between Mooer, Sanyo, Pedal Juice, 1Spot and others, you have many alternatives for external, 9V, center-negative pedal batteries.

Phil

[pcjazz]

The Sanyo is discontinued but several stores on Reverb still have them, including the one for the link I sent you. Also that vendor ships quickly. They are lighter than Mooer -- the Mooers I have have metal cases. I should add that I bought two Sanyos recently, NOS, and regardless of inventory age, they work perfectly. You can trust buying one.

Phil

Unfortunately they won’t ship to Canada.

[213Cobra]

Unfortunately they won’t ship to Canada.

Strange.

Here's one BNIB in Florida, for less:

The Marketplace for Musicians | Reverb.com

And a lightly-used one in Texas:

The Marketplace for Musicians | Reverb.com

These appear to be individuals, so maybe more flexible.

Phil

[pcjazz]

Strange.

Here's one BNIB in Florida, for less:

The Marketplace for Musicians | Reverb.com

And a lightly-used one in Texas:

The Marketplace for Musicians | Reverb.com

These appear to be individuals, so maybe more flexible.

Phil

No joy, perhaps there is an issue with international shipments involving Li batteries? But thanks all the same.

[sgosnell]

I've also experienced no noise problems with rechargeable power banks. The noise has come from cheap wall warts that came with other devices. The batteries I have put out ~8.5V, which is good enough for my needs. Most devices which use nominal 9VDC work fine with a volt or two more or less. A single 9V rechargeable powers my SBUS just fine, as well as any pedals I've use them with. Admittedly, that isn't a large selection, n=4. I have no other 9V power supplies. I once had a 9V lithium battery pack, but it died after several years of use. I do have a couple banks that do 12V, and they work fine with 9V devices. They're just larger than I'm willing to carry most of the time. I also have a cable that converts 5VDC to 9VDC, which works with the ubiquitous cellphone charger power banks. It's center positive, of course, but I've made up a polarity-switch cable that takes care of that, and I sometimes use that with small 5V power banks. Obviously I could buy a 9V power bank, but I haven't seen the need to pay for one.

[pcjazz]

I've also experienced no noise problems with rechargeable power banks.

Earlier this week I bought a Stritch 9v rechargeable power bank from Amazon, charged it up and then immediately returned it because it was so noisy when I tried it with a Jr Barnyard and my battery-powered PA. The Jr Barnyard is silent when connected to a wall wart. I have now ordered a different brand and hope for a different result when it is delivered next week.

[sgosnell]

Well, I admit that I haven't tried every power bank on the market, nor every wall wart. I do notice that some wall warts I've tried are noisier than others. My JR Barnyard is quiet with the 9V batteries I use, but buzzes like a banshee with every wall wart I have.

[bozobreak]

I use this USB to 9 VDC converter, I can plug it in any power bank, phone charger etc.
No noise with my pedals...myVolts Ripcord 9V DC center negative – United States

[sgosnell]

Mine is similar, just center positive. Back when I bought it, I couldn't find one that was center negative, so I use a short cable that I made up that switches the polarity, just a female connector soldered to a male connector, with the wires reversed.

[zephyrregent]

Thanks, Zephr.

Hello Rob,

I tried the Atomic Brain again with the Blu 6 and did not notice much diffrerence in the tone without it. The difference is dramatic with the 112, especially low mids.

[zenitb]

I used to own/play some of those vintage Gibson amps and wanted a reliable alternative that I could plug into something newer and less fragile. I tried Tavo's Barnyard and El Pescadoro and found them too 'gainy' and looking back on the experience, I never heard a demo that was the sound I was hoping for. I ended up with the Combs JJ-150. I bought one pretty early and had Jason update it with the bright switch a few years later. It can be super subtle and even though it isn't cheap, it's worth it. If you haven't seen it, here's a video: