line 6 G30 - batteries and hanging it

MrT

I've just picked up a super cheap Line 6 G30 and first impressions are very favourable. A couple of questions though for other users...

What are the best type of batteries? I only had some cheapish pound shop batteries lying around to test it which needless to say didn't last too long!

What's the preferred way to mounting this on your strap? Not sure if it's because I'm missing something but I don't have any way of hanging this. Is there a cheap pouch? I could only find the neotech one at around £20. 

Cheers for any help.

Beexter

Hi there, 
I use energizer rechargeables in mine - get through about 3 band rehearsals (about 8 hours) between charges. Other than that,  I just use premium energizer or duracell (whatever is on offer) and seem to recall I get about the same. 
I forgot to charge my batteries before rehearsal last night so it turned off one song in. I simply popped in a fresh set of regular batteries and was good to go in 2mins - couldn't have done that with a built-in battery,  which is why I prefer the G30 over the G10.

I just clip the transmitter over my rear jean pocket ( or belt) I made a custom length cable with George L's cable. Makes it really easy to swap guitars if necessary. 

MrT

Ah - is there supposed to be a clip on the baclk of the transmitter? That would make sense! As I mentioned, I bought mine super cheap (£25) knowing the battery door clip had broken but I've repaired/modded that with some sticky velcro. From reading it seemed like this was a pretty common issue anyway. Maybe some velcro 'wraps' to attach it to my strap might work. 

EricTheWeary

MrT

Yeah - I'd seen that and it's essentially what I've done but with velcro. 

robinbowes

I just put my G70 in my front pocket. 

R. 

saint_ivey

I use Eneloop rechargeable batteries because they hold the charge and don't drain even if you don't use them for a while. I bought a set of 4 AA with a charger, fully charge all of them, put 2 in the G30 and keep 2 spare in the case.

To mount to my strap I use the Levys wireless receiver holder which stays on my strap and I just slip the G30 in when needed.

My local guitar shop made me an Evidence Audio cable to just the right length; right angle jack to go into the guitar and straight jack to plug into the G30.

Cirrus

Mine gets clipped to my belt round the back since I change guitars during the a typical gig. Bassist doesn't, so he's got a pouch that lives on his strap.

The battery door can be temperamental and pop open, what I've found is that the slidy latch thing doesn't always fully lock when you close it unless you also push down on the door cover while you're sliding it. Once I realised that it's not been a problem in 5 years.

Battery wise, I think decent Energiser/ Duracell are the way to go; a pair of Duracells will last for 6 hours or more. Random anecdote: bassist and I once got what turned out to be fake Duracells from a corner shop near the Birmingham O2 Academy before a 40 minute set. His Bass died 30 seconds before the end of the last song, mine was on the red flashing warning light when the last chord died away.

MrT

Thanks guys - I tried it in my pocket but occasionally I'd get a drop out if I moved my bass in a certain way. I wonder if that was because I was just using a fairly short right angle to right angle patch lead. Otherwise, I think my pocket would be fine for the short term at least.

John_A

Pound shop batteries are fine as long as you buy decent ones, I use £1 shop Kodak alkaline's which would probably do 2-3 gigs, but change them after every gig as it's only 20p a pop.   They also sell little camera cases that fit that are great for attaching to your strap if the clips gone missing.  - Love the pound shop

Roland

The theoretical advantage of Duracell is that they maintain close to the nominal voltage through most of their life, and then drop off the cliff quite quickly. Cheaper batteries start to lose voltage quite early on. However the cheaper batteries can give better price performance. We changed to using cheap batteries for our IEMs, putting in a new pair before every gig, and throwing them away after. That's 20p per gig if you use Ikea or Poundshop batteries. We know that the cheap batteries will last a gig, whereas we could never remember how old the Duracells were, and often threw them away anyway.

Cabicular

I buy duracells in bulk from battery force
i run 3 transmitters
I change guitars a lot so each one is fixed to the strap
i have leather pouches that are meant for bigger transmitters but they are gaffad in leaving the battery door and switches accessible

normula1

Maplin do a pack of 100 of their own brand alkaline batteries for around £15

mr-mac

Aldi... Cheap as shit and last longer than duracell...eg the square 9v ones are £1 and last ages

robinbowes

I use NiMH rechargeables. The display on the receiver tells me how long they have left, but I always use a freshly-charged pair every time I use the transmitter, eg. every rehearsal, gig, etc.

If I ever did get stuck, I could just throw in a pair of duracels.

R.