Description
Many players like the sound of their pedals as the power starts to sag. But you also have to wait until the battery gets low to get those sounds. Also, it’s hard to dial in that perfect ‘dying battery’ sound, since the battery is well…dying. With a Saturnworks dying battery simulator/voltage sag pedal, however, you can have a similar and more consistent effect with standard DC power supplies.
Don’t use dying battery simulators with digital pedals. The Saturnworks dying battery pedal emulates the effect of a dying 9v battery on analog, not digital, pedals. Digital pedals generally require more milliamps of power, and don’t like their power being starved. They will likely not work properly, and may even be damaged, with lower voltages.
Note: pedals with electronic relay switching will likely not work well with a dying battery simulator. Dropping the voltage to the device will also likely cause the switching to not function properly.
Dying battery
dying battery/voltage sag
micro dying battery/voltage sag
The dying battery simulator drops the power from 9v down to around 4.5v and anywhere in between. 9v-4.5v is a usable range for most guitar pedals. Dropping the voltage down to zero sounds cool; however, below 4.5v pedals tend to just turn off. While not every pedal may produce interesting results, experiment using the Saturnworks dying battery simulator with your analog pedal collection to see what kind of crazy sounds your pedals can produce when they’re running low on juice.
New 18v versions! Our new 18v versions tweak the circuitry to change the voltage range for 18v analog devices. The 18v version drops the power from 18v to around 7v. You can also use the 18v versions with 9v power. In that case, the voltage sag range will be from 9v down to about 3v.
Note: if you would like a pedal with a particular voltage sag range, please contact us and we can likely figure something out for you.
This pedal works with standard (for pedals) 9v DC center-negative 2.1mm power supplies. The dying battery goes between your power supply and whatever device you would like to use it with. All dying battery pedals include a power patch cable, or cables for the multi-circuit versions, to connect the dying battery to your pedal(s).
Dying battery with a bypass switch
dying battery/voltage sag with a bypass footswitch
The version with a switch allows you to have two different power levels: one with full power and the other at a lowered voltage of your choosing. So you can dial in two different sounds from your pedal, available with a click of a switch–no mods required! You can check out a quick demo of the dying battery with a bypass switch on our YouTube channel.
Double and triple dying battery
double dying battery/voltage sag
triple dying battery/voltage sag
The double and triple dying battery combine two or three separate dying battery circuits in one enclosure. The double version includes two DC power patch cables. The triple version includes three power cables.
The Saturnworks dying battery/voltage sag pedals are handcrafted with top quality features and components including:
- Sturdy cast-aluminum enclosures.
- A high quality footswitch on the switched version.
- Includes a DC power patch cable (or cables, depending on the version).
- High quality wire made in the USA.
- Handcrafted and bench-tested in California, USA.
- A 1-year limited warranty against defects in parts and workmanship.
Saturnworks offers a wide variety of upgrades and customizations. Check out our upgrades and customizations page for details. Or contact us for questions.
Please note: The pedals in the images are stock photos and not the actual pedals you will receive. The pedals you receive may vary in their graphics, knob colors, and/or LED colors, where applicable.
