Does Leaving a Wah-Wah Pedal Plugged-in to Guitar Drain Battery Power Life?

Does leaving a Wah-Wah plugged-in drain & wear down the battery life?

OK – I’ve got a question; I have a Jim Dunlop Wah Wah – a great guitar pedal made famous by Jimi Hendrix no less with no 9V power input socket which only takes a 9V battery. Now I always unplug the guitar cable from the guitar when I’m not using it and my question is: does leaving a wah wah pedal plugged in the guitar in socket wear down the battery and drain the power or run the battery out?

ANSWER:  You definitely need to unplug the cable on an old 60’s 70’s or 80’s Cry Baby Wah as it WILL drain the power – hence the new ones have a power input for a 9V adaptor.

QUESTION: What about a Bypass?

ANSWER: a bypass bit only deals with the audio. The wah circuit is always powered up even when the audio is being routed around it I’m afraid. It will drain the battery not in hours but more like dozens of hours.

QUESTION: will a wah work in bypass mode with dead battery?

QUESTION: My sound guy chuckled and said that if the pedal was true bypass, then the battery was not engaged in any way. This just sounded wrong to me?

ANSWER: Not true. Your battery will drain from the moment you plug it into the input to the moment it’s either dead or you plug out again. Lot’s of pedals are hardwired with a stereo input to make sure this happens; see it as your switch to turn battery power on and off.

The only scenario in which the guy is right is when using a Fuzz Face type circuit or treble booster, wah pedal or other circuit that draws LOW current AND the pedal has a status LED. In that situation the LED draws more current than the effect. So in practice, you could extend your battery life by simply switching the pedal off. Your signal will pass without the effect if the battery dies. Test it at home, hook it up without a battery so you will be convinced!