i've decided to upgrade a hollowbody jazz guitar to active pickups.
with plenty of different tonal options, easiest match to any amp or audio interface, no more interference off neon lights and spurious AC mains... it's the typical project at which you end up questioning yourself on why you've waited so long...
and then it dawns on you: where the hell do i secure the 9V battery to power it all up? it's a hollowbody, you just don't cut it out for a battery box, no way!
here's where the Shadow SH014 Battery Pouch saves my day.
it's not just the exact size of one battery lying flat into it – it's slightly wider than that, which i realized can serve two different purposes:
1. though rather tight, indeed, i've made two batteries get into it, lying on their side – it can be for 18V, or extended life (depending on your instrument, of course, YMMV), or even to keep one fresh battery already there, as a spare, so in case i run out of juicy, I only have to swap the 2-pole tab from one battery to the next, and
2. the extra-width of the pouch allows it to hold onto the (inside) rim of my archtop, with a bit of friction to the (insde) top and (inside) bottom, so it keeps firmer.
the supplied velcro tab is really high-quality, supple and plyable, with a really tough adhesive backing... it stuck to the inside rim, and i can't see it un-glueing itself for the next decade.
see, you might call this a simple accessory, which in a way it even is... but engineered right in form and function, with a solid choice of materials behind, makes the difference between "does what it says on the box" and "won't easily let your battery undo itself and wreck the inside of your guitar on a 500km transfer from gig to gig on unpaved roads".
Shadow has indeed thought it out nicely, and has had it manufactured right – and has made my archtop project possible without me risking internal damage and permanent modifications to my instrument; what can i ask more than this?
