best way to power different pedals?

ron-burgandy

I know the daisy chain method for boss pedals, but, for instance, I can't put a ProCo Rat on that same chain because it doesn't accept the same size input. Anyone know a way I can put a few different type pedals on the same daisy chain?

Thinking along the lines of this http://www.thomann.de/ie/ebs_ad9.htm
but I'm sure that has a two pin plug wheras I want the normal irish 3 pin.

Picky I know

feylya

http://www.thomann.de/ie/dunlop_dc_brick_power_supply_eu.htm

Eoin Madsen

ron-burgandy wrote:

I know the daisy chain method for boss pedals, but, for instance, I can't put a ProCo Rat on that same chain because it doesn't accept the same size input. Anyone know a way I can put a few different type pedals on the same daisy chain?

Boss pedals use reversed polarity, so you can't always mix and match.

Buy a load of 9v batteries tbh...

...put them in a sock, and use it to hold up Maplin. They have tons of power supply bits. But seriously, batteries are better.

vengeance52

Eoin Madsen wrote:

Boss pedals use reversed polarity, so you can't always mix and match.

Buy a load of 9v batteries tbh...

...put them in a sock, and use it to hold up Maplin. They have tons of power supply bits. But seriously, batteries are better.

lol. Well I use a few rechargable 9v, they do the job, but the life of the battery aint as good as a proper duracell 9v.

!_Brian_!

Eoin Madsen wrote:

But seriously, batteries are better.

Why?

feylya

Cleaner electricity

Paladin

Yeah, batteries grow naturally in large power cell plants...
There are fields of them behind my house. When my pedal dies I go out and pick off a few...

Seriously though, they are way easier. Rechargeable batteries all the way. Just make sure you look at the mAHr rating (Milli-amp hours is the number of hours a battery can supply 1 milliamp for by the way and its a standard battery rating).

jimi_t

Could always butcher a lab power supply if you're that way inclined.

!_Brian_!

feylya wrote:

Cleaner electricity

Meaning?!

Sorry if I'm being thick here but will it effect the overall performance / tone of the pedals or the longevity of their life?

Eoin Madsen

Perfect DC vs. AC that's been rectified, filtered, and (if you're lucky)regulated. It affects tone. The cleaner the DC, the more linear the effect of the pedal on your tone.

feylya

What Eoin said. If you have dirty electricity, you'll hear it.

Don1

Also, if you are playing in a place with crap wiring the adapters cause a buzzing that would make a single coil sound quiet. Okay, the amp would pick this up too but the less reliant you are on the socket supply the better IMO.

!_Brian_!

hummm ... never knew that. and i was just about to splash out 150 notes on a dc brick an all! Might have a rethink about that now. Are the rechargable batteries any use?

feylya

The DC brick is clean electricity

punchdrunk

voodoo labs pedal power II,regulates the AC so it's all nice and clean for ya! there's a reason why 90% of pictures of professinal bands boards have at least one!!

Redegg

Power Bank bought in Maplins. 30 euro.

Best thing i have bought. Can plug up to 5 9v pedals up to it.

Grolschevik

Hi lads, I'm a newbie, and I apologise in advance for resurrecting an old thread...

Just wondered if you had opinions on the merits/demerits of various of regulated power supplies. I mean, can something like a DC Brick be €120 better than a Maplins job?

I've been out of the game for a while, and am getting slowly back into it. Decided to ditch my old Korg A5 and go for dedicated separates for delay and chorus, and they eat batteries. So I thought that I'd put together a board that had everything on it that I might need (at its most crammed it would be A/B box, tuner, Dunlop wah, Visual Sound Route 66 OD/compressor, Marshall GV2, Sansamp Tri-AC, Boss EQ, Ibanez analogue chorus, Boss DD3). Need something that'd power 'em all handily and leave a couple of outlets in case I decide to add my old trem pedal, just for overkill.

The basic point is, is it worth splashing out on a couple of DC Bricks or Voodoo Labs jobs? Or would a Leem unit or a Maplins job do the trick?

Thomas_S_Hunterson

Grolschevik wrote:

Just wondered if you had opinions on the merits/demerits of various of regulated power supplies. I mean, can something like a DC Brick be €120 better than a Maplins job?

I could say with almost certainty that the €120 jobie would be of a higher build quality and offer a much more stable DC, that said the only way of knowing for definite would be to hook them both up to an oscilloscope.

Whether the benefits are worth the cost is entirelly up to you.

feylya

Well, you've got 8 units in your list. Assuming you pay €10 per Maplin's power supply (just guessing here), you'll be down €80. Add to that a 8 gang strip to plug all these into, you'll be getting close to the €120. IMO, pay that little extra and you'll know you'll have clean electricity is a compact unit.

ron-burgandy

Cleaner electricity?! The muck that comes from some of your mouths is disgraceful!

david

ron-burgandy wrote:

Cleaner electricity?! The muck that comes from some of your mouths is disgraceful!

Its actually true what theyre saying. Go for a DC-brick, it hasnt caused me any problems and even my echo park that doesnt like psu's is silent on it.

feylya

ron-burgandy wrote:

Cleaner electricity?! The muck that comes from some of your mouths is disgraceful!

Go and buy a cheap power adapter and a battery. Try both in a high gain cheap pedal. Tell me you don't hear a difference.

Edit: Read through the thread again. This has already been discussed.

Grolschevik

feylya wrote:

Well, you've got 8 units in your list. Assuming you pay €10 per Maplin's power supply (just guessing here), you'll be down €80. Add to that a 8 gang strip to plug all these into, you'll be getting close to the €120. IMO, pay that little extra and you'll know you'll have clean electricity is a compact unit.

Thanks, lads. But I wasn't really talking about 8 separate "wall-wart" adaptors. Maplins apparently do a cheap regulated DC brick-alike that powers 5 9v pedals, and includes the individual power leads for each pedal, for about €30 to €40.

So two of those supplies would cost at most €80 and power up to 10 units. Whereas for 10 units, I'd need two Dunlop bricks, and that would be pushing €250-€300 (not really sure of the actual price). Now I may never need or want to use 10 units at the same time, but I'd like the oiption to be there.

So, apart from batteries (which my chorus, delay and most especialy trem go through in a matter of hours, but which seem to be the favoured option among posters in this thread), could you justify to yourselves going for the more expensive option?

Eoin Madsen

Grolschevik wrote:

Maplins apparently do a cheap regulated DC brick-alike that powers 5 9v pedals, and includes the individual power leads for each pedal, for about €30 to €40.

A psu can supply a certain amount of current, and each pedal draws a certain current. You can work out exactly how many and which of your pedals you can supply power to depending on the current ratings on them, and the current rating of the psu. Afaik, the more spare headroom the PSU has, the better the filtering etc will work too, so better to overrate the power supply.

The Boss PSU is 200mA and is supposedly good for 5 pedals. The regulated mains adaptor you can get in Maplin for €30/40ish is rated for 1200mA. So by simple multipication it should be good for about 30 pedals!

You just need the right connectors, of course. Should also be available in Maplin. I have no idea what the DC Brick actually costs to manufacture but I can tell you that there's about a 300-400% net markup on Maplin brand products. If you're thinking about quality etc... bear that in mind.

Parsley

I'm getting this for christmas! Has anyone tried it out/have anything to say about it?

TelePaul

ron-burgandy wrote:

Cleaner electricity?! The muck that comes from some of your mouths is disgraceful!

What Feyla said about dirty electricity is right; what he said about HEARING it...well, thats pretty subjective. I know I can't hear it, but Eric Johnson swears by it. Really though IMO batteries aren't practical if you're gigging...delay pedals will suck a battery dry in a matter of hours even if they're passive in a chain. If you factor in a sound check and the time you play the gig...you could have an embarassing moment in the middle of ''Pride in the Name of Love'' Plus batteries are expensive too!

feylya

Trust me, it's not a case of hearing the difference between batteries. If you put bad electricity into a distortion pedal, it will hum like crazy!

TelePaul

feylya wrote:

Trust me, it's not a case of hearing the difference between batteries. If you put bad electricity into a distortion pedal, it will hum like crazy!

I use a Boss SD-1 into a Boss DS 2 and power both off a Boss PSA. It sounds great. thats just 2 units out of my custom pedal board. But I think I'f you're serious about pedals, you're gonna need a noise suppressor too just to keep things down. I like the Boss NS 2 because you can run a mini effects loop through it and route the signal back to the amp.

And hum...well that depends on alot more than the electricity IMO. Lets talk about the wiring in your house? Your computer monitor? The right angle rule? And thats not even considering shielding or pick ups.

feylya

Bare in mind, I'm talking about the cheap €5 pound shop adapters. Just crap.

Grolschevik

Did a Google on the Maplins Power Block and turned up pics of one on the pedal board of a guy called Guthrie Govan. He was featured in Guitarist a couple of months back regarding his new instrumental album. So I guess they can't be too bad. Or else he's just a cheapskate...

TelePaul

Grolschevik wrote:

Did a Google on the Maplins Power Block and turned up pics of one on the pedal board of a guy called Guthrie Govan. He was featured in Guitarist a couple of months back regarding his new instrumental album. So I guess they can't be too bad. Or else he's just a cheapskate...

Guthrie is pretty phenomenal.

feylya

Got a link to it?

Grolschevik

feylya wrote:

Got a link to it?

http://online-discussion.dhenderson.com/GuthrieGovan/viewtopic.php?t=984

http://online-discussion.dhenderson.com/GuthrieGovan/viewtopic.php?t=402&highlight=maplins

feylya

Cool.