Power for Effects

[smokingseasons]

A question about powering effects pedals:

I have been looking for a delay pedal and have finally decided to go for the Marshall Echohead, at the same time i got a Boss TU2 as my old korg tuner finally packed in!

I also have a Boss DS2.

Up until now i always just ran the DS2 with batterys but now i have the new pedals i think ill need to invest in a proper power supply, but im not sure how to go about this?

I understand that the TU2 can be used to power other pedals using a extra daisychain cable but have heard that the power from this can be quite dirty?

The other option would be to get a power supply for all of them, but at 20 a go thats a fair bit of cash! Does anyone know if any of the supplys for multiple units are any good?

How do most people power their effects?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Dave.

[Guest Bailz]

I've got a Boss BCB60 which is a handy carry case too.

[Chris]

I've got a power bank and have never had any problems with it whatsoever:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=31292&criteria=power%20supply&doy=10m4

[soundian]

I've got a power bank and have never had any problems with it whatsoever:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=31292&criteria=power%20supply&doy=10m4

A lot of people use this unit, and I've never seen anyone having any problems with it.

[Spoonie]

i just put together a pedal board for my bass with a big muff, bassballs, crybaby, Boss bass chorus and boss bass overdrive and the last 3 are powered off a powerbank and it's been fine for me. really handy.

/x

[Jeid]

I've got a power bank and have never had any problems with it whatsoever:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=31292&criteria=power%20supply&doy=10m4

When I was running a silly number of effects, I had that unit. Was superb.

[...mole...]

I've got a power bank and have never had any problems with it whatsoever:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=31292&criteria=power%20supply&doy=10m4

i use one of these never had any problems with it either.

[Guest lime ruined my life]

A question about powering effects pedals:

I have been looking for a delay pedal and have finally decided to go for the Marshall Echohead' date=' at the same time i got a Boss TU2 as my old korg tuner finally packed in!

I also have a Boss DS2.

Up until now i always just ran the DS2 with batterys but now i have the new pedals i think ill need to invest in a proper power supply, but im not sure how to go about this?

I understand that the TU2 can be used to power other pedals using a extra daisychain cable but have heard that the power from this can be quite dirty?

The other option would be to get a power supply for all of them, but at £20 a go thats a fair bit of cash! Does anyone know if any of the supplys for multiple units are any good?

How do most people power their effects?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Dave.

most power supplies are quite "dirty", and i've found from reports that any boss power supplies do little to remedy this.

the best and cheapest thing (i think)to do is go to maplin, but instead of buying the power bank buy a 9v regulated switched mode power supply, then go to the asle next to it and buy a 2.1mm daisy chain so you can power 5 pedals with it, it's one pound more than the powerbank but you can then buy as many daisy chains to power 4 more pedals each time, as long it doesnt exceed the max current draw from the supply.

As a rough guide: distortion/booster - 5mA

delay/chorus - 300mA , if you have 2 delays or a delay and a chorus, you'd be way over the 450mA the powerbank supplies with just 2 pedals.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?TabID=1&criteria=Switched%20Mode&ModuleNo=48484&doy=10m4

compareed to the power bank: cheaper, much less bulky, four times the amount of current ( means can roughly power 4 times the amount of pedals, you could easily supply 2 delays and a chorus plus any boosters/distortion, although you'd have to buy more daisy chains), works on 110-240V ac supply (works here and abroad). I don't know if it'l be cleaner, but the power-all and the one-spot power supplies are essentially just a switched mode power supply and they're specially designed for guitarists to be clean. I have heard bad reports of the amount of noise from the powerbank, but i havnt used it and most people seem to be happy with it here. I havnt actually used this model but i use a godlyke power-all which is pretty much the exact same thing.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?criteria=2.1mm%20daisy%20chain&doy=10m4&source=15

this is the daisy chain.

If you buy pedals with different power jack polarity's or sizes you can buy the one spot adapters, i'm not sure that you can get generic adapters.

http://www.visualsound.net/1spot.htm

[Danny Doubt]

i paid £30 originally for one of those, best mates got my one and he hasn't had any probs with it!

[Guest Gasss]

i use one of these never had any problems with it either.

I used one for three years:

1) they're huge

2) they're prone to noise and interference

3) the cables are short

4) they can only power 5 pedals

I found the daisy chain approach as per Lime's post ( I use the visual sound onespot) much more practical

[Guest lime ruined my life]

I used one for three years:

1) they're huge

2) they're prone to noise and interference

3) the cables are short

4) they can only power 5 pedals

I found the daisy chain approach as per Lime's post ( I use the visual sound onespot) much more practical

probably worth noting that i read somewhere that if you try and add a daisy chain to the power bank you're likely to blow something up, it's designed to take strictly only one input per output. So it really will only supply 5 pedals, and it'l only provide enough power typically for ONE modulation effect. That means any combinations of delays, chorus' tremolo is impossible using just the power bank.

Personally i'd feel a bit cheated if i bought a power adapter to power 5 pedals only to find its only good for one delay and 4 distortions, and i'd feel equally cheated if i was forced to go out and buy two of them to fulfill my needs.

[toiletbag]

I have a power bank, and while it would normally provide power for all my effects (most of my pedals are analogue units at 12mA or so), I also use the Boss DD-20, which eats up a lot of the capacity. A result of this is that if I turn all the pedals on at once, then it causes a huge humming noise that pulses in rhythm with whatever time the delay's set for.

It's fine for smaller effects, but for those above 150mA then I'd recommend looking elsewhere. I'm thinking of trying the Diago powerstation.

http://www.diago.co.uk/index.php/component/page,shop.product_details/flypage,shop.flypage/product_id,25/category_id,3/option,com_phpshop/Itemid,90/

[Guest lime ruined my life]

I have a power bank' date=' and while it would normally provide power for all my effects (most of my pedals are analogue units at 12mA or so), I also use the Boss DD-20, which eats up a lot of the capacity. A result of this is that if I turn all the pedals on at once, then it causes a huge humming noise that pulses in rhythm with whatever time the delay's set for.

It's fine for smaller effects, but for those above 150mA then I'd recommend looking elsewhere. I'm thinking of trying the Diago powerstation.

http://www.diago.co.uk/index.php/component/page,shop.product_details/flypage,shop.flypage/product_id,25/category_id,3/option,com_phpshop/Itemid,90/

that looks to be the same deal as the powerall and one-spot. just a linear switched-mode supply.

[toiletbag]

that looks to be the same deal as the powerall and one-spot. just a linear switched-mode supply.

Yeah, pretty much. I've heard about reliability issues with the UK version of the Godlyke, such as causing a distinct amount of hum. All the reviews of the Diago have stated that it's pretty quiet, and I've bought a pedalboard from them which has served me really well - really friendly bunch of guys. If it doesn't work out, then I can just sell it on

[Guest lime ruined my life]

my godlykes pretty silent, but they're practically the same product for the same price so it doesn't matter.

you have to remember that some of the reviews on harmony central etc are by idiots. If you take the godlyke and plug it into a high gain pedal via the battery clip then of course you will get noise. By plugging it into a high gain pedal via the battery clip you bypass any power supply filtering as there would be in a manufactured pedal with a wallwart input. A gain pedal will just amplify any noise from the supply, no matter how small.

if i could buy again, or if my godlyke breaks, i think i'd just buy the 9v linear switched mode supply maplin sell for £19, but i guess i did get all the adpaters etc with the godlyke, and it comes with a gaurantee. Mind you, i did hear in the internet rumour mill that linear switched mode supplies were soon to become illegal on energy sufficiency grounds, but that might just be in the states.

[toiletbag]

That's fair enough actually. I heard there's quite a big problem with ground loops in the states, do you think it has anything to do with that? I don't think that sort of thing's a problem over here, but I could be wrong; mind you, this is the based on the grounds that I've never heard anyone complain of such a problem in the UK.

[Guest lime ruined my life]

could well have something to do with that, i'd be more inclined to beleive that it's just a bunch of kids who're just plugging in heaps of distortion pedals via the battery clip though.

[toiletbag]

I don't get that. If I'm buying a pedal, one of my pre-requisites is that it should have a DC jack or a power supply of its own. If it doesn't, then it's not welcome on my board; it annoys me that some boutique builders can't comply with standards like that. They themselves might think that battery powered operation provides the cleanest signal, but they must realise that battery operation simply isn't feasible for some players - particularly touring ones!

[britheguy]

A question about powering effects pedals:

I have been looking for a delay pedal and have finally decided to go for the Marshall Echohead' date=' at the same time i got a Boss TU2 as my old korg tuner finally packed in!

I also have a Boss DS2.

Up until now i always just ran the DS2 with batterys but now i have the new pedals i think ill need to invest in a proper power supply, but im not sure how to go about this?

I understand that the TU2 can be used to power other pedals using a extra daisychain cable but have heard that the power from this can be quite dirty?

The other option would be to get a power supply for all of them, but at 20 a go thats a fair bit of cash! Does anyone know if any of the supplys for multiple units are any good?

How do most people power their effects?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Dave.

I have a boss PSA 240 running into the following using a daisy chain;

Boss TU-2

Budda Wah

Crowther Hot Cake

Jekyll & Hyde

Boss RV-3

I've not had any problem with this for nearly a year of use. No noise apart from the normal humming from my AC30. With my Marshall I've no noises at all.

[Guest lime ruined my life]

I have a boss PSA 240 running into the following using a daisy chain;

Boss TU-2

Budda Wah

Crowther Hot Cake

Jekyll & Hyde

Boss RV-3

I've not had any problem with this for nearly a year of use. No noise apart from the normal humming from my AC30. With my Marshall I've no noises at all.

i want the rv-3!

[britheguy]

i want the rv-3!

It is a good pedal.

[Guest lime ruined my life]

yeah, i used to play around with it a lot. I need to replace my guyatone digital delay. Do you find the reverb settings are useful at all? it has quite a short delay time and i remember some of the settings being really un-usable, so i'm still debating it.