Pockets
36 posts
Mar 11, 2013
11:56 AM
|
So i have a few pedals lying around... (and some just recently acquired) and was thinking of putting them all together on a pedalboard, just for convenience sake.
That said, powering all of them seems to be my big ?, as normally... i would only play a couple here and there with a big mess of cables everywhere on the floor.
Since i play rhythm guitar as well as harp... i was going to make a two tier pedalboard... harp on top tier... guitar on the lower.
Here's the lineup:
Top:
Harp Commander 4
BBE Sonic Maximizer
Van Amps Sole-Mate Reverb
LW Harp Delay V2
Kinder Anti-Feedback Eliminator
Lower:
Boss Tuner
Crybaby Wah
BBE Opto Compressor
Boss BD2 Blues Driver Overdrive
Ibanez TS808 Overdrive Pro
Boss MZ2 Metal Zone Distorion
Boss GE7 Band Equalizer
Boss CE5 Chorus Modulation
Holier Grail Reverb
Rocton Noise Gate
With trying to use isolated power, what do you think i should use?
Should i go the route of a Furman power distribution... or something like two Pedal Power 2's?? or a combination of the two?
Anyone's thoughts would be most appreciated on the topic.
|
Rick Davis
1444 posts
Mar 11, 2013
7:43 PM
|
I use the Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus, and I like it, but... I use WAY fewer pedals than you - only three. The goal is to power each pedal with its own isolated filtered regulated stream of DC current and the Pedal Power I have has the capacity for only 8 such connections, I think.
You have 16 devices (The Kinder AFB pedal requires two isolated 9-volt feeds). Does that mean you need two Pedal Power boxes? I don't really know, but it seems like it. With that many pedal I think the risk of a bad hum would be pretty great.
----------
-Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
Tip Jar
|
Willspear
317 posts
Mar 11, 2013
8:15 PM
|
I run depending on music I'm playing on guitar from 12-16 effects I use a cioks pink pussy power supply the ciokolate would be ideal for my rig. My harmonica board is powered with a Sanyo pedal juice which isolates the entire rig from the house power but not from each other . An added perk is busking battery powered without burning 9volts every time or two out.
Isolating everything isn't necessary. Isolating pedals that don't play well with others is not a bad idea. Isolating the tuner is wise. You can safely run a couple pedals depending on the load they draw from each output of a power supply. Some pedals do much better with a higher load to gain headroom but not all.
Very important to wire stuff properly double check the polarity called for on everything as some pedals fry immediately when powered wrong. Tc electronics comes to mind. Most pedals are 9v center negative but there are exceptions.
Zvex pedals are quite common these days and despite current models having a 9v in they almost universally sound better and make less noise on batteries. Fuzz factory being the largest example. With a battery it sounds great with isolated power it sounds dead.
My recommendation is generally a pedal power supply type unit then using a conditioner to plug the amp and board into. There is good reason the voodoo labs supplies get a lot of press. They do the job and are idiot proof. If you were running more high draw stuff like strymon or line 6 stuff I'd recomend running both the. 2+ and their high current one want to say ac. Pretty common on a really large board with some stuff to run 2 supplies. But your stuff is mostly low draw.
And seriously heed the warning that the kinder takes two isolated power supplies. It also has really long battery life I have changed batteries twice in nearly a year. Not really high draw. In fact I've never had it die I just changed them for insurance.
Not going to lie a one spot is not a bad thing to try and its a great backup plan for if shit fails.
Last Edited by Willspear on Mar 11, 2013 8:36 PM
|
Pockets
37 posts
Mar 12, 2013
8:13 AM
|
Thanks you all!
So in running isolated power, i heard that the reverb and delays are going to need their own. Is that true?
In my reading, some pedals "don't play nice" with others... and give ground loop hum...noise...etc when daisy chained.
in general, which one's need isolated?
Or is that too relative of a question, to get a general answer?
I know realistically it varies from pedal to pedal... but i'm just trying to get a feel for how many isolated inputs i'm going to look at needing, based on my mA and dc/ac requirements.
|
Rick Davis
1447 posts
Mar 12, 2013
8:57 AM
|
Daisy chaining power to pedals is a big invitation to bad hum problems and bad tone.
----------
-Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
Tip Jar
|
Pockets
38 posts
Mar 12, 2013
10:15 AM
|
so everything should be isolated?
|
Rick Davis
1450 posts
Mar 12, 2013
10:55 AM
|
Pockets, I don't really know, but it works for me. Jason uses lots of pedals.... Does anybody know exactly how he powers it all?
----------
-Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
Tip Jar
|
Kingley
2396 posts
Mar 12, 2013
11:04 AM
|
Jason used to use BBE Supa Chargers for his pedal board. Don't know if he still does though.
|
Willspear
318 posts
Mar 12, 2013
7:54 PM
|
Daisy chaining is not always a recipe for bad hum and bad tone. It can be noisy but assuming you aren't under powering all of your pedals which is hard to do and in some cases desire able. There are freak things that happen with some pedals sharing the same power supply but from personal experience and considering the amount of pedals I buy and trade the amount of major noise issues has been nearly non existent. Some pedals generally extremely high gain stuff pick up radio stations or electrical interference. .
Isolated power in its current popular formfactor is relatively new. It is better than the old ramshackle solutions but to say everything needs to be isolated is foolish.
As for ground loops, hum and other noise you don't really know what is gonna happen until you try it. People tend to exaggerate noise.
Some of the best pedals in existence are very noisy when used. Just as examples the redwitch medusa v1 which was a holy grail for chorus for some is tremendously swampy and full of hiss but it had pretty much unmatched capabilities for years. Still does hence why I use one even though its been reissued and is quieter and lterally half the size of the original. I own both and for the finer points of the big box it beats the other despite the noise.
There comes a point where stressing over noise that's not audible while playing just gets silly.
It's like obsessing over true bypass. If you run a decently large board you likely should have a buffer or two to keep the signal alive on the upper end.
Heck single coil 60 cycle hum is more intense. Yet to this day the telecaster is one of the most successful guitars ever and it as a design has veered little from its noisy configuration.
My harp effect board currently has 8 effects daisy chained with a one spot I use no gate and it is not perceptibly noisier than straight in.
My guitar rig has noisy effects but even with a handful of noisy pedals its still in audible at volume while playing.
For the record I find wah pedals insufferable for the tone suck and they ride on probably the majority of guys boards.
Last Edited by Willspear on Mar 12, 2013 8:05 PM
|
Pockets
40 posts
Mar 14, 2013
5:47 AM
|
Thanks Will. I guess you are right. I'll just have to buy a power supply and just try it out, and see how it goes. I'm writing down all the VDC/VAC requirements and the mA. Hopefully i'll have the list done shortly.
I know there is no real recipe for 100% success as everyone has different gear.... it's alot to power though. I'll have to try it out and see.
Perhaps this is not such a good idea... dunno.
|
Shredder
379 posts
Mar 14, 2013
7:27 AM
|
I been using a "1 spot" power supply to drive 8 pedals I use for the last 3 or 4 years. Works great with no hum and it's less than a $100 and very compact. I just bought another one at Guitar center for another pedal board I'm building. I'd recomend this to any one.
I run 3 delay pedals,along with a Mind bender, a micro POG, a Opto stomp, a maxon AF9 autowah and a Sonic maximizer
Mike
|
1847
595 posts
Mar 14, 2013
3:09 PM
|
the kinder pedal requires an isolated supply
that is what john kinder told me personally
it is an expensive pedal,you risk damaging it
i'd be careful...... just sayin.
----------
tipjar
|
Willspear
319 posts
Mar 15, 2013
5:09 AM
|
The problem isn't that the kinder needs isolated power its that it needs each side of it to be isolated from the other. Hence 2 batteries. So each side can't share the same source. So in other words daisy chaining using 2 barrel connectors of the same chain with battery terminal adapters doesn't work and can damage the pedal.
In all honesty like I mentioned before I feel its not worth the hassle of drilling the kinder for 9v adapters of some kind. The batteries last long enough if you unplug both cables between gigs to last near indefinite periods. It's enough of a non issue.
Also given the bizarre ordering and expense and relative complexity of the pedal if you have the warranty its worth trying to keep it intact
|
