Guitar Effects Pedal Power Supplies

Guitar Effects Pedal Power Supplies

Guitar effects pedals are ubiquitous in the modern guitar player's arsenal, whether for live performance or recording purposes. With such a variety of pedals on the market and the ability to mix and match multiple effects, being able to power all your pedals efficiently and with no technical hiccups is of the utmost importance.

Benefits

As you purchase more pedals, it becomes more frustrating to have to use an individual power outlets or buy and change batteries for each pedal. It also becomes unwieldy, especially for live performance. In addition, as a guitarist the amount of noise on your guitar signal to the amp will be important. An effects pedals power supply has what's called an isolated supply, which cuts back significantly on any undesirable hums or noises coming from your signal chain.

Variety

There are many power supplies on the market to suit your individual or group needs. The number of power outputs required would depend on how many effects pedals required power. Size concerns may be a factor if being added to an existing pedalboard, and there are many different sizes available to accommodate this. A band could share a power supply, for instance with the guitarist's wah volume pedal being used with the same power supply as the bassist's bass effects pedals.

Power Cables

To make sure you can use your effects pedals power supply you’ll need to have power cables from your power supply to your individual pedals. These need to be the matching voltage of the effects pedal, which are most commonly 9 volts. These cables often come with effects pedals power supplies and can be purchased separately if you need replacements.

Components and Voltage

One thing to keep in mind with a effects pedals power supply is the voltage it is running at and that it matches the voltage used in your country or for your pedals. Some effects pedals power supplies have the ability to change voltage from 120 V to 240 V, and using the incorrect voltage often blows the fuse in the power supply. Some will be designed with a fail-safe to avoid destroying the effects pedals in this sort of event.

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