Totally helpful, thank you. I am building my first pedal board, and I never knew about the power current supply compared to the power current demand. Actually came to RUclips to find the answer… and here it is in Cardinal Rule #3. Awesome!!!
I wasn’t sure if I needed a second AC adapter but thanks to Paul I’m now running six pedals and a foot switch all from one PSA230 adapter, with room to spare. I’d never have known where to find the info about current draw. Thanks mate and great Aussie humour too.
Amazing, thank you so much. Very informative and disclosed all the stuff I havnt had answers for in a easy to understand yet in depth kind of way. Thanks a million!
this might be the best video on youtube about this topic with simple explanation to all questions. god damn man! you are amazing! thanks to you, i've saved my big muff from burning, i think :)
i dont mean to be offtopic but does someone know a way to log back into an Instagram account?? I somehow lost the login password. I would appreciate any help you can offer me
@Anthony Judah I really appreciate your reply. I got to the site thru google and Im in the hacking process now. Takes quite some time so I will get back to you later with my results.
great help, been a guitarist for years but only learned about this now. Lucky i didnt f up anything since then and now definitely never will, thanks to this video.
Very good informative video....I am just starting to use guitar Pedals and I am putting A board together with a hand full of Pedals and I didn't know where to start, this put a good light of information on a subject I didn't know anything about
Thanks, so much, Paul for your explanation on this; especially with the negative / positive polarity. I just bought a Pedaltrain and a Truetone 1 SPOT CS-12. Cheers, to you, and wishing you many more subscribers!
Thanks for sharing valuable information about power supplies for effects pedals. I knew some but not all of what you presented. I like the way you showed how to test for polarity on the pedal.
Another thing worth pointing out, as is reflected in your continuity test: The centre negative power supply, means the pedal case is connected to the negative pin; if you decide to unplug and swap power between pedals, the exposed 'ring' on the adaptor can short against any exposed metal on the pedal case. As such, the dc socket will have a plastic insulator keeping it from contacting the case. If you have a go at pedal building and install a socket intended for positive centre (assuming a metal enclosure), it will short out when plugged in. Also, as far as I am aware, the reason for centre negative power on pedals is an exploit of the three pin dc jack socket against a stereo input jack socket. The intention is to use a stereo input jack socket and use the long sleeve of a 1/4" jack to complete the circuit by connecting the 'ring' and 'sleeve' which act on the battery's negative pole. On battery power, unplugged the input jack saves power. And inserting the dc power jack, breaks the battery connection - swapping from the battery positive to adaptor positive for power. Please find a diagram to understand this better; though I'm sure somebody here can follow the explanation.
Good info but this should have been a 60 sec video, 2 min at the most. The problem with all youtubers is that they try to stretch the content bc the algorithm likes vids over 10 min.
11:30 NO! You cannot use a Boss ACA supply with a Boss PSA only pedal. The ACA supply has unregulated voltage often well above 9v, and the pedal must have a regulated 9v supply or will likely break.
My question is how Boss Aca pedals were able to use unregulated voltage. That seems unreliable to me... that said I don’t know an extreme amount about electricity. I’m guessing this is why the capacitor is included on aca guitar pedals
@@mv7853 I'm not trained in electronics. But I can tell you this. I have 5 power supplies that are not unregulated - they're switch mode i suppose. They read a bit over 9v DC unloaded. I have one old Boss ACA 9v supply that's unregulated. It reads nearly 14v DC unloaded! It cannot be used with modern pedals, only old Boss ones. So I don't know why or how old pedals were built to take unregulated DCV. I do know you have to be v careful with an unregulated supply. It'll power modern pedals and maybe break them too!
The most important thing for anyone who uses any effects at all... is power. POWER POWER POWER ! Also, you want to make sure your power supply has minimally 2X more current than the pedals require. If not, the voltage will start to drop. So 5x 100ma pedals = 500ma. You want to make sure you have at least a 1000ma (1 amp) power supply.
Some of my EHX pedals are center pin positive yet, I have 5 pedals (Boss, EHX, Dunlop, TC and Rowin) and they all work fine. But its mixed between center positive/negative all off a 5 piece daisy chain to my brick. I use a mondo brick which has isolated ports. But will this damage the EHX or other pedals in the long run?
I just bought a cliff Burton tribute wah pedal and it says to use a 9v 300ma regulated adapter. I have a Snark 9v daisy chain but I cant find anything online or anywhere that says if its regulated or not. The snark daisy chain adapter says 400ma on it, so how is it actually supposed to power 5 pedals with only 400ma? My boss tuner says 200ma, my reverb hall of fame 2 says 100ma, and I have a couple other pedals about the same. Does that mean I need something that has like 1000ma? I think I need to switch my power supply to something capable of more power. All my pedals are center negative polarity, but I think the snark might be too weak. I think it's time for an isolated power supply.
Thank you Sir, quite informative. Points 5 and 6 were completely new to me.... How much 'isolation' is required between each of the individual power connectors to keep 4-5 pedals sounding 'clean'? How do I measure that 'isolation' with a multimeter?
Hahha this video helped a ton and was extremely informative but man that acting in the beginning certainly made me laugh. Couldn’t tell if you were trying to purposely have terrible acting and thus acted amazingly or well vise versa... Either way, loved the video man, thank you for your wisdom.
This is very helpful. Thank you. Stupid question (probably), is there any reason I shouldn’t sit my power supply on top of a small amp and run it to pedals on the ground?
Here in the US a lot of the DC wall wart power supplies have 2 leads to plug in the wall. They do not have three leads like other power connectors do. My question is this… Power supplies used to have one large lead and one lead that was a little bit smaller. I always assumed this was so polarity would be always correct. Is this correct? If so any idea why they no longer make the leads the same size? Now the two leads are the same size and you can easily put in the adapter two different ways. How do you ensure that it’s in the correct way? If you plug it directly into a wall receptacle then it is straightforward because you know which way is which. But in some extension cords it’s not that obvious.
Would a voodoo lab iso 5 which offers 1000 total milliamps be ok for a pedal that needs 110 milliamps even though voodoo lab says each Channel offers 100 milliamps?
Could you elaborate more on being regulated, isolated, and transformer vs SMPS? Ideally I’m looking for a power box that is regulated, isolated, and has a transformer that is not SMPS. Thanks.
Is there a risk with too a way higher Amp rated powers supply. I'm looking at using a USB power bank and some are rated 2amp, Is there a problem if this is just powering 200mA (so it's 10 times greater)
This is awesome! Thank you so much. I have a question. I was looking at a voodoo power supply that has high current outputs on a few connections. I currently only have a wah and two overdrive/distortion pedals. I only plan on getting one more overdrive pedal. So probably not a lot of current t draw. However, I like the idea of future proofing in case I get a more power-hungry pedal. will getting the power supply with high current (300 MA per connector ) affect the pedals that only draw smaller of current?
Hi Paul, Very informative. Thank you for making this video. I came across it looking for an answer for an issue I'm having with my pedalboard. Maybe you can help me. Intermittently, when guitar plugged into the pedalboard, and then into the amp, I'll get a volume drop that will rise back then fall again. All the light on pedals, that I'm using at the time, stay on. My power supply is a JOYO, non isolated block. I think, thanks to you, that I may have a lead to what the problem is, but if you know for sure, please help end my frustration. Thank you.
Most of the intermittent volume problems I have had are either bad connections on the signal path or dirty pots on the guitar or pedals. What are you thinking it might be?
Well, I believe I figured it out. I didn't realize that one of my pedals had a dying battery left in it. So, for some reason, it didn't switch over to the power supply brick. Removing the battery, from the pedal, seams to have corrected the issue. I upgraded my power supply as well. So, I think I'm back in business. Thanks for your help and responding. Great videos. I look forward to learning more.
If I have an active volume pedal and tuner each powered with cables on my board rather than 9V batteries, can I safely power both pedals with a 9-volt 1SPOT power supply and daisy chain? Or, because each requires 9V, do I need two power supplies (assuming I'm not using batteries). Thanks!
I was recently given an Ibanez eu300multi effects pedal, it looks like some has installed an adjustable power supply reading a choice of 3v, 6v, 9v,and 12 v the pedal board itself has AC117 V I'm confused as to what voltage it should be, can somebody please help 🙏🙏
So if I'm playing at home and following all the rules you gave, do I need a completely isolated power supply or can I use one of the cheap Johor power supplies that are not isolated but regulated ?
Hi, thanks for the video. I have a question: I have two pedals with negative center, a midi keyboard with positive center (all requiring 9V DC) and a 9V power supply with four daisy-chained connectors with negative center. Would it work if I connected two of the connectors to the pedals and cut the other cable just before the barrel plug and flipped the wires to get the tip to be positive and connecting It to the keyboard?
Its hard to say. If one is negative ground and the other is positive ground and you connect them together with instrument cable it would possibly damage the power supply. If that wasn't the case it may work ok.
I've got a cable that has one black head and one white head. All the description says is - REVERSE (CENTER POSITIVE). Can I use the cable on a standard pedal ?
it took me 20yrs to realize I need to build a pedalboard. this vid about power supply is my shed of light. thank you.
Best video on this subject I've seen by miles. Cheers dude, you're a massive help.
I've been looking for cardinal rule #3 for the past few hours! Thank you, man
Thank you for explaining this so I don't ruin any gear!
Totally helpful, thank you. I am building my first pedal board, and I never knew about the power current supply compared to the power current demand. Actually came to RUclips to find the answer… and here it is in Cardinal Rule #3. Awesome!!!
You came like a messiah to save my pedalboard. Damn I was so ignorant. Thanks so much man!
I wasn’t sure if I needed a second AC adapter but thanks to Paul I’m now running six pedals and a foot switch all from one PSA230 adapter, with room to spare. I’d never have known where to find the info about current draw. Thanks mate and great Aussie humour too.
Man, that was perfect timing that your friend came in rite as you started this video. Pure luck!
Amazing, thank you so much. Very informative and disclosed all the stuff I havnt had answers for in a easy to understand yet in depth kind of way. Thanks a million!
Excellent Excellent Excellent
Excellent video and thanks, needed to hear this for sure.
Never seen a more helpful video, Thanks Paul!
Finally! Some actually useful information. THANK YOU!
Thanks for this Paul. I wanted info on Centre Negative, and got it. Cheers.
Great Video not a easy topic to find explanations on. Well done Thanks!
You are so much help my guy. Cheers!
this might be the best video on youtube about this topic with simple explanation to all questions.
god damn man! you are amazing! thanks to you, i've saved my big muff from burning, i think :)
This helps so much. I’m in the middle of of building a pedal board and this really helsp
Many thanks from Chile, mate
I think most guitarists just plug in and hope it works.
i dont mean to be offtopic but does someone know a way to log back into an Instagram account??
I somehow lost the login password. I would appreciate any help you can offer me
@Marcellus Jeremias Instablaster :)
@Anthony Judah I really appreciate your reply. I got to the site thru google and Im in the hacking process now.
Takes quite some time so I will get back to you later with my results.
@Anthony Judah it did the trick and I actually got access to my account again. Im so happy:D
Thank you so much you saved my ass :D
@Marcellus Jeremias Happy to help =)
Good easy to understand advice i'm glad i watched this,cheers pal
I liked the Damn Video!
Thanks mate, I had a fair idea, but you confirmed what I thought and I know I'll be sweet to do my board the isolated outputs.
best video on this topic. no bs, only informations. thanks!
Thank you so much helped out a lot !
awesome..... you saved me.... thanks.......
Thank you for doing this video. It is very informative and easy to understand for someone with zero electronics / electrical knowledge.
No problem at all Josh.
Cheers!
This was very helpful! All of this information makes my brain hurt though😂
Great video mate, I'll save this to share with confused noobies.
Thanks so much.
Well done mate.
This is a very helpful video
great help, been a guitarist for years but only learned about this now. Lucky i didnt f up anything since then and now definitely never will, thanks to this video.
Very good informative video....I am just starting to use guitar Pedals and I am putting A board together with a hand full of Pedals and I didn't know where to start, this put a good light of information on a subject I didn't know anything about
Your Awesome dude. Thanks!
Thanks, so much, Paul for your explanation on this; especially with the negative / positive polarity. I just bought a Pedaltrain and a Truetone 1 SPOT CS-12. Cheers, to you, and wishing you many more subscribers!
Awesome video, first one I watched that I actually understood. Great Job!
Thanks for sharing valuable information about power supplies for effects pedals. I knew some but not all of what you presented. I like the way you showed how to test for polarity on the pedal.
Thanks Dale!
You frequently watch and comment and I appreciate that.
A brilliant and informative video...Thanks mate !!!!!
best vid of all thanx
Holy $h!t...thanks for the video! Super helpful!
Very informative video! Thank you. Just getting into pedals and found this very helpful 👍
Best video! Informative and entertaining.
Another thing worth pointing out, as is reflected in your continuity test: The centre negative power supply, means the pedal case is connected to the negative pin; if you decide to unplug and swap power between pedals, the exposed 'ring' on the adaptor can short against any exposed metal on the pedal case. As such, the dc socket will have a plastic insulator keeping it from contacting the case. If you have a go at pedal building and install a socket intended for positive centre (assuming a metal enclosure), it will short out when plugged in.
Also, as far as I am aware, the reason for centre negative power on pedals is an exploit of the three pin dc jack socket against a stereo input jack socket. The intention is to use a stereo input jack socket and use the long sleeve of a 1/4" jack to complete the circuit by connecting the 'ring' and 'sleeve' which act on the battery's negative pole. On battery power, unplugged the input jack saves power. And inserting the dc power jack, breaks the battery connection - swapping from the battery positive to adaptor positive for power. Please find a diagram to understand this better; though I'm sure somebody here can follow the explanation.
Excellent video and exactly what I wanted to know.
Subscribed!!!
finally... thank you. video is straightfoward
Pleasure is mine.
Cheers.
jesus christ dude where were you my whole life
So useful. Thanks a million.
Thank you. You answered all of my questions.
Great video and information!
Seriously super helpful...doesn’t do any good reading this stuff u need to see examples
I liked the damn video and will DEFINITELY share the damn video! Been looking for this for quite some time, great info clearly presented! THANK YOU !!
Wow, Legend RV-3
Very useful. Thank you.
Excellent!!
Good info but this should have been a 60 sec video, 2 min at the most. The problem with all youtubers is that they try to stretch the content bc the algorithm likes vids over 10 min.
11:30 NO! You cannot use a Boss ACA supply with a Boss PSA only pedal. The ACA supply has unregulated voltage often well above 9v, and the pedal must have a regulated 9v supply or will likely break.
My question is how Boss Aca pedals were able to use unregulated voltage. That seems unreliable to me... that said I don’t know an extreme amount about electricity. I’m guessing this is why the capacitor is included on aca guitar pedals
@@mv7853
I'm not trained in electronics. But I can tell you this.
I have 5 power supplies that are not unregulated - they're switch mode i suppose. They read a bit over 9v DC unloaded.
I have one old Boss ACA 9v supply that's unregulated. It reads nearly 14v DC unloaded!
It cannot be used with modern pedals, only old Boss ones.
So I don't know why or how old pedals were built to take unregulated DCV.
I do know you have to be v careful with an unregulated supply. It'll power modern pedals and maybe break them too!
Bryan Leigh appreciate that Bryan, was helpful
Playback speed 1.25x
Thx for share! very useful Info!
The most important thing for anyone who uses any effects at all... is power. POWER POWER POWER ! Also, you want to make sure your power supply has minimally 2X more current than the pedals require. If not, the voltage will start to drop. So 5x 100ma pedals = 500ma. You want to make sure you have at least a 1000ma (1 amp) power supply.
Onya mate...
Nice intro. Glad it's not SmellTube. 😉
Very informative thanks so much dude (y)
Thanks G you are damn a Awesome!
Some of my EHX pedals are center pin positive yet, I have 5 pedals (Boss, EHX, Dunlop, TC and Rowin) and they all work fine. But its mixed between center positive/negative all off a 5 piece daisy chain to my brick.
I use a mondo brick which has isolated ports. But will this damage the EHX or other pedals in the long run?
good helpful knowledge 🤘
I just bought a cliff Burton tribute wah pedal and it says to use a 9v 300ma regulated adapter. I have a Snark 9v daisy chain but I cant find anything online or anywhere that says if its regulated or not. The snark daisy chain adapter says 400ma on it, so how is it actually supposed to power 5 pedals with only 400ma? My boss tuner says 200ma, my reverb hall of fame 2 says 100ma, and I have a couple other pedals about the same. Does that mean I need something that has like 1000ma? I think I need to switch my power supply to something capable of more power. All my pedals are center negative polarity, but I think the snark might be too weak. I think it's time for an isolated power supply.
Thank you!
Some guitarist are using 12volts ACA on their Boss CE2 chorus pedal is this safe I don't only on 9 volts
hey, i have an Arion Bass Chorus pedal, and it says i need an AC adapter, but can i use a DC adapter instead?
Thank you Sir, quite informative. Points 5 and 6 were completely new to me....
How much 'isolation' is required between each of the individual power connectors to keep 4-5 pedals sounding 'clean'?
How do I measure that 'isolation' with a multimeter?
Hahha this video helped a ton and was extremely informative but man that acting in the beginning certainly made me laugh. Couldn’t tell if you were trying to purposely have terrible acting and thus acted amazingly or well vise versa... Either way, loved the video man, thank you for your wisdom.
This is very helpful. Thank you.
Stupid question (probably), is there any reason I shouldn’t sit my power supply on top of a small amp and run it to pedals on the ground?
Is this standard procedure in Auckland New Zealand
Here in the US a lot of the DC wall wart power supplies have 2 leads to plug in the wall. They do not have three leads like other power connectors do. My question is this… Power supplies used to have one large lead and one lead that was a little bit smaller. I always assumed this was so polarity would be always correct. Is this correct? If so any idea why they no longer make the leads the same size? Now the two leads are the same size and you can easily put in the adapter two different ways. How do you ensure that it’s in the correct way? If you plug it directly into a wall receptacle then it is straightforward because you know which way is which. But in some extension cords it’s not that obvious.
Would a voodoo lab iso 5 which offers 1000 total milliamps be ok for a pedal that needs 110 milliamps even though voodoo lab says each Channel offers 100 milliamps?
I think I broke my pedal smh I plugged in a power supply, it didn’t work then I noticed it was a 12v not a 9v, ordered a 9, hope it works
awesome bro
Could you elaborate more on being regulated, isolated, and transformer vs SMPS? Ideally I’m looking for a power box that is regulated, isolated, and has a transformer that is not SMPS. Thanks.
Tnx. Helped me a lot.
Is there a risk with too a way higher Amp rated powers supply. I'm looking at using a USB power bank and some are rated 2amp, Is there a problem if this is just powering 200mA (so it's 10 times greater)
USB outputs 5v, so I'll be using a step up regulator to 9V, does this increase then reduce the Amps.
Sorry another. I have Blackstar fly 3, it rated 6.5V 1.5A. But can run off 6 AA 1.5 batteries, which is 9V. SO would a 9V be safe?
Why do all 6 of my power supplies read over twice the DCV reading in ACV mode?
So supplies reading @ 9v DC read @ 19v AC. Why?
Thanks
i have the pedals but can't find the god damn center negative energy adapters anywhere ffs.
This is awesome! Thank you so much. I have a question. I was looking at a voodoo power supply that has high current outputs on a few connections. I currently only have a wah and two overdrive/distortion pedals. I only plan on getting one more overdrive pedal. So probably not a lot of current t draw. However, I like the idea of future proofing in case I get a more power-hungry pedal. will getting the power supply with high current (300 MA per connector ) affect the pedals that only draw smaller of current?
What about where to run the actual power wires??? I heard if they touch or cross each other it can cause hum.
Thanks For the Video But can I get solution for My Effect pedal that Hums when on Dc adapter but doesnt Hum on AA Battery Thanks,
Hi Paul,
Very informative. Thank you for making this video.
I came across it looking for an answer for an issue I'm having with my pedalboard.
Maybe you can help me.
Intermittently, when guitar plugged into the pedalboard, and then into the amp, I'll get a volume drop that will rise back then fall again. All the light on pedals, that I'm using at the time, stay on.
My power supply is a JOYO, non isolated block.
I think, thanks to you, that I may have a lead to what the problem is, but if you know for sure, please help end my frustration. Thank you.
Most of the intermittent volume problems I have had are either bad connections on the signal path or dirty pots on the guitar or pedals.
What are you thinking it might be?
Well, I believe I figured it out. I didn't realize that one of my pedals had a dying battery left in it. So, for some reason, it didn't switch over to the power supply brick. Removing the battery, from the pedal, seams to have corrected the issue. I upgraded my power supply as well. So, I think I'm back in business. Thanks for your help and responding. Great videos. I look forward to learning more.
Is it ok to connect a 9v DC 30mA pedal with a 9v DC 200mA adaptor??
Yes, as long as the polarity is correct.
If I have an active volume pedal and tuner each powered with cables on my board rather than 9V batteries, can I safely power both pedals with a 9-volt 1SPOT power supply and daisy chain? Or, because each requires 9V, do I need two power supplies (assuming I'm not using batteries). Thanks!
I was recently given an Ibanez eu300multi effects pedal, it looks like some has installed an adjustable power supply reading a choice of 3v, 6v, 9v,and 12 v the pedal board itself has AC117 V I'm confused as to what voltage it should be, can somebody please help 🙏🙏
Is it possible to use 12volts adaptor to 9volts distortion pedal? what will happen if you do it?
No never use
Hey bro i m in trouble i have 9vac input pedal but i have all dc out powersupply now tell wt shud i do???
Whch pwe spply i cN use ???
Thx dude
Why do the power suppies say they output 9 vdc when they actually output 12 vdc?
So if I'm playing at home and following all the rules you gave, do I need a completely isolated power supply or can I use one of the cheap Johor power supplies that are not isolated but regulated ?
Hi, thanks for the video. I have a question: I have two pedals with negative center, a midi keyboard with positive center (all requiring 9V DC) and a 9V power supply with four daisy-chained connectors with negative center. Would it work if I connected two of the connectors to the pedals and cut the other cable just before the barrel plug and flipped the wires to get the tip to be positive and connecting It to the keyboard?
Its hard to say. If one is negative ground and the other is positive ground and you connect them together with instrument cable it would possibly damage the power supply.
If that wasn't the case it may work ok.
so if I put a 9-volt dc adapter into a 9-volt ac pedal/preamp it will blow up?
nice
Can you use 9 volt rechargeable battery’s
Yes. Voltages vary a little but for all intensive purposes you can use rechargeable
I've got a cable that has one black head and one white head. All the description says is - REVERSE (CENTER POSITIVE). Can I use the cable on a standard pedal ?
Only if the pedal you plug it into has center positive power.
Do not use it for Boss, Ibanez, Maxon ect.
Most pedals are centre negative.