Question:
I've been thinking about building a pedal board but have no idea how to power it. I want the pedals to plug into the board, which plugs into the wall. I have AC adapters for my effects, but is there a smaller cable that does the same job?
Answer:
I've been looking around and I've noticed that the units made specifically for powering pedals are quite expensive. I know how anything related to guitar has inflated prices so would I be able to find something similar at an electronics store?
Answer:
that is a no brainer. it depends a little on how many pedals you have, but i have two and i power them both with the visual sound "one spot". basically it powers all your pedals with one outlet.
there is a package you can buy that can power almost any pedal combination. it goes for around $30 (found here). there is a higher quality one i would advise getting if you have more than 5 pedals, it makes less humming. the only reason i didn't get the other one is cause it doesn't have the advantage of taking up only one spot on a power strip like the one spot.
the only problem i had was a little confusing, but easially fixed. bassically, don't pay attencion to the polarities (center pin negative or positive) on any of the cable extensions related to the dasiy chain. just look at what plugs into the wall and the pedal, if they're the same its all good. if not (very rare) just use a polarity reverser. if you're still confused, just call the customer support.
both systems have great reviews and the one spot works really well as far as i can tell. if you have any other questions just pm me.
Answer:
Voodoo Lab Pedal Power. Expensive, but it's been worth it to me. Though I know lots of people that use the One Spot and are very happy with it.
Answer:
Ditto the One Spot.
Answer:
I use the Rocktron DC-OnTap universal PS with my pedals. It runs my five pedals with ease, and no extra hum or anything that I can tell. I bought it at a local guitar store for $32.99. It also includes adaptors for reverse polarity and different sized plugs.
just a side note: on mose pedals the polarity indicator will look kinda like this: (-)-(@-)-(+) this means that the positive terminal (+) is the pin on the inside of the plug...in the little hole....and that the negative (-) terminal is the shiny outside of the plug (the barrell) a reverse polarity pedal marking would look like this: (-)-(-@)-(+) this meaning the barrell is positive and the pin negative. The standard is: pin/tip positive, and barrell negative....like irtrogdor said if it's reverse, use an adaptor. This whole thing confused me for a long time, just passing along the info. So if this makes absolutely no sense to you, or you already know this....just ignore my ramblings....haha