Powering your pedals

[Tweaker]

Am I the only one who powers eleven pedals with a 1-spot (actually, a Godlyke) and has no noise issues?

I wouldn't call mine "noise issues" because I assume most higher gain dirt pedals to have some form of buzz to them. But on the higher gain ones I can definitely hear the less-filtered power from my 1 Spot. Didn't start off that way, it developed over time.

It's a non-issue for me for sure, 98% of the time. But there are a few pedals I built that definitely required some filtering because the circuit just didn't play well with unfiltered power. The biggest culprit was the fuzz face...I tried nearly every variation out there and they all had the craziest noise issues until I applied some filtered power.

So, bottom line...I don't consider my 1 Spot to have noise issues, even though they are somewhat present, because it isn't so noisy that the pedals are unusable. Others might consider it unusable, but it doesn't bother me. I wouldn't mind building a little filter box to run my 1 Spot through though, just to see what kind of difference it makes in the noise.

Also...when is this thread going to achieve sticky status?

 

[RambleFX]

I've posted this thread in 2 other forums.
Would you mind If I added your post on those other forums?
Unless you want to add it yourself.
You get credit of course.
(One of them has a few fans of your Marvel Drive).

Yeah, of course.

 

[CodeMonk]

Bypassing a pedal does not turn it off - it will run at its quiescent current draw.

For what that is worth.

Another interesting point to note - as far as I am aware almost all Octavia style octave pedals run on reverse polarity. NPN transistors anybody?

Yeah I know.
I build pedals.
What I meant to say is that, when the pedal is bypassed (unless via a bypass looper), the LED is off and not drawing any current.
And that could account for some 20mA of current draw in some cases. More than many dirt pedals just on it own.

And to those talking about running 10 or so pedals with a 1 Spot and not having any problems...
I also ran a 1 Spot with 10 (or maybe more) pedals with a 1 Spot and had no problems.
Then I came into some money (insurance money) and of course bought more pedals.
That's when I started having some noise issues.
Not sure what pedal I added that started the noise issues, never really investigated it. I just went and bought a Voodoo Labs PP2+ instead.

Great, great post!

One addition for consideration - how about an explanation/warning of regulated vs. unregulated power supplies? I almost torched a spendy pedal once by unwittingly using an unregulated wall wart; I contacted the pedal's builder and he used a lot of exclamation points in his reply about the difference.

RambleFX touched on that subject.

 

[mudfinger]

The 1-Spot was as quiet as any converter available in 2012 for my application, and much cheaper than the other converters at the time. I'd surely buy another today if I hadn't experimented with a 9v battery supply that was objectively quieter under a mic.

Horses for courses, I spose.

 

[Batman]

Am I the only one who powers eleven pedals with a 1-spot (actually, a Godlyke) and has no noise issues?

My rig is powered by three 1-spot adapters; it is dead quiet. The power is supplied to the board from the backline (so that all of my rig shares the same ground) via a PedalSnake.

The 6 analog pedals plus the switcher on one
The M5 and DD500 on two
The H9 on the 3rd (with an adaptor for center positive)

 

[Tweaker]

I've read that some 1 Spot noise issues don't actually come from the 1 Spot, but rather from the power at the wall not being clean or something like that. I know nothing about it, so maybe those who know more can say if that's true or not.

I bought one of those 1600mA supplies from BLMS for like $7 or something and I've been using that because it doesn't squeal like my 1 Spot does. The 1 Spot squeals at the wall if I don't have enough pedals plugged in. But, the noise through my amp still remains, so I think there may be more to my issue than simply unfiltered DC power.

But, that may be grounds for a different thread, I don't want to derail this thread. Lots of great information here.

 

[SWeAT hOg]

I've read that some 1 Spot noise issues don't actually come from the 1 Spot, but rather from the power at the wall not being clean or something like that. I know nothing about it, so maybe those who know more can say if that's true or not.

I bought one of those 1600mA supplies from BLMS for like $7 or something and I've been using that because it doesn't squeal like my 1 Spot does. The 1 Spot squeals at the wall if I don't have enough pedals plugged in. But, the noise through my amp still remains, so I think there may be more to my issue than simply unfiltered DC power.

But, that may be grounds for a different thread, I don't want to derail this thread. Lots of great information here.

I use a Furman SS-6B, so maybe that's why I am getting good use of my Godlyke. However, I don't remember there being a problem when I used a 'Wal-Mart' power-bar.

 

[Tweaker]

I'm a huge fan of the Godlyke/1 Spot style power supplies, the noise issues really aren't a problem for me, so don't get me wrong when I talk about these noise issues. But like I said, I have no clue if the power from the wall makes a difference in signal noise through the DC power supply...Code Monk and the other experts will have to chime in and give us the scoop.

 

[SWeAT hOg]

I'm a huge fan of the Godlyke/1 Spot style power supplies, the noise issues really aren't a problem for me, so don't get me wrong when I talk about these noise issues. But like I said, I have no clue if the power from the wall makes a difference in signal noise through the DC power supply...Code Monk and the other experts will have to chime in and give us the scoop.

One thing that I think is cheap about the 1-Spot/Godlyke is how cheap the daisy-chain connector is. I don't see it being a problem as long as I don't fvck with it too much. But, if I was swapping in/out pedals with regularity, I could see those turning to sh!te around the plug in short time.

 

[CodeMonk]

I'm a huge fan of the Godlyke/1 Spot style power supplies, the noise issues really aren't a problem for me, so don't get me wrong when I talk about these noise issues. But like I said, I have no clue if the power from the wall makes a difference in signal noise through the DC power supply...Code Monk and the other experts will have to chime in and give us the scoop.

Yeah, your mains power source can make a big difference.
I've got one of these (Its more like an extension cord with multiple outlets):

And one of these (This one is the workhorse):

I plug the bottom one into the top one.
My rig is dead quiet.

 

[Tweaker]

Now THAT is cool.









Um..what the heck is that second thing?

 

[CodeMonk]

Now THAT is cool.









Um..what the heck is that second thing?

http://www.frontendaudio.com/Monster-Pro-1000-Floor-Standing-Power-Center-p/2626.htm

I got both of those at GC.

 

[Quill]

THIS

is a great thread! Thank you!

 

[Ph03n1x]

If you buy an old Fuzz pedal, is there a way to reverse the polarity so that it will work with a modern power supply?

 

[RambleFX]

It's not a matter of being incompatible; as long as the plug polarity is the same as the jack polarity it can work. There is a problem with sharing a power supply with other modern pedals, daisy-chained. That will short out your supply. You can use separate supplies for positive ground pedals and negative ground pedals to avoid problems.