Battery or DC... which would you rather have?

[p_funk]

When you buy a pedal, what do type of power supply do you look for?  Would you rather have it battery powered or wallwart?

The reason I ask this is, I have a friend that is starting to sell pedals that he built.  He uses nothing but Hammond 1590B enclosures and as we all know, they are a tight fit for anything.  He just designed an overdrive pedal that sounds extremely well, but the circuit will not fit into a 1590B.  He doesn't want to go up to a 1590BB, so he's trying to decide if taking the battery option out would turn people away.  Taking the battery out and moving the switch down would free up quite a bit of space.  I think the majority of people buying boutique pedals use powered pedal boards of some kind, so it wouldn't hurt... as long as he includes the proper power supply with the pedals, of course.  

What would you do?

[niftydog]

personally, I would want both.

But, if I had a choice, I'd go with battery. Particularly if the circuit was very efficient.

However, that doesn't lessen the enjoyment I get from my Bass Micro Synth, which is wall wart only.

Sorry, not much of a help am I?!

[darkseid]

I like to have both...  When doing little jams and goofing around with friends I like taking my favorite box that uses a battery....makes it quick and easy and I don't have to worry where are all the pigtails are at.....  On the other hand when doing gigs,  I rather use the wall wart so it want fizz out on me in front of strangers  :shock:

[niftydog]

ditto...

except, replace "fizz" with "futz". That's more my style.  

Wang!

[80k]

this question comes up now and then on Harmony Central's Effects forum, and most of the people there use pedalboards and fancy power supplies, so the vast majority would rather have a B size box WITHOUT the battery. (rather than go with a larger box and have both).  They find real estate on their board to be sacred and feel it's not worth going with a bigger box.  But go to a less elitist sample population, and you'll find that the preference will likely swing the other way.

Go to some shows and look at the people's setups.  Most bands I see just plug in 2-4 pedals WITHOUT power supplies, so batteries are obviously important to them.

For me, I think certain types of effects really need batteries.  For instance, i wouldn't consider buying a boost if it wasn't battery-powered, since i tend not to velcro boost pedals down on a board, and give it a dedicated home.  I prefer being able to plug it in whenever i want (in front of a pedalboard, or alone with just the guitar/boost/amp).

[niftydog]

I have a pedal board, and a fancy power supply, but there's no way in hell I'd have a pedal board full of effects that don't have batteries in them.

One fuse blows and your whole rig is decimated! I much rather have the ability to yank out the power plug and run with batteries if needs be.

Gee I've got a lot to say on this topic!

[MartyMart]

For me it has to be both, if possible.
If its something I want/build and its only possible with a PSU, then I'll go
with that.
I just did an MXR dynacomp mod for someone who wanted to use a PSU
so the battery came out and the socket went in, there was only room for
one or the other in there......

Marty.

[p_funk]

That is what I'm talking about!  If there just isn't enough room.  He thought about removing the DC jack, but that wouldn't free up enough space.  If did remove the DC jack, he could move the middle knob up (3 knobs - typical upside down triangle with LED above middle knob) putting the 3 knobs in a line at the top of the pedal.  Then the input and ouput jacks could be moved up which might give enough room... but then the overall look of the pedal would be ruined, and he would have to redo all the decal artwork.  I guess it is a no win situation.  I personally plug all my pedals in on my pedal board.  I can't stand paying for batteries.  Call me cheap.... that I am!  I guess there have been plenty of power supply only pedals manufactured in the past that have sold well.  If it sounds good, the people will buy it regardless.... Right???

[nelson]

If your friend uses PCB's he could always redesign the PCB to be in two halves and slot into the enclosure upright freeing up LOTS of space, I suppose it could be done with perf aswell. Alternatively if you used one of the deeper 1590b boxes forget what they are called he could have the PCB/perf stretch the entire length of the enclosure over switch and battery, a bummer for battery changes, but still an option, wouldnt take up anymore "real estate" on a pedal board. These ways he could have a DC jack and battery which is the ideal option.

[James V]

That is what I'm talking about!  If there just isn't enough room.  He thought about removing the DC jack, but that wouldn't free up enough space.  If did remove the DC jack, he could move the middle knob up (3 knobs - typical upside down triangle with LED above middle knob) putting the 3 knobs in a line at the top of the pedal.  Then the input and ouput jacks could be moved up which might give enough room... but then the overall look of the pedal would be ruined, and he would have to redo all the decal artwork.  I guess it is a no win situation.  I personally plug all my pedals in on my pedal board.  I can't stand paying for batteries.  Call me cheap.... that I am!  I guess there have been plenty of power supply only pedals manufactured in the past that have sold well.  If it sounds good, the people will buy it regardless.... Right???

It's very far from ideal, but what would be stopping him from offering a battery clip with a short section of lead and a DC plug on the end?

So the pedal would be intended to run off a wall wart, but if the user absolutly needed to use batteries it would be simple to just plug one in. For extra cost and hassle, the battery could even be housed in one of the smaller hammond enclosures.

Just some thoughts...

[aron]

It would have to be both for me. However, that being said, I run my overdrive pedal off of regulated 9V. That way it always sounds exactly the same.

[Paul Marossy]

I am 95% DC power supply. The only thing I will run off of battery power is my vintage Vox V847 Fasel inductor equipped wah and my fuzz pedals. Sorry, I'm just not into buying batteries and plugging/unplugging cords all the time.  :?

[David]

I built a hefty power supply last year that seems to be working quite well.  Guess that makes me another vote for "power supply".  My approach to this issue is a little unusual.  I've got a Boss BF-2 flanger that is my primary (usually my only) source of modulation.  It has its own wall-wart.  My DIY pedals and the DOD compressor and EQ I'm working to replace are powered by my DIY power supply.  This gives me two independent blocks.  Why? Because I also keep an Ibanez PT-3 distortion / delay / chorus board in my equipment bag at church.  It also has its own wall-wart.  The idea here is that I can quickly swap the PT-3 for one of the "blocks".

I'm a firm believer in redundancy.  Redundant amps, redundant instruments, redundant pedals.  Must be my IT paranoia.

[LoKi6922]

the only thing i use with batteries is the my wah.

and only because it wont power off my tu-2 tuner for some reason...  :?:

as for the blow a fuse thing... well, you should have your pedals plugged into the same source as your amp, and the PA and everybody else... so having batteries in your pedals wont help you when you have no PA or amp...

always bring a spare power cable/adapter or what ever you use. with the daisy chain thing using the tu-2, if by some odd chance my tuner blows instead of its power adapter, i can use the boss adapter to power my most important box, and use my backup adapter to power another.

i rarely use more than 2 effects + wah all night anyway. i'm no tap dancer...  and i play too often to worry about batteries all the time.

[cd]

Both.  I'd redesign the PCB if it's a tight fit, or use a 125B size (half inch thicker) before taking out the battery.  Though OTOH taking out the battery and going to DC only opens up HUGE design possibilities - so much so that you might find yourself overwhelmed.  For example:

I don't have to rely on a battery for 9V, which means I don't have to rely on 9V at all.  So I could run everything on 18V, or 24V, make the power supply bi-polar and get rid of the coupling caps... OK, if I have 18V available now, and more importantly, "unlimited" power (no battery draining in 10 minutes to worry about) I don't have to use LEDs - I could use a little lamp/bulb.  Which is not that big in terms of indicators, but what about in a modulation circuit?  Or a compressor?  Or maybe with the extra voltage and current availability, I don't have to use a 3PDT, now there's plenty of reason to use a relay or some other fancy switching scheme?  But if I include a wall wart, that means you couldn't use a fancy power supply like a Pedal Power - does that kill off part of my market? etc. etc. etc.

[LoKi6922]

Both.  I'd redesign the PCB if it's a tight fit, or use a 125B size (half inch thicker) before taking out the battery.  Though OTOH taking out the battery and going to DC only opens up HUGE design possibilities - so much so that you might find yourself overwhelmed.  For example:

I don't have to rely on a battery for 9V, which means I don't have to rely on 9V at all.  So I could run everything on 18V, or 24V, make the power supply bi-polar and get rid of the coupling caps... OK, if I have 18V available now, and more importantly, "unlimited" power (no battery draining in 10 minutes to worry about) I don't have to use LEDs - I could use a little lamp/bulb.  Which is not that big in terms of indicators, but what about in a modulation circuit?  Or a compressor?  Or maybe with the extra voltage and current availability, I don't have to use a 3PDT, now there's plenty of reason to use a relay or some other fancy switching scheme?  But if I include a wall wart, that means you couldn't use a fancy power supply like a Pedal Power - does that kill off part of my market? etc. etc. etc.

slow down there big fella... don't over exert yourself... :lol:

now you are getting into the real of multi-effects floorboards...