2 pedals running together at 9v?

[msurdin]

Hey guys,

I had a question about building a buffer in with some of the pedals i am making. They are the big muff, rat, phaser.. some others.
They both run off 9v. I have seen a few people use buffers and the effect off 9v and also have the power supply.
I am having trouble figuring this out because both things are 9v, so my box would have to be 18v.
Is there a way to make it 9 in total?

I have been using the IC Buffer off of GGG. I love how this one works.

Thanks

Matt

[SonicVI]

No, only the current use will increase, not the voltage. Both will run off the one 9V.

[msurdin]

How would I wire something up like that? Red from bat to 9v adaptor to board then usehave another wire on the smae solder pad go the the next board?

[Ben N]

Right--in parallel.

[msurdin]

Thanks!

[GibsonGM]

Batteries in series add voltage.  Batteries in parallel add 'ampacity', ability to deliver current - to drive current-hungry effects longer, for example - and voltage stays the same.  Mixing that up = blue smoke, LOL. 

[msurdin]

So whats the best way to wire this up? I know i wont be able to fit 2 wires into the solder pads so on the solder pad side should I just solder the jumper right onto the other side?

[Mark Hammer]

We are too often misled by packaging.  To whit.  What's the difference between a single pedal that uses 8 op-amps off a 9v battery, and two pedals using 4 op-amps each?  Not much.  Think of your pedalboard as one big circuit with boxes around different parts of it.  Naturally, as the number of semiconductors in any single pedal goes up, the amount of current required to operate that circuit generally also increases (current needs are NOT strictly dictated by a sheer tranny/chip count, but there is an approximate relationship).  When any single pedal's current needs go above a certain point, the manufacturer generally makes the decision to switch from battery operation to adaptor-based or o-board transformer operation.

A number of manufacturers make what are called "daisy chain" power cables.  These are essentially multiple barrel plugs (2.1mm one assumes, the standard Boss size) connected in parallel.  Although there are some constraints to using them, it is not at all unreasonable to buy yourself a couple of extra barrel plugs, score yourself a decent wallwart, chop the end off (about 6 inches from the plug), and make yourself a multiple pedal adaptor,w ith 3 or 4 plugs emerging off the one cable.  In general, I find wall warts come with more than enough wire and current (e.g., 100ma will easily do you for a typical compressor, two fuzzes, and a wah with no problem) to go around, and most will have"coded" cable (a stripe on the hot side) to help you along.

Having said that, PLEASE NOTE that you don't monkey around with wall current unless you know what you're doing.  An unseen short on a battery-powered pedal will only sound weird...or silent.  An unseen short on a wallwart-power source can make mucho magic blue smoke or even shock the user.  So....

a) get yourself some heat shrink for insulating cables/leads and providing strain relief
b) check and double-check both your solder joints and the quality of the insulation on what is inserted into the plugs
c) check and double-check to orientation of your leads to make sure everything is going exactly where it ought to go and nowhere different than that.

If you are neat and careful, you can generally fit a going-into and going-out-of cable in a typical barrel plug.  Personally, I find it good practice to slip a bit of heat shrink over the two leads going into the plug to provide some strain relief.  A 3/4" length partly fitted over the rear end of the plug can easily do the job.  Making a daisy chain with more than 3-4 plugs can be a waste of effort, simply because pedals come in such varied shapes and sizes these days, it is hard to imagine how many pedals a given daisy chain could accommodate before it can't turn any more corners. 

One of the things I like to do is make a "power distribution box".  This is nothing more complicated than a simple plastic box with a set of paralleled jacks (although you can make it more complicated with a power-on LED, more capacitance for smoothing, and diodes on the jacks for power isolation).  The wall-wart plugs into one of the jacks and you run cables from the other jacks to the pedals.  Those could be simple male-to-male cables or daisy-chain cables.  Your choice.  Lets you use one adequate-power wallwart (e.g., 300-500ma can be quite sufficient for a great many pedalboards), and run power cables that are only as long as they need to be, for a much neater pedalboard.