power adapters

[mikegee]

are there any electronics guys out there that can answer this? like, if i have a boss effects pedal, do i have to use a boss/roland power adapter? or would it be safe to use a universal power supply? same question for other pedals too... thnx

[dolivas]

im pretty sure its safe to us a universal power supply. I had been using one to power up my Proco TurboRat for a long time before I found a sweet deal on the official RPS-1 power supply for the Rat by Proco. It sounded the same in usage when I used both power supplies, you do get some added benefit out of using a universal power supply I believe in that if you crank up the voltage some pedals do weird over the top things. I know my Turbo would literally add some fuzzier overdrive tone to it. However, I didnt keep it at that voltage too long cause Im not an electrical dude and I thought it would do more harm than good to my pedal to do that.

[dagosto]

As long as you make sure the polarity is correct, the voltage matches up, and the current is more than (but not too much more than) what the pedal needs. Keep in mind that some pedals list the minimum current draw and some list the output current of the adapter provided, which is probably more than what the pedal needs in the first place. From what I've seen, most distortion pedals draw somwhere around 50mA and run on adapters outputing 200mA. You probably would'nt want to run these pedals on 500mA for more than a few minutes at a time. Then again I'm sure some pedals would work just fine like this.

[smopo24]

Originally Posted by mikegee

are there any electronics guys out there that can answer this? like, if i have a boss effects pedal, do i have to use a boss/roland power adapter? or would it be safe to use a universal power supply? same question for other pedals too... thnx

i have used a generic power supply from "the shack" with my zoom multi-effects pedal for years, it's still working fine.

[Bellringer]

You do need to make sure that the mA and the volts are right. I've burned up a delay pedal and friend killed my drum machine over mA and volts respectively. You can buy a standard generic adaptor that even has different sized tips that will reverse polarity if necessary, so you got options.

[Whoopysnorp]

As long as current, volts, and polarity is the same, juice is juice. Your pedal can't tell the difference in what brand the adapter is.

[johnS]

One thing I've learned to do is label my wall warts. I take a grease pencil and write the name of the effect directly onto the adapter brick. I also write the name of the effect on a piece of tape and wrap it around cord just next to the plug. I did this after the bass player in my old band fried his Line 6 delay by plugging in the wrong adapter. It also helps when I'm crawling around behind the rack trying to find the right wart to unplug.

[Nubus]

I don't think it can hurt to give it too much current. The pedal will only draw what it needs.

[dagosto]

Originally Posted by Nubus

I don't think it can hurt to give it too much current. The pedal will only draw what it needs.

I have read warnings on pedals not to use an adapter exceeding a certain amount of current.

[smopo24]

Originally Posted by dagosto

I have read warnings on pedals not to use an adapter exceeding a certain amount of current.

warnings, schmornings......as long as i can get my guitar to sound just like "dimebag's" i don't care if my house burns down!