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Power supply for effects pedals
Everything you need to know about power for stompboxes in our guide
If you want reliability and stability in your gigs, sooner or later you won't avoid replacing the batteries that many compact effect pedals use with a power supply. In any case, batteries are no longer an option once you want to build a fixed pedalboard — not just for practical reasons but also from an ecological and economic point of view.
Single power supplies and daisy chains
For individual pedals, simple power supplies with the appropriate voltage offer the best solution to keep your favourite pedal powered permanently. If you only want to run two to three pedals, a single power supply with a daisy‑chain cable, also called a daisy chain, is a good and compact solution.
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Multi power supplies
If you want a more professional result or are even putting together a pedalboard, a more complex and higher‑quality power solution is indispensable. Multi power supplies are the best option here! These small but sophisticated devices offer a plug to the wall and several individual outputs to the pedals. Many units also include important features such as isolated, i.e. galvanically isolated outputs, which reduce annoying noise in more complex pedal setups with effects before the amp and in the effects loop. Variable outputs for "dying battery" effects — for example with fuzz pedals — or higher voltage outputs for 12–18 V pedals are features you should keep an eye on. This gives guitarists and bassists (and also especially creative drummers or synth players) maximum flexibility.
Voltage requirements of pedals
It should also be noted that different pedals have different current draws. An analogue distortion needs significantly less power than analogue modulation effects. Digital effects consume considerably more power than analogue units, and so some digital multi‑effect pedals still require their own power supply because they draw much more current than multi power supplies are designed to provide. You should be careful not to feed pedals with a much higher voltage than they require, as this overvoltage can otherwise cause some devices to fail. Another rule of thumb is that digital and analogue effects, as well as effects placed before the amp and effects in the effects loop, should only be connected to the same power supply if it has isolated outputs.
Powering the pedalboard
In our guide on "Wiring your effects pedals correctly" we show how to link a pedalboard optimally. Multi power supplies are often very easy to mount on the underside of the pedalboard, making cable management simple. However, you should make sure that power cables and signal cables are routed as far apart as possible to avoid hum and other interference.
Generally: pay attention to the polarity of the plug and the required voltage. In most cases the standard set by Boss in the 1970s is used: 9V — outer positive, inner negative. However, there are some pedals that are wired the other way round; you can often tell from the device itself, but in any case check the manufacturer's information.
