Which daisy chain cord/power adapters do I need?

[almix12]

Sooo here goes, how could I power my board(s)

I'm getting the following pedals:
-Digitech BSW,
-sovtek bass balls
-3 channel loop-master looper with tuner out

and I have the following pedals:
-Morley PWO power wah (with ac power for some strange reason but w/e) which I'm considering upgrading to a wilson effects 6 pos bass wah; how would that change things?
-a EHX Bass micro synth with adapter (ehx adapter)
-a Moog mf-102 ring mod with an adapter (not a moog adapter)
Sovtek big muff with a battery clip only, but I have a few little battery clips with just open wires, so I figure if I got a daisy chain I could splice the wires into one of the daisy outlets


and in terms of power, I have the following: A Boss PSA-120T (200mA 9W 60Hz 9.6volts) and the above mentioned EHX and the one i use for the moog but if I don't need to then great... and i'll handle AC outlets

the catch is:
Some of my bored is seperated from my rack to the floor. Meaning/eg. :3 of the pedals that are in the loops will be in my rack on a sliding shelf so I can twiddle the knobs. These are the moog, the bass balls, and the bass micro synth.

I never really got what people meant when they say wall wort adapters or wall wart. Is that refering to wal-mart? If so, there's one right across the road from where I live so I could go pick one up no problem if I need a second

I'd like to avoid buying a big brick for financial reasons

on a side note, I'm considering keeping my OC-3, would that change anything drastically?


THANKYOU
and I also made a terrible picture of it for a friend but I guess it might help people out so i'll attach it.
and for those of you who are curious, the signal chain will go like this: Bass>>digitech BSW (for buffer and daft punk sound and octaver)>>>looper (LOOP 1 BMS LOOP 2 bass balls LOOP 3 moog for the wowowo lfo sound (speaking of which, if anyone has been able to achieve that sound with a trem or any other less expesive pedal let me know)>>> [tuner out>> korg dtr-1000 mounted on floor]>>>>Wah>>> ampeg svt3 pro

and as always any suggestions, questions (in logic or otherwise), comments or criticisms are totally open.
and to answer one that'll probably come up... yes, there will be a pantload of wires going from the bored out of the looper to the rack. But i'll only be using a few at a time and I have the BSW as a buffer so hopefully i won't get huge tone loss.


thank you,
Alex



edit: i guess for now forget the big muff, I'm debating if i'll keep it or not anyway...

[almix12]

talkbass made the picture small so here it is
sorry for the silly probably somewhat unnecessary notes

[BruisedOoze]

Well what voltage and amperage do all these effects need? Assuming they're all the standard 9V, you just have to make sure you got enough current to draw from. So say you have 5 pedals running at 200mA, make sure your adapter supplies 9V with at least 1 A (1000mA) of current.

The Boss adapter you have runs at 9.6 volts which makes me suspicious that you have a pedal that does as well?

For an adapter/ daisy chain I bought a stand alone daisy chain and a 9V 1600 mA adapter from Radio Shack (well what used to be radio shack)and wired the two together making sure the polarities match between the adapter and daisy chain. So if you're savvy enough to use a soldering iron you might consider this.

I know you can find daisy chained adapters online but I'm too cheap to bother with those :P

Wal Wart is not wal mart. It's a term generally used for those power adapters you always get that look like blocks that you plug into the wall.

[almix12]

ohhh okay thankyou for the wal wart clarification.
And as far as the 9.6, i think it's a pretty standard boss one so for the purpose of this, i think the .6 is redundant. I was just using it for my OC-3 before i got crazy with pedals.

and no, I'm not sure how many mAs i'm using, i'm saying the boss one can put out 200mAs

and since my pedals will be in two different places I suppose I need at least 2 adapters/daisy chains disregarding the BMS which has its own voltage and EHX adapter

So it sounds like the radio shack ones are the way to go for sure. I'm decent at soldering so that shouldn't be a problem.

[BruisedOoze]

My bad 9.6 is correct. That's what I get for doing numerous labs with 9V batteries and op amps.

My chain runs off of 9V though. Don't worry about it being slightly less, the pedals run off 9V batteries anyways.

[almix12]

Right gotcha.
as far as daisy chain cables anybody got an idea on how many and which ones I would need?

[JanusZarate]

ON THE FLOOR

Digitech BSW (9VDC)
Morley PWO (chrome) (AC)
Wilson Effects 6-Position Bass Wah (9VDC)
Sovtek Big Muff (9VDC, Battery Clip)
Boss OC-3 (9VDC)

For the floor stuff, you'll need something that provides more than 200mA to be on the safe side (thanks to that BSW). A One Spot and one daisy chain (they have 5 plugs) should do it for everything on the floor. Plug that into a small power strip so you can power your Morley as well (if you don't keep the Morley, you won't necessarily need a power strip).

BTW, the Morley runs on AC because it was built during a time in which AC-powered effects were common, and an essential element of the design was the higher headroom provided by a high-voltage AC source (IIRC, the internal transformer brings it down to 40VAC, which is pretty high by today's effect standards). Modern Morley pedals aren't like this - they're now all 9VDC.

ON THE RACK

3-Channel Loop-Master Looper w/ Tuner Out (9VDC)
Sovtek Bassballs (9VDC)
EHX Bass Micro Synth (24VDC)
Moog MF-102 Ring Modulator (9VDC, Center-Positive)

You'll need separate supplies for these. A second One Spot should potentially work for everything but the BMS if you get the approprate reverse-polarity adapter plug for the Moog, but I'm concerned about noise and other possible issues. You may be best with sticking to separate supplies for the Moog and BMS, and a common 9VDC supply for the Bassballs and Loop-Master. Your current Boss PSA-120T will do for the Loop-Master and Bassballs.

The power strip in the rack should also provide room to power your rack tuner and amp.

So... for best results on a budget, you're looking at:

2 power strips (one for floor, one for rack)
1 Visual Sound One Spot
1 One Spot 5-plug daisy chain (if you get the special One Spot pack, a daisy chain is included)
1 Boss PSA-120T (you already have this)
1 EHX 24VDC adapter (you already have this)
1 Moog or equivalent reverse-polarity adapter (you already have this)
1 AC extension cable to power your pedalboard's power strip (optional but ideal)

Now, before you go shopping for just these items, I'd like to point something out: if you think a 4-space rack will cut it for a tuner, 2-space Ampeg head, and a rack tray, you haven't taken into account the height of your pedals. I highly doubt they'll fit.

[almix12]

THANKYOU!!

As far as height space goes I'm not really worried about it besides the Morley wah (which will probably dictate if I keep it or switch it for the wilson effects wah). I'll have two rack spaces dedicated to pedals. The only one that comes close is the big muff but it should still work. The tuner has detachable rack wings (or is it rack ears?) so it won't be a height problem because it will be in the middle of the rack shelf therefore won't be taking the place of a whole rack space by any means. I'm more worried about surface area for it all. I'll only have 19" of width and I'm not sure how far back this raxxess sliding shelf will go. I'll have to fit everything on the shelf as the whole idea is based around everything being hooked up all the time (no pedal board) so all I have to do to set up is lift the floor portion out onto the floor.


The only thing that was slightly off is that the looper is going on the floor, not in the rack. Does that change anything?

I would have definitely gotten tripped up with the moog reverse polarity issue, thanks.

So all in all power in the rack will be:
Boss adapter only powering the bass balls and a daisy chain for the OC-3 if i decide to keep it
EHX adapter powering only the BMS
other adapter (not sure of the name) powering the moog
a power strip to plug everything in to

and all in all power on the floor will be
an extension cord with a few outlets going to the piece of wood that'll be going to the floor
one spot and daisy chain for: Wilson if I get it, looper, digitech BSW, and big muff with battery clip if I keep it
and the other outlets for the korg tuner and morley power wah if I keep it instead of the wilson

Did I get everything right???
If so that's not too bad, all I have to buy for sure is a one spot and daisy chain!
my entire rig will be plugged into one outlet too! The ampeg. It has a 300W AC outlet on the back which i'll branch off for all the pedals/tuner. Assuming all this doesn't come close to needing 300W of power...

Thanks again,
Alex

[JanusZarate]

300W? You'll be fine.

But everything racked? That's a LOT of instrument cable!

[almix12]

you mean as far as messiness goes?
I figure I'll tape all the cables going from the rack to the floor all together into one big home made snake and then coil it up, put a cable tie around it, and put it on top of the cables.
I should have the whole setup time for my rig down to about a minute! just:
put the rack on the cab,
open the rack
slide out the shelf
put i floor part on the floor
plug in bass
plug in cab
switch on
and pump out those bass lines



but yes, i was told it would tone suck a lot... So the precautionary measures i'm taking against that happening are: have the BSW first in line for the buffer and don't have all the things that are hooked up to the looper on at once. will that be enough?
Oh also, on a small note... when i'm using the BSW, will the buffer still work? I'm not even sure technically what a buffer is.

[JanusZarate]

O_o

A buffer is a number of things, but in the case of bypass systems, a buffer is an active bypass system. It's different than true bypass because it's an actual circuit and it requires power (kill the power to your BSW when it's on, and your signal will drop completely).

The advantages? Signal level is maintained. The disadvantages? Buffers can "color" your tone if not well-designed. Usually, the effect of a mediocre buffer is minimal, but with multiple pedals using buffers, it becomes more apparent (i.e., lots of Boss or Digitech pedals).

I actually wasn't thinking of your situation in terms of tone suck, because there will be inevitable but minor treble loss with that much cable. You do have a LOT of effects known for their not-so-perfect bypass systems, though.

I was thinking more about the sheer messiness and disaster potential of that many wires running all over the place in a rack system with a dismountable board...

[almix12]

Yeah, that's half the reason I'm getting the looper, the "having lots of tone sucking pedals" problem.

as far as messiness, my setup at the moment is still sort of there: one massive snake going from the rack to the floor. But by the sounds of things it's about to get massiv-er.
Is having the digitech first for the buffer a good call? Or is it not worth it to maintain signal level throughout the chain and I should just shift things around and put it in the loop (which would also be beneficial because there will be two modes I will be wanting to use).

Also... if it's to "maintain" signal level, would putting it somewhere in the middle be a better idea??
hm...
thanks,
Alex



edit: I'll also be purchasing a pantload of Velcro in the near future. Or should I go for zap straps as some people seem to be heading in that direction? What do you use?

[JanusZarate]

I wouldn't worry about the BSW's placement. Go with what SOUNDS best, and the rest will work out.

For velcro... I've found velcro ties to be very useful. Electrical tape works great, too, but leaves residue. Zip ties are effective, but if you make changes, you'll need to keep scissors in your gig bag.

[almix12]

velcro ties?? I was thinking just for underneath
OHHHH for the cables you mean. Right yeah I just coil it up with tape once i've got something I can't see myself changing for awhile. Then coil it together and keep it with one big cable tie and put it on top of something inside my rack

I was talking about keeping the pedals on the board.

[JanusZarate]

Originally Posted by almix12

velcro ties?? I was thinking just for underneath
OHHHH for the cables you mean. Right yeah I just coil it up with tape once i've got something I can't see myself changing for awhile. Then coil it together and keep it with one big cable tie and put it on top of something inside my rack

I was talking about keeping the pedals on the board.

I was talking about both, actually.

OH, for tying the pedals themselves to the board? Definitely velcro, because I anticipate you changing your board in the future.

[almix12]

Haha yes, good call.
I was playing with a friend's dad's friend recently and he had his pedals held down with some sort of metal strapping and nailed to the board. I could hardly believe my eyes. But I guess he knew what he wanted... I wonder if I'll ever get to that point in my life/bass playing career....
Well anyway, thanks a ton for all the info and i'll be sure to post pics when everything arrives.

[rustynuts]

Originally Posted by MysticBoo

Definitely velcro, because I anticipate you changing your board in the future.

So sayeth the Mystic.

Seriously though, chances are your pedalboard will never be completed and always open to new layouts and pedals. Just ask anyone here.

[JanusZarate]

Originally Posted by rustynuts

So sayeth the Mystic.

Sigged.

[PawleeP]

how bout an EH Bass Balls.. would an adapter with slightly higher voltage be ok or bettter than the std 9v @ 500ma.. for example 300 ma at 12v?

[JanusZarate]

Originally Posted by PawleeP

how bout an EH Bass Balls.. would an adapter with slightly higher voltage be ok or bettter than the std 9v @ 500ma.. for example 300 ma at 12v?

Generally speaking, you don't want to ever feed a pedal more than the voltage it's designed for. Otherwise you risk burning it out.

Some 9V pedals are designed to also run at higher voltages, like the Fulltone Bassdrive (which can run at up to 18VDC). But unless you know for sure, don't do it.

I once fried a pedal by accidentally plugging in an 18VDC supply when it only needed 9VDC.