Do I really need a surge protector?

Personally I think they're both a waste of money. Never heard of 'current-starving' so can't really comment on that but if a conditioner has a current-limiting function I would expect no problems so long as that limit is above the maximum normal demand of the head. I use an outlet tester (when I remember to bring it) for grounding-safety reasons but remain unconvinced of the need for or efficacy of any kind of conditioning. It will be interesting to hear from others who might explain why I should get one.

 

Why would it be a must for your effects but not for a much more expensive piece of equipment that can only protect itself once?

To me, a surge protector is $10-$15 of super cheap insurance. I'd rather melt that than my amp.

 

Well, fuses blow and are replaced, breakers trip and are reset. I use a little $8 surge protector power strips on everything. They don't limit any current or sound any different. It's just a little 15 amp breaker between the wall and your stuff for a little added protection to the one in the building's breaker box that serves the whole circuit. The Joule rating says how big of a surge it can trip out on before it arcs across and hits your gear anyway. Ones for computer systems usually have a higher rating but I don't know that that's necessary. Ones with outlets mounted sideways and farther apart are nice if you have a lot of wall wart type power supplies.

 

If you get a big enough power surge (direct lightning strike for example) that little fuse isn't going to do much. The amp can still get fried. Neither would a surge protector, but at least it's one more thing in the way to take the hit first.

 

No.

 

I view my amps in the same way I view my computer and studio equipment... it's all susceptible to being zapped, particularly if you don't know the quality/state of the wiring in a venue. I use an APC surge protector for my amp and preamps, and usually take a feed off that via another strip for my effects pedals. Better safe than sorry, IMO.

As for power conditioners, my guitarist has a Furman in his road case that also houses our main Mackie mixer and power amps for the PA and monitors. We were given power off a generator for a gig one time and he plugged the power conditioner in first... the current being sent from the generator would have fried our equipment had he not investigated it with his Furman first. Food for thought.

 

These are really neat, even has EMI/RFI noise filtration up to 40dB:

Amazon.com: Philips SPP1591WA Squid Surge Protector with 5 Flexible Outlets: Electronics

I always take one with me for gigs.

 

No, because a surge protector is not in the current path, it lies across the current path. At normal voltages it has a high enough resistance to current flow so that it essentially does nothing. With high enough voltage applied it diverts the excess voltage away from your gear. Chances are you'll never need it, and it won't prevent damage from a direct hit by lightning. But for a few bucks there's no reason not to use one.

 

nope

 

I use a Furman SS-6B which has 6 plugs and a long power cord.

In addition to surge protection, it also has an RF noise attenuator, for playing in rooms with flourescent lighting, and a host of other problems. It was under $30 when I got it.

Do you need protection? I don't know.

For $30, I don't want to have to find out.

 

This is what I use... Whether I need it or not, I don't know..... but I have it, so why not use it?

Amazon.com: Furman SS-6B Steel Power Strip, 6 Outlets, 15 Foot Power Cord, Standard Level Power Conditioning: Electronics

 

The bad news is that at $29.95 it isn't a 'power conditioner'. The marketeers now apply that name to anything with outlets and a cord. The good news is that it's all you need.

 

To get a truly working power conditioner you need to spend hundreds of dollars and carry a heavy box around -- neither of which is practical. But RF shielding is nice.

 

Yes, I understand that it doesn't have a power conditioner, back when I bought mine, the "power conditioner" was not in the description.... I see that it is now though....

 

Carvin has a power conditioner/sequencer that's at least as good as any Furman. It powers up gear with a few seconds between each one so that there's no surge from turning everything on at once. The Power Conditioning functions are pretty serious, but it can't do anything about an under-voltage condition. Next paragraph for the solution there. Carvin.com : AC120S POWER CONDITIONER/SEQUENCER



I have to confess that I use a big old APC Uninterruptible Power Supply with a heavy lead acid battery inside (at least 1400W) whenever I think it's likely that the mains power is going to be wonky. It's a must on generator-supplied gigs; those things can be all over the place.



Besides all the filtration functions, it provides extremely clean power AND it can counter temporary voltage drops or even complete outages. These are not the wimpy UPS that you pick up at Fry's for your home computer. This one's designed for small server farms. Plan on at least $500 for one. I've actually had the power drop offline completely, silencing the entire band except for the drummer and I. I learned to pay attention to power early on because I had an entire keyboard get wiped out by a power glitch.

 

$10 - $15 bucks top. It's a cheap and you need a power strip anyhow.

Lighting does strike the same place twice. The MOV can blow on the first strike and be of no use on the second. Some power strips have multiple MOVs.

Anybody actually check to see if their MOVs are blown? The power strip still works if they blow.

Get a power strip that has indicator lights to tell you if the MOV blew, and don't forget to look at the lights.

 

Reality check. These are what constitutes the 'Power surge Transient/Surge Absorbers'
Heavy-Duty MOV Surge Protector : Surge Protectors | RadioShack.com

And this the 'pure power AC120S EMI/RFI filter':
EMI Filters | Excess Solutions

I wouldn't pay another $100 for an automatic power turn-on sequencer when I know how to turn on my gear one piece at a time.

 

It doesn't have any power conditioning functions.

That's just not practical IMO. Do you bring it to bar gigs too?