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Grounding question for your pedal board.

Discussion in 'Effects [BG]' started by FeuerFrei, Jul 28, 2009.

  1. Jul 28, 2009 #1
    FeuerFrei

    FeuerFrei

    Dec 2, 2008
    Vancouver Washington
    So if you're using a 1 spot to power your pedals, if you chain the power some of the pedals may not like the shared loop, you can get hiss or hum, so I had a thought.

    If you installed a power distribution rail (something simple, just some screws circuited to a single source so the power is balanced out) and then on the negative side, grounded that to the pedals and to your power strip which would ground to the building you're in, any ideas if that would have a noticeable effect on hum or hiss? Or is it just a monster waste of time and effort?
     
  2. Jul 28, 2009 #2
    dannybuoy

    dannybuoy

    Aug 3, 2005
    Earth
    I don't think that would work if this distribution rail is just a fancy daisy chain. You'd either need a power supply like the Voodoo Lab PP2 or BBE Supa Charger that has individually isolated outputs (each having a separate coil on the main transformer) or use an isolation adaptor like the Gigrig Virtual Battery or the new Diago one for problematic pedals.
     
  3. Jul 28, 2009 #3
    FeuerFrei

    FeuerFrei

    Dec 2, 2008
    Vancouver Washington
    What I'm thinking of isn't really a daisychain, but it definitely isn't isolating it. Thanks for those links, I'll use them as research.
     
  4. Jul 28, 2009 #4
    niftydog

    niftydog

    Jun 23, 2005
    Canberra, Australia
    The negative of the power supply is already connected to the chassis ground of all of your pedals, so that's nothing new.

    Connecting that ground to the mains earth connection will not resolve ground-loop hum. In fact, it could make it worse by virtue of the fact that the mains earth is a shared connection - if there's a fridge of a rack of lighting dimmers on that circuit the noise will probably increase.

    I would say it's a waste of effort, and possibly of questionable legality. What you're describing is a daisy chain, where all your pedals are powered in parallel, but with the negative of the supply simply connected to mains earth.
     
  5. Jul 29, 2009 #5
    thepocket83

    thepocket83

    Jul 1, 2009
    Cardiff, Wales.
    Sorry to be a dufus here, but I see the term "Daisy Chaining" used alot here and I'm not sure what it means...being an effects noob:).
     
  6. Jul 29, 2009 #6
    FeuerFrei

    FeuerFrei

    Dec 2, 2008
    Vancouver Washington
    Two ways to answer that, primarily it's powering multiple pedals with one power supply, using something like this.
    http://www.rainbowguitars.com/imagesproduct/bo/bopcs20a-xl.jpg

    But any multi power effect off of a single non isolated source would technically be considered daisy chaining.

    The alternative are the Fuel Tanks and other power supplies which isolate each output from the other, but are obviously more expensive.
     
  7. Jul 29, 2009 #7
    FeuerFrei

    FeuerFrei

    Dec 2, 2008
    Vancouver Washington
    I was thinking that as well, which is why I figured I'd let the experience of others stop me from wasting my time.
     
  8. Jul 29, 2009 #8
    bongomania

    bongomania Supporting Member Commercial User

    Oct 17, 2005
    PDX, OR
    owner, OVNIFX and OVNILabs
    Well where's the fun in that? :)
     
  9. Jul 29, 2009 #9
    FeuerFrei

    FeuerFrei

    Dec 2, 2008
    Vancouver Washington
    I know, how dare I not waste time, money, and maybe spark up a pedal?