Pedals that strongly benefits from running at 18V

[karla684]

About a year and a half ago I created a thread comparing how pedals sounded when ran at 9, 12, and 18V:
9V vs. 12V vs. 18V - Sample thread

This week I rediscovered how important it can be for some pedals to be ran at a higher voltage. So I thought this thread could document which pedals these are, for others to get to know about. Please add examples if you know of any.

So the two pedals I'm referring to are Catalinbread SFT and Catalinbread Echorec. They really are a whole lot better when ran at 18V.

I have others which can be ran at 18V (e.g. 3Leaf Audio Wonderlove and Earthquaker Devices The Depths), but deciding between 9 and 18V for them is more of a personal preference. They sound good with both options, just different.

Cheers,
Kalle

 

[Ba55Man1ac]

All 3 of my Pigtronix Bass pedals benefit from 18V:

- The Philosopher comp has noticeable distortion @ 9V which disappears @ 18V.
- The Fat Drive sounds thinner & spittier @ 9V, rounder & smoother @ 18V.
- The Envelope Phaser doesn't work @ 9V (yep, no 'enveloping' at all), sounds great @ 18V.

 

[FretNoMore]

"Better" is subjective ... I have to disagree on the SFT, I very much prefer it at 9V; 18V makes it too loud and you get too little breakup at decent levels. Maybe it depends on what bass and other gear you combine it with but it did not work for me.

 

[scubaduba]

Xotic EP booster. Opens it up more.

 

[RockDoc]

From the FoxRox Electronics Octron webpage: "Higher voltage - You can run Octron at higher than 9VDC for increased headroom, which is most useful when using Octron with bass guitar. Do not exceed 18VDC."

 

[karla684]

I have quite some fascination towards the Antichthon pedal by Catalinbread. Not that I've used it in a musical context with the band, but for my own experimentation and amusement it is great. It is extremely dynamic and answers to how you are playing, which makes it perfect to add inspiration and enforce variation when playing. Unfortunately it hasn't been playing very well with my bass with active pick-ups. It seems like the active pick-ups are a bit too hot, and removes lots of the dynamic of the pedal.

I don't know why I haven't thought about it before, but tonight I tried running it at 18V. Magic! Pure magic! It is now the dynamic pedal it's intended to be. I will be playing it lots more from now on.

I also realized that I happen to mention lots of Catalinbread pedals in this thread. To be clear, I have no affiliation. It just seems like they have lots of pedals that can be run at 18V, and I tend to like them better when doing that. An exception is the Adineko which sounds much more warbly and ghostly at 9V.

Cheers,
Kalle

 

[Dark Barn]

I like my Volt Thrower better at 18v than 9, and not so much because of the sound, but the ease of dialing it in with the extra headroom. I dial in the same sound pretty much at either voltage.

Something else to consider!

 

[Johno Dunn]

Diamond BCP @ 24V.
Johno!

 

[Zoot H Rollo]

Genzler Magellan

Broughton Studio One Mini

 

[jbybj]

The Broughton Firebrand fuzz, for me, is infinitely superior at 18v as compared to 9.

 

[sillyfabe]

I run my Earthbound Audio Iron Pig V.1 at 18 volts. More headroom, can go lower on gain and higher than 9V. And it seems to have a bit more aggressive tones if need be.

 

[dedpool1052]

For me, the Broughton Locust Star.
It's voltage is already doubled internally, and running at 18V in opamp mode makes for a great clean preamp.
I use it to get that "juiced up/active" sound with passive basses.

 

[pfschim]

Cali76CB benefits from 18v. Noticeably better headroom, and I feel like running it a 18v also accentuates what the 1176 inspired Cali76 brings as far as upper midsection "sparkle" (for lack of a better term ).

 

[Grassmaster]

I like to run my modulation pedals at the highest safe voltage that won't cook them. They are my high headroom "clean" effects. I generally prefer to run my gain stages at 9V because I get more breakup and harmonics. Unlike other Broughs here, I like my Locust Star at 9V and my Studio Boost Minis between 9-12V depending on how I'm feeling on the day.

 

[BasementWarrior]

EQD Monarch is much better on bass at 18v. Has a terrible farty effect at 9v.

 

[dedpool1052]

EQD Monarch is much better on bass at 18v. Has a terrible farty effect at 9v.

I have one of those as well and found this to be true.

 

[Meriphew]

I run just about everything that will take 9-18V at 18V, especially compressors.

 

[Ritter667]

Boss MT-2 Metal Zone

Spoiler: Don't do this at home!

(This is supposed to be a joke, don't run it on 18V it will fry the pedal, and beside I am actually a great fan of this distortion pedal myself)

 

[HelpImaRock]

I love the Echorec at 18v. FATRAT too.