I'm in the making of a small pedalboard for gigging, but I could use some feedback/experiences on the chosen pedals and especially power supply. I was thinking of getting the Pedaltrain Nano+, and equipping it with the following pedals. Boss TU-3 tuner. Empress Parametric EQ. MXR compressor. Darkglass Alpha Omicron Distortion. MXR octaver. I've been playing bass for 7-8 years now, but the world of pedals is rather new to me. If any of you have experience with these pedals please feel free to write it below. Also, as I'm not going to get all the pedals at once, what should the order be? Tuner, EQ and compressor first? And then the power supply. I don't want to spend more money than necessary, but I still want a solid supply with 5 outputs or more. I've looked at the T-Rex Fuel Tank jr., but I don't know if there are better options? Thank you in advance, any help is massively appreciated!
I used an MXR DC-Brick then upgraded to a Ciocks DC-10. The Ciocks has a 15v outlet that is suitable for powering my Radial Bassbone. Otherwise I would have stuck with the MXR. Given you are in Denmark, something from Ciocks would be what I would look at. They are from Denmark after all. Their stuff is over designed and over built. Those are great attributes when it comes to a pedal board (or any other) power supply. The DC-7 would be a nice choice ... pedal boards have a way of growing so getting more power supply than you currently need is not a bad approach... DC7 – CIOKS not the cheapest thing on the block but maybe the best.
Is it worth spending that “extra” cash on the power supply, or is there a cheaper alternative? I definitely think you’re about the extra outputs, though
Thank you for the help. Seems like you guys agree... Cioks it is! What about the pedals? Anything I’m missing, or any swap out recommendations?
Source Audio EQ 2. Has a functional limited and tuner. A boatload of functionality in 1 small pedal. Source Audio C4 synth. Amazing. You can completely ignore that it is a synth and just use it for Octave, a littl dirt, a little envelope. Browse the community patches at Sourceaudio.net If you have those two, you'll probably add their hub to tie them together. May as well also add their Mercury Flanger - which does triple duty as phaser and chorus. I went from a bunch of separates to this setup and have more useful functionality in less space... the board is pine, velcro and black spray paint... save your board dollars for better pedals ;-) The Nemesis delay is actually dedicated to my PA. Foot control and tap tempo for dubby hanging echo on snare and lead vocals... {}
The Truetone CS6 is also a great PSU designed to fit under the flat Pedaltrain boards. EDIT: Typical order is tuner first, compression, octave, then dirt or EQ, depends if you want to pre or post EQ your dirty tone.
I have a Strymon Ojai R30 on my Nano. They have a photo of one under a Nano on their site, but I have mine on top, with my mini tuner on top of the Ojai. It has two outputs that'll do 9/12/18v and plenty of mA for pretty much any pedal. It's also easily expandable with other units when you inevitably grow your board.
I bought a 1500 mA 9V power supply and a 6 way daisy chain and it has been an excellent option for my nano. Signal chain: Line6 G50 wireless Korg Pitchblack+ OvniFX Opto Smoothie (space for a chorus or occasional delay) HPF (sometimes Fdeck HPF-3, other times Broughton) I do have have some pedals that are not 9V that I used to gig, and for that I had a BBE Supa Charger that was pretty good as I recall.
Tanks for the reply. The CS6 is definitely more within the price range I was targeting. It looks like it shares som of the features as the DC7, I will consider this one for sure.
Buying the first of my pedals today. Found a 2 year old used MXR Octave in more or less perfect condition for 100€. This is a good deal right?
I thought about that before I got it, but the size of the Nano was more limiting for me than the outputs at the time. I've also amassed a larger collection of pedals, and a second board since I got the Nano, so clearly I don't plan ahead well! Pedals are fun!
I’ve got an MXR DC Brick under my Nano+ and it fits just fine Velcro included. It’s not the isolated power supply, so we might be talking about different units.
This is probably a rather stupid question, but like I said I’m very new to the pedal world... What’s the difference between/advantages of isolated outputs and non isolated?
I also use the CS6 under my Nano+, works like a charm. It ships with decent power patch cables and a couple of adaptors (e.g. polarity reversal, 9V battery etc.), and the manual explains how to connect more “difficult” pedals (early digital effects etc.). For mounting, it's strongly suggested you drill three holes into the Nano+ and use the screws included with the CS6. The screw positions work fine with the Nano+, also, there's a cardboard cutout for drilling included. A power mains cable wasn't included for me, but that might be due to living in Switzerland (weird plugs compared to almost everybody else in Europe). I don't know whether the CS6 ships with one in your area, but if not, any normal power cable (three prongs) should work fine. Should I build another pedal board, I’ll get another CS6. It’s affordable, comes with all the features and power options I need, is dead quiet even in difficult power network situations.
I put a CIOKS DC7 under my Nano+, I have a Radial pre on it that needs 15v 400ma, plus my cheap one spot was causing a loud hum in church which is not to be tolerated.
I think the CS6 covers all my needs, and for the price it might be an overall better option for me. Thanks a lot for the help!
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